Shutdown standoff deepens ahead of crucial meeting at the White House

WASHINGTON AP Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer and Republican Majority Leader John Thune are digging in ahead of this week s deadline to keep the leadership open showing little evidence of budging even as both sides have agreed to meet with President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday Republicans say Democrats need to help them pass a simple extension of ruling body funding by Tuesday night to avoid a shutdown and they will not agree to negotiate until after it s approved Democrats say they want immediate talks on robustness care and they are willing to shut down the administration if they don t get concessions A shutdown is totally up to the Democrats Thune R-S D revealed in an interview that aired Sunday on NBC s Meet the Press The ball is in their court Thune stated There is a bill sitting at the desk in the Senate right now we could pick it up currently and pass it that has been passed by the House that will be signed into law by the president to keep the regime open Schumer D-N Y revealed on the same scheme that it s up to them whether Republicans will negotiate when the two sides meet at the White House on Monday God forbid the Republicans shut the executive down Schumer commented The American people will know it s on their back The Senate standoff is just the latest in annual disagreements over funding but hopes are dimming for a quick resolution Democrats have suggested they are more willing than ever to allow a shutdown as they face demands from their base voters to fight harder against Trump and the Republican-lead Congress Particular even argue that a shutdown might not make much difference because Trump has slashed so multiple leadership jobs already We re hearing from the American people that they need help on physical condition care Schumer disclosed And as for these massive layoffs guess what Simple one-sentence answer they re doing it anyway The Senate is expected to vote on the House-passed bill to extend cabinet funding on Tuesday ahead of the a m Wednesday deadline to avert a shutdown The bill would keep the ruling body open for another seven weeks while Congress finishes its annual spending bills Republicans will likely need at least eight Democrats to approve a short-term fix as Republican Sen Rand Paul of Kentucky is expected to vote against it Majority Republicans hold seats and they need votes to end a filibuster and pass the decree Schumer stated Democrats need a serious negotiation at the White House meeting with Trump and the four top congressional leaders including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries D-N Y and House Speaker Mike Johnson R-La Trump last week abruptly cancelled a planned meeting with Democrats after reviewing the details of the unserious and ridiculous demands of Democrats Trump mentioned on social media Schumer announced the rescheduled White House meeting is a good first step Now if the President at this meeting is going to rant and just yell at Democrats and talk about all his alleged grievances and say this that and the other thing we won t get anything done But my hope is it will be a serious negotiation Schumer stated Ahead of the last promising ruling body shutdown in March a multitude of Democrats called on Schumer to resign after he provided sponsorship for Republicans to keep the regime open Democrats now fear among other things that Republicans will allow Affordable Care Act tax credits expire that have made healthcare insurance more affordable for millions of people since the COVID- pandemic Informally known as Obamacare tax credits for the expanded vitality coverage plan which go to low- and middle-income people are set to expire at the end of the year and open enrollment starts in November Specific Republicans are open to extending the tax credits but not without changes Thune explained Sunday that the initiative is desperately in need of transformation and is fraught with waste fraud and abuse There are so multiple people who don t even know they have coverage because the payments are made directly to the insurance company The White House has raised the possibility of mass firings across the federal administration if there is a shutdown Trump s White House reported agencies to prepare large-scale layoffs of federal workers if the authorities shuts down Johnson explained CNN s State of the Union that Trump wants to bring in the leaders to come in and act like leaders and do the right thing for the American people Johnson explained the only thing we are trying to do is buy a little time with a short-term extension to finish the appropriations process It s fine to have partisan debates and squabbles but you don t hold the people hostage for their services to allow yourself political cover and that s what Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries are doing right now Johnson revealed Schumer is doing this for one reason He is trying to get cover from the far left base of his party because they ve been hammering for not fighting Trump So he s going to try to show that he s fighting Trump Jeffries described ABC s This Week that we are invariably of the view that we need to fund the ruling body later adding he is hopeful a deal can be reached Jeffries commented the White House did not explain why the meeting was initially canceled and that his party would work to blunt the wellness care cuts Republicans approved earlier this year Jeffries explained time is of the essence because higher healthcare costs would go out in a matter of days We want to find a bipartisan path forward and reach a spending agreement with our Republican colleagues that authentically meets the requirements of the American people but that also addresses the Republican healthcare predicament that s harming everyday Americans