WASHINGTON (AP) – Partisan standoffs on Heath’s care and spending threaten to cause the first US Government closure In almost seven years, Congressional Democrats and Republicans have been filled with thousands of federal workers, but they can’t find a deal Or you will be fired forever.
The government will be closed at 12:01am Wednesday if lawmakers do not pass the home measures to finish work while the Senate extends federal funds for seven weeks. Annual spending invoice. Senate Democrats say they won’t vote unless Republicans include an extension of healthcare benefits that will expire, among other requests, among other things, but President Donald Trump and the Republicans have refused to negotiate any negotiations at all, claiming it is a stripped “clean” bill.
It has been unknown so far whether either side would flash before the deadline.
“It’s now in the hands of the president,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said he made little obvious progress on Monday after meeting with Trump at the White House. “He can avoid a shutdown if he lets Republican leaders go with what we want.”
Vice President JD Vance, who was also present at the meeting, said, “I think we’re heading towards closure because Democrats aren’t doing the right thing.”
The partisan stalemate over government spending is a Frequent events in Washingtonthe current impasse comes as their basic voters are ruining the fight against Trump as Democrats see an unusual opportunity to use leverage to achieve policy goals. Republicans, who have a 53-47 majority in the Senate, will need at least eight votes from Democrats to finish the filibuster and pass the bill with 60 votes, as Kentucky’s Republican senators are expected to vote against it.
There is no agreement in the White House
Trump showed little interest He was on Monday with Schumer, Senate Majority Leader John Tune, Rs.D., House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. and House Democrat leader Hakeem Jeffries, DN.Y.
As he headed to the meeting, it made it clear that Trump had no intention of negotiating the current terms of the Democrats.
“Their ideas aren’t very good,” Trump said.
According to lawmakers who attended the Private Caucus meeting and requested anonymity to discuss it, Jeffries then heard more than he heard more than he talked about, after which he listened more than he spoke.
Schumer said he had a “frank, candid discussion” with Trump about healthcare after the closed door meeting. Vance also said Trump has found several agreements on policy ideas.
Schumer said Trump “is not aware” that health insurance costs could skyrocket if the grant ends on December 31st.
However, Trump seemed unprepared for serious negotiations. Hours later, Trump posted a fake video of Schumer and Jeffries, filmed from footage of an actual press conference outside the White House after the meeting. In the modified video, Schumer’s voice sounds like he’s making fun of the Democrats and Jeffries stands by him with a cartoon sombrero and mustache. Mexican music plays in the background.
Jeffries said, “Prejudice doesn’t go anywhere.”
He added, “We’re not retreating.”
Healthcare subsidies expired
Democrats push for extensions to affordable care laws Tax credit It has boosted health insurance subsidies for millions of people since the Covid-19 pandemic. Credits designed to increase coverage for low- and middle-income earners are set to expire at the end of the year.
“We are not going to support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues to disrupt daily American healthcare,” Jeffries said.
Thune is pushing Democrats to vote for the fundraising bill and later take on the debate over tax credits. Some Republicans are open to extending their tax credits, but they want to impose new restrictions on them.
“We want to sit down and work with them on some of the issues they want to talk about,” Thune told White House reporters, “But for now, this is a hijacking of the American people and it’s the Americans who pay the price.”
Voting for important and rare Democrats
Democrats are in a displeased position for the party that has long accused the closure of being pointless and destructive, and that It is unknown how or when it will end. But party activists and voters argue that Democrats need to do something to stand up to Trump.
Some groups Schumer called for resignation In March, he and nine other Democrats voted to defeat the Filibuster and allow the Republican-led funding bill to move on to the final vote.
Schumer said he voted to keep the government open as the closures made matters worse as Trump’s administration cut down on government jobs. He says things have changed since, including the passing of a massive GOP tax cut bill this summer, which has reduced Medicaid.
Some Democrats who voted for Schumer in March to keep the government open were still hopes of compromise. Michigan Sen. Gary Peters said Monday there was still time before the early deadline on Wednesday.
“There’s a lot of things that can happen in this place in a short period of time,” Peters said.
Preparation for shutdown begins
Federal agencies had sent out contingency plans if funding failed. In its direction to the agency, the White House suggests that the closure could lead to widespread layoffs across the government.
Trump’s budget director, Russ Vault, told White House reporters that if Senate Democrats accept a bill passed in the House, the closure would be “closed properly, but it’s all avoidable.”
Before joining the administration, Vought advised hard-line conservatives in Congress to negotiate policy concessions using the prospect of a closure. However, on Monday he accused Democrats of engaging in similar tricks.
“It’s hostage taking, not something we accept,” he said.
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Associated Press authors Seung Min Kim, Kevin Freking and Joey Cappelletti of Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.
