In "Firefighting" Move, Trump Races to Avert Shutdown with Last-Ditch Congressional Talks

TradingKey - U.S. President Donald Trump will urgently convene the four highest-ranking congressional leaders at the White House on Monday, with only 24 hours remaining before federal funding expires. If the two parties fail to reach an agreement, the federal government could shut down at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, October 1.

Those attending include Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD).

According to sources familiar with the matter, the meeting is expected to result in the Senate holding a new vote to determine whether Congress will continue funding the government beyond Tuesday.

Previously, House Republicans narrowly passed a temporary funding bill that would extend government funding through late November and add millions in security funding for members of Congress, but Democrats in the Senate rejected the measure and sought bipartisan negotiations on healthcare funding.

“Donald Trump has once again agreed to a meeting in the Oval Office. As we have repeatedly said, Democrats will meet anywhere, at any time and with anyone to negotiate a bipartisan spending agreement that meets the needs of the American people,” Schumer and Jeffries said in a joint statement on Saturday night. “We are resolute in our determination to avoid a government shutdown and address the Republican healthcare crisis. Time is running out.”

Earlier, Trump had abruptly canceled a scheduled Thursday meeting with Democratic leaders at the urging of Johnson and Thune, when the president dismissed Democratic demands as “unserious and ridiculous.”

Thune, R-S.D., had said earlier in the week that he “did have a conversation with the president” and offered his opinion on the meeting, which he declined to disclose. “But I think the president speaks for himself, and I think he came to the conclusion that meeting would not be productive,” Thune said.

Democrats believe they hold leverage and insist on including two key healthcare provisions in the funding bill to secure their votes: first, extending subsidies that help low- and middle-income individuals purchase insurance through the Affordable Care Act; and second, reversing Medicaid cuts included in the Republican signature tax bill passed earlier this year.

Republicans counter that these demands are unrelated to the current government funding issue and that bundling them into negotiations is "pointless." They say they're willing to discuss healthcare with Democrats in the future, but such discussions should not obstruct urgent funding needed to avoid a government shutdown.

If the two parties ultimately fail to reach an agreement, a government shutdown would force hundreds of thousands of federal workers into unpaid furloughs and halt a range of non-essential government services. While critical services such as Social Security payments and mail delivery would continue, the impact would still be widespread.