President Donald Trump on Tuesday canceled a meeting with Democratic congressional leaders to avoid a shutdown over government funding, arguing it could not “possibly be productive” due to Democratic demands.
The reversal leaves the two parties in Washington without a solution to keep the government open past Sept. 30, when the current fiscal year ends and funding runs out. The meeting scheduled for Thursday was intended to negotiate a path forward.
“After reviewing the details of the unserious and ridiculous demands being made by the Minority Radical Left Democrats in return for their Votes to keep our thriving Country open, I have decided that no meeting with their Congressional Leaders could possibly be productive,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Congressional Republicans have proposed a funding extension through Nov. 21, which does not include additional policy priorities except for new funding for security in each branch of government in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s killing. While Republicans have the majority in both the House and Senate, they need some Democratic support to pass a funding extension in the Senate.
Democrats are hoping to use that leverage to force Republicans to support Democratic priorities, particularly on health care.
Democrats have proposed their own funding extension that would keep the government open through Oct. 31, but it would also include several policies Democrats have been seeking. That legislation would extend Affordable Care Act subsidies put in place under the covid-19 pandemic, restore some funding that has been frozen by the Trump administration, reverse cuts to Medicaid enacted under the GOP’s tax and immigration bill and return $491 million to public broadcasting rescinded in July.
Trump argued that the Democrats’ demands would cost over $1 trillion and would enable undocumented immigrants to receive health care. He suggested that he would be “happy to meet with them” if they drop their demands.
“I look forward to meeting with you when you become realistic about the things that our Country stands for,” Trump wrote.
[A partial government shutdown would give Trump more power over federal spending]
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (New York) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (New York) sent a letter to Trump over the weekend requesting to speak with the president to consider their requests. Trump had tentatively agreed to meet Thursday, before announcing via social media that he had canceled the meeting.
Schumer and Jeffries argue that Trump’s unwillingness to meet with them indicates that he wants a government shutdown.
“Trump is running away from the negotiating table before he even gets there,” Schumer said in a statement. “While Americans face rising costs and a Republican health care crisis, Trump would rather throw a tantrum than do his job.”
Jeffries wrote on X that Republicans “want to shut down the government because they are unwilling to address the Republican health care crisis that is devastating America.”
The House passed the Republican funding extension on Friday, then left Washington with no plans to return before the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30.
That afternoon, the Senate rejected both the Republican and Democratic proposals. They plan to return on Monday, Sept. 29, to vote again on the GOP extension. Any changes to that funding proposal would have to go back to the House before it could become law – leaving little time to compromise and avoid a shutdown.
Republican leaders in Congress have similarly rejected Democratic proposals, arguing that the minority party would be blamed for a shutdown because Republicans have proposed a so-called “clean” extension lacking GOP policy.
When faced with a similar situation in March, Schumer, eight other Democratic senators and Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) voted with Republicans to extend funding for six months through the end of September. At the time, Schumer argued that a shutdown would make it easier for OMB Director Russell Vought and Elon Musk, then the head of the cost-cutting U.S. DOGE Service, to eliminate massive swaths of federal agencies.
But the Democratic base exploded with frustration at those Democrats for failing to stand up to Trump. This time, Schumer has said his caucus won’t give Republicans the votes and get nothing in return.
“When Donald Trump says don’t negotiate with Democrats, he doesn’t know what the Senate is like or he doesn’t know how to count,” Schumer told reporters last week. “Because without Democrats, they’re going to end up shutting down the government.”