Congressional leaders left a high-stakes Oval Office meeting with President Donald Trump without a breakthrough Monday, greatly raising the likelihood of a government shutdown starting early Wednesday morning.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters at the White House that “there are still large differences between us.”
“Their bill has not one iota of Democratic input,” he added, referring to a House-passed seven-week stopgap funding bill that Senate Democrats rejected earlier this month. “That is never how we’ve done this before.”
Another person granted anonymity to describe the closed-door meeting said it was a “frank discussion” but that the two sides were “too far apart” at this point.
“There’s no way right now,” the person added.
Ahead of the meeting, Trump himself cast doubt on the prospects for a deal.
“They’re going to have to do some things because their ideas are not very good ones,” he said about Democrats. “They’re very bad for our country, so we’ll see how that works out.”
The meeting, held just ahead of the Tuesday midnight shutdown deadline, was the first time Trump has held a formal meeting with the top Democratic leaders since he was sworn in for a second term in January. It’s also the first time they have spoken at all about government funding in that time
Leading up to the meeting, Schumer and Jeffries struck different tones about what would be an acceptable solution to the shutdown standoff. Jeffries staked out a hard line on health care, saying any agreement needed to “ironclad and in legislation” and suggesting any kind of handshake agreement to continue negotiating would not be enough. Schumer was more circumspect, telling reporters on Monday “we’re ready to get to work. It’s about time.”
Democrats have insisted health care be part of government funding negotiations, with the extension of Obamacare insurance subsidies forming the core of their demands. While Republicans have opened the door to negotiating on the tax credits, which are available to people receiving health care through Affordable Care Act marketplaces and expire at the end of the year, they have insisted they be dealt with separately from the pending shutdown fight.
Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democratic leader, said a commitment from GOP leaders to work on extending the tax credits would be a “real mark of progress.”
“Whether it’s enough, I can’t say,” he added.
GOP leaders so far are ruling out any idea that they’d agree to ACA talks as part of an agreement to avert a shutdown.
“Most of our guys would lose their minds,” said a senior House GOP aide involved in the talks.
Republican leaders are navigating competing schools of thought within their own ranks about how to handle the subsidies and are looking for a clear sign from Trump to guide their efforts to reach a potential agreement later this year. They are also under fierce pressure from their right-flanks not to cut an 11th-hour deal with Democrats, believing they have the political upper hand heading into a potential shutdown.
Thune confirmed before leaving for the White House that the Senate will vote on Tuesday on the House-passed continuing resolution that would fund the government until Nov. 21, buying lawmakers more time to negotiate full-year appropriations bills and reach a potential deal on the insurance subsidies.
Democrats rejected that bill earlier this month, and if they reject it a second time, Thune is expected to tee it back up for another vote. Republicans are also looking at other procedural steps they could take to squeeze Democrats during a shutdown.
Senate Democrats are privately discussing multiple options for how to get out of a shutdown and keep pressure on Republicans to come to the table on the Obamacare subsidies, according to two people granted anonymity to disclose internal discussions.
Senate Democrats can also force a re-vote on their proposal that would extend funding through Oct. 31 and would reverse $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid from the GOP’s recent domestic policy megabill, along with a permanent extension of the health insurance subsidies.
It would also restrict the president’s authority to claw back congressionally approved funding, addressing Democratic frustrations over the Trump administration’s recent moves to reverse bipartisan spending bills. Further vexing Democrats was White House budget chief Russ Vought’s threat last week to engage in mass firings of federal workers in case of a shutdown.
House Democrats have publicly and privately fretted that Senate Democrats could reverse course and vote to advance GOP-backed funding legislation after most House Democrats opposed it. Helping fuel that concern, several Senate Democrats have sidestepped questions over the past week about what they might do if Republicans moved toward formal negotiations on the Obamacare subsidies.
Asked if an agreement to keep talking Is that the best Democrats can reasonably expect, Durbin said, “I’m not going to go into that. I’m just going to say if we’re not sitting down talking about ending this responsibly and helping people deal with health care, it’s going to be a rocky road.”
