 "US govt shutdown, Day-21: Democrats call Trump 'disengaged'; he sets 'one condition' for any meeting")
The US government shutdown has entered its fourth week, making it the longest in the country’s history. Democrats are not pushing President Donald Trump to be more serious about the shutdown and get more involved in finding a solution to end it.
Some of Trump’s Republican colleagues agree that Trump has been disengaged from the issue and that he should pay more attention to it. At the same time, the president has refused a meeting requested by Democrats until the three-week-long shutdown ends.
“I would like to meet with both of them, but I said one little caveat, I will only meet if they let the country open,” Trump told reporters, referencing the request by US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to meet “anytime, anyplace.”
All but three senators in the Democratic caucus are withholding their support for the Republican-led stopgap funding bill, unless Trump and enough Republican lawmakers agree to an extension of an enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credit that is due to expire on December 31.
‘Nothing’s changed’
On Tuesday, Trump had cheeseburgers at a private lunch with Republican senators, where they noted that very little discussion on the shutdown had taken place.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said, “He mentioned it briefly, but my sense is that nothing’s changed. We’ll talk about all the issues the Democrats want to talk about once the government reopens.”
Trump met with Schumer and Jeffries just once, on September 29, two days before the shutdown started, and the discussion ended poorly. Hours later, he mocked the two Democrats in an AI-generated post that falsely quoted Schumer and depicted Jeffries wearing a sombrero.
Republicans who control Congress have begun talking about possible next steps in what has been a stalemate with Democrats, who are withholding their support from a temporary funding bill until they win an extension of a healthcare subsidy.
Senator Susan Collins, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee that oversees federal spending, on Tuesday told reporters that Republicans will likely need to extend their stopgap bill to reopen the government and fund operations beyond its November 21 end-date.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts‘He does not care’
“Republicans here are not going to make a move without Trump saying that he’s ready to end this. He doesn’t seem particularly interested or to care. And until that changes, I think we’re going to be at an impasse,” said Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
On the other hand, Thune said, “I think the president’s ready to get involved in having the discussion about the enhanced premium tax credits. But I don’t think they’re prepared to do that until they open up the government.”
Thousands of federal workers have been furloughed as federal agencies pared their activities beginning on October 1, the start of the new fiscal year. Simultaneously, previous-year funding expired on about $1.7 trillion in funds for agency operations, which amounts to about one-quarter of annual federal spending.
With inputs from agencies
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