Congress Democrats, Trump to Meet as Shutdown Looms

As the government funding is set to expire, the United States Congress Democrats are planning to meet with President Donald Trump this week to discuss measures to keep the government running and avoid a shutdown on October 1st. A source familiar with the matter revealed that the meeting time has not yet been officially scheduled, and the White House spokesperson declined to comment.

Trump has previously stated that he believes a government shutdown is possible but is willing to meet with Democrats even if no agreement is reached. Senate and House Democrats have expressed their desire to include proposed cuts to the federal healthcare program in the negotiations and will not accept a simple temporary funding bill that would keep the government running until November 21st. This bill, which was passed by the Republican-led House last week, failed to pass in the Senate.

On Monday, White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt stated that the administration is still pushing for a "clean" funding extension without the additional provisions requested by Democrats. For a funding bill to pass in the Senate, it requires the support of at least seven Democrats. Democratic leaders have proposed an alternative bill of 150 billion dollars to keep the government running until October 31st, but this bill also failed to secure the necessary 60 votes.

Leavitt told reporters on Monday that the government hopes to "simply and cleanly extend the budget, taking a direct and responsible approach to keep the government running until November 21st."