WASHINGTON — As the federal government shutdown crosses the three-week mark, Democrats are more and more calling on President Donald Trump to get extra concerned to find an answer.
And a few Republicans acknowledge that Trump has been disengaged and say it wouldn’t harm if he received extra concerned.
“Hakeem and I reached out to the president right now and urged him to sit down down and negotiate with us to resolve the well being care disaster, tackle it and finish the Trump shutdown,” Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., advised reporters Tuesday, referring to his Home counterpart, Hakeem Jeffries of New York. “We urged him to satisfy with us, and we stated we’ll arrange an appointment with him any time, anyplace earlier than he leaves.”
And as Republican senators ate cheeseburgers at a personal lunch assembly with Trump on Tuesday, there was little dialogue of the shutdown, a number of of them stated afterward.
“He talked about it briefly, however my sense is that nothing’s modified,” stated Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. “We’ll speak about all the problems the Democrats need to speak about as soon as the federal government reopens.”
That has been the GOP technique all alongside — to carry agency on its short-term funding invoice and count on Democrats to again off their calls for to increase Inexpensive Care Act subsidies. It hasn’t labored, with the Senate voting 11 instances to reject the invoice that handed the Republican-led Home model and seeing no votes altering by even one senator.
Trump has met solely as soon as with Schumer and Jeffries, on Sept. 29 — two days earlier than the shutdown started — and it didn’t go nicely. He reacted hours later by taunting the 2 Democrats with a man-made intelligence-generated submit that put phrases in Schumer’s mouth and a sombrero on Jeffries’ head.
Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., stated Trump’s involvement is “important” to ending the shutdown as a result of GOP leaders on Capitol Hill received’t minimize a deal with out his blessing.
“Republicans right here usually are not going to make a transfer with out Trump saying that he’s prepared to finish this,” Schiff stated. “He doesn’t appear notably or to care. And till that modifications, I believe we’re going to be at an deadlock.”
Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., stated Trump has been disengaged solely as a result of “he’s had his arms full with Israel and worldwide issues.”
“So he’s had each purpose to be disengaged and simply to let legislators deal with this themselves,” she stated, including that Democrats ought to cope with Senate Majority Chief John Thune, R-S.D., as an alternative of Trump.
However Thune — together with Home Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. — have each made it clear that they received’t negotiate straight with Democrats and that these discussions can occur solely on the Appropriations Committee stage.
Thune advised NBC Information that Trump will get entangled in easy methods to deal with the Obamacare subsidies that expire on the finish of this yr, which might elevate premiums on tens of millions of enrollees.
“I believe the president’s able to get entangled in having the dialogue in regards to the enhanced premium tax credit. However I don’t assume they’re ready to try this till they open up the federal government,” he stated earlier than the assembly.
The White Home stated its place on shutdown negotiations hasn’t modified since funding initially lapsed on Oct. 1. And as for any doable talks, Trump stated Tuesday he would meet with Democrats solely “with one main situation,” which is “open up the nation first.”
A White Home official advised NBC Information, “We’re completely happy to have a coverage dialog however not whereas the American persons are being held hostage.”
The White Home has urged Democrats to hitch Republicans in passing a stopgap measure and says it will then be open to having a dialogue on well being care points and past.
“Our place has been constant,” the official stated. “Democrats are wish-casting a state of affairs the place the president is available in and will get concerned” as a result of they don’t have one other answer proper now.
Because the shutdown has dragged on, the White Home has carried on with enterprise as regular. Trump has traveled domestically and abroad, taking part in additional than a dozen occasions. On the finish of this week, he’ll depart on a multiday journey to Asia, the place he’s anticipated to participate in a number of world summits.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., stated Trump’s “refusal to interact” is prolonging the shutdown, “as a result of the Republicans usually are not ready to need to comply with something with out his inexperienced gentle.”
“The query is, when will President Trump interact? What he does, we’ll clear up this. If he chooses to be unengaged, we received’t. As a result of the one strategy to keep away from shutdowns — or the one manner we get out of them — is when the president engages. Up to now, he’s chosen to give attention to all the things else however preserve the U.S. authorities open.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., stated he has been “considerably astonished” that the self-styled “final dealmaker” has refused to deal on this matter.
“It’s very simply solved. There’s a transparent path,” he stated. “Get in a room. Agree to increase the well being care tax credit.”
In Trump’s absence, Johnson has stepped in to fill the void. All through the three-week shutdown, Johnson has held each day information conferences within the Capitol with members of his management crew and a rotating solid of key Republicans, blasting Democrats for blocking the Home-passed funding invoice and backing what he calls the “Schumer shutdown.”
On high of that, he has launched an aggressive media blitz in regards to the shutdown, doing almost 50 interviews since Oct. 1 with TV networks, radio exhibits, streaming exhibits and print and digital retailers, Johnson’s workplace stated. They embrace appearances on Fox Information, Newsmax, NBC Information, NewsNation, MSNBC, a Wall Avenue Journal podcast and “The Sean Spicer Present.”
In every look, the message is identical: Johnson says he received’t sit down and negotiate with Democrats over their calls for as a result of they merely must cross the Home’s persevering with decision, or CR. He has had one latest cellphone name with Jeffries, however neither has revealed what they mentioned.
“I don’t have something to supply,” Johnson advised reporters Tuesday. “I don’t have any partisan precedence I can pull off of the CR to make it extra palatable for them. There’s nothing to barter.”
Requested Tuesday whether or not Trump’s engagement is the important thing to breaking the deadlock, Jeffries replied: “In fact Donald Trump ought to come to the negotiating desk.”
Requested whether or not Trump ought to get extra engaged, Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., responded, “I don’t assume it may harm, however I don’t see any indication that the president’s wanting to try this.”
“This shutdown will cease when all people takes their egos out again and shoots them. And that hasn’t occurred but,” he stated. “Everyone’s nonetheless up on their excessive horse. And I assumed they might have fallen off by now. However they haven’t. So the cleaning soap opera continues.”
