Congressional leaders leave White House meeting without deal to avoid government shutdown

WASHINGTON (AP):

A government shutdown fast approaching, Democratic and Republican congressional leaders left a White House meeting with President Donald Trump yesterday afternoon showing little willingness to compromise from their entrenched positions in order to avoid a lapse in funding.

If government funding legislation isn’t passed by Congress and signed by Trump on Tuesday night, many government offices across the nation will be temporarily shuttered and non-exempt federal employees will be furloughed, adding to the strain on workers and the nation’s economy.

However, lawmakers were locked in an impasse on Monday as Democrats demanded legislation to extend healthcare benefits, and Republicans dared them to vote against legislation that would keep government funding mostly at current levels.

“There are still large differences between us,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said as he left the White House.

Vice-President J.D. Vance told reporters after the meeting, “I think we’re headed into a shutdown because the Democrats won’t do the right thing.”

Trump has shown little interest in entertaining Democrats’ demands on healthcare, even as he agreed to hold a sit-down meeting on Monday with Schumer, along with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries. The Republican president has said repeatedly he fully expects the government to enter a shutdown this week.

“If it has to shut down, it’ll have to shut down,” Trump said on Friday. “But they’re the ones that are shutting down government.”

The Trump administration has tried to pressure Democratic lawmakers into backing away from their demands, warning that federal employees could be permanently laid off in a funding lapse.

“Chuck Schumer said a few months ago that a government shutdown would be chaotic, harmful and painful. He’s right, and that’s why we shouldn’t do it,” Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press.

Still, Democrats argued that Trump’s agreement to hold a meeting shows he’s feeling the pressure to negotiate. They say that because Republicans control the White House and Congress, Americans will mostly blame them for any government shutdown.

Democrats are pushing for an extension to Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits that have subsidised health insurance for millions of people since the COVID-19 pandemic. The credits, which are designed to expand coverage for low- and middle-income people, are set to expire at the end of the year.

At a Monday news conference, Jeffries, a New York Democrat, called healthcare cuts a “five-alarm fire” that is rippling across communities nationwide.

“We’re not going to simply go along to get along with a Republican bill that continues to gut the healthcare of everyday Americans who are already living with this Trump economy, where costs aren’t going down, but they’re going up,” he said.

The pandemic-era ACA subsidies are set to expire in a matter of months if Congress fails to act.