President Donald Trump and congressional leaders appear primed for conflict ahead of Monday’s 3 p.m. White House meeting, with less than two days to go before a shutdown. And there’s no sign that either side plans to blink.
Here’s a quick rundown — with some news — of where all parties stand.
Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune are poised to hold their ground as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries press for a compromise on health policy, including an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies that expire at the end of the year.
For senior Republicans, striking any kind of ACA deal could cause major problems with their own members. While some GOP moderates are pushing for an extension, several hardliners warned Republican leadership over the weekend not to cut a deal on the subsidies.
GOP leaders are privately cautioning Trump not to agree to any ACA extension until after they resolve the funding impasse. But there are new signs of coordination on a potential health deal. A group of Senate Republicans is working on a proposal for later this year that would pair an extension of the subsidies with conservative policy changes. Members of the contingent are talking with White House officials and CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz to make sure any blueprint would be in alignment between lawmakers and the White House.
Republican leadership is also threatening logistical pressure. The Senate will likely wait until Tuesday to vote again on the GOP continuing resolution, and House GOP leaders have been considering keeping the chamber in recess next week during a shutdown. Johnson will hold a call with House Republicans at 11:15 a.m. Monday ahead of the White House meeting.
Some Republicans remain hopeful that enough Democrats will help advance the GOP CR like they did in March. But if not, they warn Trump will make a shutdown politically painful, given his latitude over what agencies and programs stay open.
“I’d be much more worried if I was a blue state,” Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) said.
Democrats are so far undaunted. But between the House and the Senate, they also lack a unified position on what specifically they need to back the GOP CR. Jeffries has taken a hard line, warning that a health care agreement needs to be “ironclad and in legislation.” Senate Democrats are more pushing for Republicans to just talk with them. Schumer took a step in that direction when he called Thune to set up the White House meeting, as POLITICO first reported.
As for Trump, White House officials say the president will pressure Schumer to accept the GOP-led stopgap bill without making a deal, at least for now, on any of the Democrats’ health care demands.
Ahead of the meeting, the administration hasn’t yet finalized closure plans for agencies, according to three Trump officials. As one of the officials put it: “I think it all hinges on [Monday’s] meeting.”
What else we’re watching:
— The Jeffrey Epstein pressure: GOP Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Nancy Mace (S.C.) and Lauren Boebert (Colo.) appear to be resisting pressure from Trump officials and senior House Republicans who have pushed them to drop support for a bipartisan effort to release the Epstein files. Their support is key to Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna’s (D-Calif.) Epstein discharge petition that’s poised to get the last of the necessary 218 signatures when Democrat Adelita Grijalva of Arizona is sworn in. The timeline for a potential vote is unclear with House GOP leaders considering keeping the chamber out on recess next week.
— Incoming Jan. 6 probe: House Republicans have officially launched a subcommittee to reinvestigate the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack with an eye toward recasting the narrative about what happened that day. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), the panel’s chair, said in an interview that GOP staff has been gearing up for months “talking to different entities,” reviewing documents and brainstorming potential investigative targets.
Jordain Carney, Nicholas Wu, Meredith Lee Hill and Hailey Fuchs contributed to this report.
