WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has agreed to fulfill with the highest Democrats in Congress as a authorities shutdown nears on the finish of the month.
The assembly is scheduled for Thursday, per a supply aware of the negotiations.
“After weeks of Republican stonewalling in Congress, President Trump has agreed to meet this week in the Oval Office,” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) stated in a joint assertion on Tuesday. “In the meeting, we will emphasize the importance of addressing rising costs, including the Republican healthcare crisis. It’s past time to meet and work to avoid a Republican-caused shutdown.”
The extremely anticipated sitdown between Trump and the 2 Democratic leaders on the White Home comes amid a tense standoff with prime Republican leaders forward of subsequent week’s deadline to fund the federal government.
The Republican-controlled Home final week narrowly handed a “clean” short-term funding invoice, however Democrats rejected it and referred to as it “dirty” as a result of it doesn’t tackle well being care, together with expiring tax credit for individuals who get their medical health insurance by means of the Reasonably priced Care Act.
“The cost of living in our country is way too high,” the 2 Democratic leaders wrote in a letter to Trump on Saturday. “Tens of millions of Americans are on the brink of their healthcare costs increasing by thousands of dollars per year, risking bankruptcy for many families. We do not understand why you prefer to shut down the government rather than protect the healthcare and quality of life of the American people.”
Kevin Dietsch by way of Getty Pictures
Republicans, in the meantime, have accused Democrats of looking for to close the federal government down by opposing the invoice to maintain the federal government working whereas lawmakers hammer out a broader spending settlement.
Trump stated over the weekend that he’s keen to fulfill with the Democratic leaders however that he didn’t see the purpose in doing so.
“I will, but they don’t care about crime,” Trump instructed reporters on the White Home. “They want to keep men in women’s sports. They want all this stuff. They don’t change. … I’d love to meet with them, but I don’t think it’s going to have any impact.”
On Monday afternoon, the White Home press workplace blasted Democrats for demanding concessions in change for supporting a authorities funding invoice.
“The party of open borders, violent crime, and transgender for everybody is now jeopardizing military pay, critical care for veterans, firefighter pay, disaster relief funding, and many more programs on which Americans rely — while President Donald J. Trump and Republicans are committed to keeping the government open with a clean funding extension,” the White Home stated in a press launch.
