The two top Democrats in Congress on Saturday demanded a meeting with President Trump ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline to fund the government, warning him that Republicans would be blamed for a painful shutdown if he refused to negotiate with them.
“It is now your obligation to meet with us directly to reach an agreement to keep the government open and address the Republican health care crisis,” Senator Chuck Schumer of New York and Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the two minority leaders, wrote in a joint letter to the president. “We do not understand why you prefer to shut down the government rather than protect the health care and quality of life of the American people.”
They added: “At your direction, Republican congressional leaders have repeatedly and publicly refused to engage in bipartisan negotiations to keep the government open.”
The letter was sent a day after Senate Democrats blocked the Republican plan to keep federal funding flowing past the Sept. 30 deadline, demanding concessions on health care and other issues in exchange for their support for a short-term spending bill that would keep the government open.
Republicans, in turn, blocked a Democratic proposal that would extend funding through Oct. 31 and add more than $1 trillion to extend Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year and roll back Medicaid and other health program cuts.
Mr. Trump has not met with the Democratic leaders at the White House all year, and it was not clear he had any appetite to do so in this case.
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The post Top Democratic Leaders Ask Trump for Meeting to Avert a Shutdown appeared first on New York Times.
