Trump will meet with Democrats Schumer and Jeffries amid threat of government shutdown
Democrats are pushing to preserve healthcare programs as part of any deal to keep the government running.
After the U.S. Senate rejected a stopgap bill that would have averted a government shutdown on October 1, President Trump plans to meet with Democratic leaders this week.
As Congress appears to be heading toward a government shutdown, the president is seeking to reach a turning point, although the time and location of the meeting have not been certain.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both New York Democrats, have repeatedly called on Republican leaders to negotiate with them on a short-term funding adjustment.
In a letter to Trump last weekend, Schumer and Jeffries demanded a meeting with the president and said Democrats would not support a dirty spending bill that fails to address their health care priorities.
“Republicans will bear the responsibility for another painful government shutdown due to the refusal of Republican leaders in Congress to even engage with Democrats,” the letter said. “Accordingly, it is now your obligation to meet directly with us to reach an agreement that keeps the government open and addresses the Republican health care crisis.”
Rival proposals to keep the government funded past September 30 failed in the Senate on Friday. The Republican measure would fund the government through November 21 and provide an $88 million increase in security funding for lawmakers, Supreme Court justices, and the executive branch. The Democratic proposal would maintain funding through October 31 and included security funding, health care priorities, and other provisions that would reverse Trump's policies. All of this leaves Congress and the White House with no easy way out of the impasse that threatens a shutdown in less than two weeks when the current budget year and funding expire. However,This isn't the first time Trump has faced a similar dilemma. During Trump's first term in office, the government shut down operations for more than a month, the longest in federal history, in 2018-2019.

