President Trump on Tuesday canceled a meeting at the White House with top congressional Democrats to discuss federal funding, writing on social media that he had decided talks would not be “productive,” escalating a standoff that threatens to shut down the government next week.
Mr. Trump had been set to meet with Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Hakeem Jeffries, both of New York, in an attempt to break through the impasse gripping Capitol Hill. To avert a shutdown on Oct. 1, lawmakers must agree on a spending bill that can win at least 60 votes in the Senate to advance. But Republicans control only 53, so Democrats are demanding that Mr. Trump negotiate with them, including for funding to extend Obamacare subsidies set to expire at the end of the year.
But Mr. Trump accused “Radical Left Democrats” of making “unserious and ridiculous demands” in return for their votes. Mr. Trump added that he would not to meet with them unless “they get serious about the future of our Nation.”
Mr. Jeffries responded by calling Republicans “extremists” who were prepared to shut down the government because they were “unwilling to address the Republican health care crisis that is devastating America.”
Mr. Schumer said Mr. Trump was “running away from the negotiating table before he even gets there.”
“Democrats are ready to work to avoid a shutdown — Trump and Republicans are holding America hostage,” Mr. Schumer said in a statement. “Donald Trump will own the shutdown.”
Last week, Senate Democrats blocked Republicans’ plan to keep federal funding flowing past a Sept. 30 deadline, demanding more than $1 trillion to extend the Obamacare subsidies and reverse cuts to Medicaid and other health programs that Republicans made over the summer.
Senate Republicans in turn blocked the Democrats’ proposal, arguing that there was nothing to negotiate and that they were offering the status quo — simply extending federal spending at current levels.
“The Republican bill is a clean, nonpartisan, short-term continuing resolution to fund the government to give us time to do the full appropriations process,” said Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the majority leader. “And the Democrat bill is the exact opposite.”