Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both Democrats from New York, have reached out to President Donald Trump via a letter, urging for a discussion on how to prevent a government shutdown beyond the looming September 30th funding deadline.

They warned, “As the deadline approaches, Republicans risk triggering a damaging shutdown due to their leaders’ unwillingness to engage with Democrats,” highlighting a need for Trump to intervene and negotiate directly to avoid closure and tackle ongoing healthcare issues.

Legislators from both chambers departed after the Senate turned down a temporary funding bill that had cleared the House. This bill, aimed at keeping the government operational until November 21st, failed to gather the necessary 60 votes, with Sen. John Fetterman from Pennsylvania being the sole Democrat siding with it.

That measure would give appropriators more time to finish the 12 full-year government funding bills for all government agencies.

A competing measure proposed by Senate Democrats also failed to advance on the Senate floor with members voting along party lines.

The rejected proposal sought to fund government operations until October 31 and make Obamacare subsidies permanent, addressing end-of-year expirations. It also aimed to reverse Medicaid reductions from a previously signed GOP policy and reinstate public media funding slashed by the Trump administration earlier.

Members of the Senate are not scheduled to return to Washington until September 29th, and House lawmakers are not slated to come back until October.

Schumer and Jeffries accused Republican leaders, under Trump’s guidance, of avoiding bipartisan talks during critical funding negotiations, asserting that despite their budget proposal’s defeat, Republicans prematurely left their duty to secure government funding.

Addressing the letter, a White House representative dismissed it as a sign of Democratic “desperation,” stating that Democrats had “abandoned bipartisan negotiations” about the funding resolution.

If lawmakers don’t reach a deal by September 30th, the federal government will shut down, closing all but essential services and putting most federal employees out of work for the duration of the halt.

On Friday in the Oval Office, Trump blasted Senate Democrats who voted against the Republican-led measure, predicting that the government would shut down “for a period of time.”

“The Republicans want to keep government open. But in the Senate, we have 53 Republicans total, and we need 60 votes. That means we need Democratic votes. I want to thank Senator John Fetterman, he wants to keep the country open,” the president said, adding later that Democrats, “actually dislike our country greatly. So they want to shut down the country.”

Trump said that Republicans will “continue to talk to the Democrats.”

“But I think we could very well end up with a closed, a closed country for a period of time,” he added.

The president earlier this month urged Republican leaders in Congress — Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson — not to engage in negotiations with members of the opposing party on a stopgap spending bill.

“We have to get Republican votes, that’s all,” he told Fox News’ “Fox and Friends,” adding that Republicans shouldn’t “even bother” with Democrats.

On Friday, after the Senate votes failed, Thune blasted Schumer and other Democrats for being “unserious” about government funding.

“They’re trying to use what they think is leverage to get a bunch of stuff done that’s never going to happen,” Thune said. “I mean, can you imagine anything in that bill that they sent that we voted down today, passing in the Republican House of Representatives? Absolutely not.”

Thune condemned the Democrats for trying to put healthcare policy on a continuing resolution and said that Republicans kept the government funded during the last Democratic presidential administration under former President Joe Biden.

“We didn’t take it hostage or hijack it to try and do some colossal list of liberal, you know, wish list type priorities and policies,” Thune said.

The Senate majority leader added that he’s “been available now for weeks,” to negotiate but that Democrats prioritize “satisfying, I think, their very leftist base.”

Thune also said that following the Senate’s recess, they’re prepared to “vote on a bill already passed by the House, ready to be signed by the President, all it takes is a handful of Democrats to join the Republicans.”