Congressional leaders left a meeting with President Trump on Monday saying they’d made no progress toward a deal that would prevent a shutdown on Wednesday, increasing the odds the government’s lights will turn off in less than 48 hours.
Democrats have been pining for action to extend health care subsidies that are set to expire by year’s end, with Republicans adamant that their stopgap spending bill is a take-it-or-leave-it offer.
Each side said little was accomplished at the White House on Monday — and insisted the other party was to blame.
“There are still large differences between us,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters outside the White House.
“Their bill has not one iota of Democratic input. That is never how we’ve done this before,” Schumer continued. “It’s up to the Republicans whether they want a shutdown or not.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) pointed the finger back at Democrats.
“This is sitting right now at the Senate desk,” Thune said outside the White House, holding up a copy of stopgap bill. “We could pick it up and pass it tonight, pick it up and pass it tomorrow before the government shuts down, and then we don’t have the government shutdown. It is totally up to the Democrats, because right now, they are the only thing standing between the American people and the government shutting down.”
The meeting came after a public battle in recent weeks over a possible sit-down — not only between Democrats and Trump, but between the minority party and Republicans writ large.
Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) had not met with either of their GOP counterparts — Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) — in recent weeks, with the GOP twosome arguing that there was little need to do so given that their proposed funding bill is a “clean” continuing resolution to fund the government through late November.
Democrats, however, say a “clean” bill is insufficient for this go-around.
Schumer has routinely argued the bill must include provisions to address the expiring enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies, the GOP’s Medicaid cuts in its tax cut and spending megabill and Trump’s ability to claw back already allocated funds.
But with little leeway given on either side, lawmakers are widely expecting funding to lapse.
“Unless something breaks in the morning, unfortunately it looks like they’re going to shut it down,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), a member of GOP leadership and an appropriator, laying blame at the Democratic leader. “Schumer is going to shut it down.”
Schumer told reporters that he and Trump spoke at length about the health care issues he and his party have been raising, adding that the president appeared to be hearing “about them for the first time” — an idea GOP leaders vehemently disputed.
He also argued there was a rift cropping up between Trump and GOP leaders over a potential extension of the enhanced subsidies.
“When we made these arguments it was clear there was a division or possible division between the president and the two Republican leaders,” Schumer said, referring to Thune and Johnson.
The South Dakota Republican shot that idea down swiftly and maintained the GOP triumvirate is together on the issue.
“We’re unified. We’re all on the same page,” Thune said, scoffing at Schumer’s claim.
Questions for much of the past week have centered on whether Schumer and Democrats will stick together and hold the line in the face of a shutdown, especially after the New York lawmaker angered progressives by backing the GOP’s funding bill in March.
At the time, Schumer specifically cited actions the administration would take to hollow out the federal workforce as the Department of Government Efficiency was working to eliminate positions across departments and agencies.
Democrats appear more willing to square off with the administration this time around, pointing to actions Republicans and Trump have taken and saying the situation is different now from that seen in March.
They have already challenged a shutdown plan laid out by Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought that includes mass layoffs as nothing more than a ploy.
Chatter, however, emerged on Monday that Schumer was inquiring with Senate Democrats about the possibility of backing a 7- to 10-day continuing resolution if a shutdown were to take place, indicating he has an eye toward how to reopen the government.
Republicans quickly shot down the idea.
“The House bill is going to be on the table and that’s what we’re going to vote on,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) told reporters, referring to the GOP’s proposal. “This is clearly going to be a Democrat shutdown, driven by [Schumer].”
Hours later, Schumer also pushed back on the plan, nodding at the health care discussions in the Oval Office and insisting Congress could not delay any further.
Some Republicans have also indicated that they are interested in hammering out a potential deal with the ACA subsidies set to expire on Dec. 31, citing the spike in premiums that is expected and the potential political effects of that heading into a midterm election year.
However, many of them want increased guardrails on those tax credits that would be difficult to swallow for Democrats. They also are more interested in having this discussion alongside a possible yearlong spending deal in November rather than now — something Democrats believe is insufficient.
“On October 1st, [people] get these notices, and many of them, by November, have to make a decision whether to change their health care,” Schumer said, citing the expected premium increase. “You can’t wait till January. You have to do that now.”
The absence of a deal and the scant progress are prompting both sides to hunker down, with the blame game only escalating as the hourglass winds down toward Tuesday evening.
“You don’t put a gun to the American people’s head and say, unless you do exactly what Senate and House Democrats want you to do, we’re going to shut down your government,” Vice President Vance said after the meeting.
“I think we’re headed into a shutdown because the Democrats won’t do the right thing. I hope they change their mind,” he added.
