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President Donald Trump said he would be willing to talk to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries — if they first agree to reopen the government.
Trump made the remarks at the White House during Diwali celebrations on Tuesday, as the government shutdown entered its 21st day.
“I would like to meet with both of them, but I have one little caveat,” Trump told reporters. “They have to get the country opened up. People want to go back to work. They want services. They want, they need some people’s services, and a lot of people need money, payroll, so as soon as they get the country open I will do that.”
senate democrat has so far blocked a so-called continuing resolutionA stopgap spending bill to keep the government open while the Senate and House negotiate a spending bill for the fiscal year.
While CR is keeping spending at current levels, Democrats say they want to include an extension of the Affordable Care Act’s increased COVID-era subsidies for health insurance marketplaces. Many state marketplaces will begin notifying customers about premium increases next month.
But Republicans have argued that they cannot negotiate in good faith when the government is shut down and negotiations are almost non-existent. On Tuesday the President… Senate Republicans invited to the White House for lunch on the patio,
During a rambling and incoherent speech, he lashed out at Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, whom he compared to Darth Vader. star warsHe was “cutting everything they wanted” in reference to projects in Democratic-leaning states.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune agreed if there could be any negotiations.
Independent Asked why he, Schumer, House Speaker Mike Johnson, Jeffries and Schumer couldn’t meet with the president.
“That could happen as soon as we reopen the government,” Thune said.
Johnson, for his part, has kept the House out of session since he passed a continuing resolution last month with only one Democratic member of Congress voting in favor of it and very little Democratic input.
Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) also expressed frustration after the lunch when asked why senators can’t meet in a room like the old days and work out an agreement.
“We have good people who are doing exactly that, but I think it’s well recognized that it’s not just the House that has to address this,” he said. Independent“The administration has to sign it so the House can ultimately sign it.”
Dealmaking has been essentially non-existent throughout the shutdown, with neither side willing to budge an inch. Many Republicans have long opposed the Affordable Care Act after Barack Obama signed it into law in 2010 without any Republican support.
Democrats scoffed at Trump’s proposal.
“This guy, you know, he claims he knows the art of the deal,” Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), who represents a state won by Trump, told CNN. Independent“Obviously, from his behavior he doesn’t know anything about it.”
But Baldwin said Trump would probably seek a compromise on the health care tax credit.
“He wants to solve it, he’s just stubborn,” she said. “He owns this shutdown.”