Congress Struggles to Approve Funding, Risking Government Shutdown

WASHINGTON — With the government on the brink of a shutdown, Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress left a White House session with President Donald Trump on Monday afternoon, showing no willingness to budge from their firm stances to prevent a cessation of funding.

If Congress does not pass funding legislation and Trump does not sign it by Tuesday night, numerous government offices nationwide will temporarily close, and non-essential federal workers will be furloughed, further stressing employees and the economy.

However, lawmakers remained at a standoff on Monday. Democrats are utilizing one of their few leverage points to demand a bill that extends health care benefits. But Republicans are holding firm, challenging Democrats to oppose legislation that would maintain government funding largely at present levels.

“There are still large differences between us,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said as he left the White House.

Vice President JD Vance told reporters after the meeting, “I think we’re headed into a shutdown because the Democrats won’t do the right thing.”

Trump has shown little enthusiasm for considering Democrats’ health care requests, even though he agreed to meet with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other congressional leaders like Senate Majority Leader John Thune, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries on Monday.

This meeting marked Trump’s first with the four major congressional leaders since his return to the presidency for a second term. Yet, the Republican president repeatedly indicated before the meeting that he fully anticipates a government shutdown this week.

As he headed into the meeting, Trump made it clear he had no intention to negotiate on Democrats’ current terms.

“They’re going to have to do some things because their ideas are not very good ones,” he said.

Still, Schumer noted afterward that they held “candid, frank discussions” with Trump on health care and hinted that the president was more receptive to their ideas than the Republican leaders present. Schumer also mentioned that Trump found several areas of agreement on policy suggestions.

Schumer said the president “was really listening to us,” adding, “It’s in his hands.”

Democrats are pushing for an extension to Affordable Care Act tax credits that have subsidized health insurance for millions of people since the COVID-19 pandemic. The credits, which are designed to expand coverage for low- and middle-income people, are set to expire at the end of the year.

“Democrats are fighting to protect the health care of the American people,” said Jeffries, a New York Democrat. “We are not going to support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues to gut the health care of everyday Americans.”

Some Republicans are open to extending the tax credits but want changes. But Thune, a South Dakota Republican, has pressed Democrats to vote for the funding bill and take up the debate on tax credits later.

“We’re willing to sit down and work with them on some of the issues they want to talk about,” he told reporters at the White House, adding, “But as of right now, this is a hijacking of the American people, and it’s the American people who are going to pay the price.”

To hold on to their negotiating leverage, Senate Democrats will likely have to vote against a bill to temporarily extend government funding on Tuesday, just hours before a shutdown — an uncomfortable position for a party that has long denounced shutdowns as pointless and destructive.

The bill has already passed the Republican-controlled House and would keep the government funded for seven more weeks while Congress works on annual spending legislation.

Any legislation to fund the government will need support from at least 60 senators in the 100-member Senate. That means that at least eight Democrats would have to vote for the short-term funding bill, because Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky is expected to vote against it.

During the last potential government shutdown in March, Schumer and nine other Democrats voted to break a filibuster and allow a Republican-led funding bill to advance to a final vote. The New York Democrat faced fierce backlash from many in his own party for that decision, with some even calling for him to step down as Democratic leader.

Senate Democrats have begun to discuss some possible next steps if the government does shut down — potentially a proposal for a one- or two-week stopgap if Republicans will work with them on a health care fix, according to several people familiar with the private talks who requested anonymity to discuss them. But there is no consensus in the caucus about how to proceed, or guarantees that Republicans and Trump would negotiate.

Federal agencies were sending out contingency plans if funding lapses at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. They included details on what offices would stay open and which employees would be furloughed.

The Trump administration is using the process to potentially layoff more federal employees. The plans heap more pressure Democratic lawmakers to back away from their demands.

Russ Vought, Trump’s budget director, told reporters at the White House that a shutdown would be managed “appropriately, but it is something that can all be avoided” if Senate Democrats accepted the House-passed bill.

Before joining the administration, Vought had advised hardline conservatives in Congress to use the prospect of a shutdown to negotiate for policy concessions. But on Monday, he berated Democrats for engaging in a similar ploy.

“This is hostage taking. It is not something that we are going to accept,” he said.

Associated Press writers Seung Min Kim, Lisa Mascaro, Kevin Freking and Joey Cappelletti in Washington contributed.

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