President Trump and top Democrats failed to strike an agreement during a private meeting on Monday, with Senator Chuck Schumer pointing to “large differences” on health care and Vice President JD Vance saying that the government was probably “headed to a shutdown.”
Republican and Democratic leaders emerged from the White House blaming the other side for the stalemate as Congress faces a Tuesday deadline to fund the government.
The ramifications of a government shutdown could be immense for the federal work force and Americans relying on an array of government services, with Trump officials signaling they plan to conduct mass firings if the government shuts down. In a letter to federal agencies, the White House Office of Management and Budget said agencies should “use this opportunity to consider reduction in force.”
“I think we’re headed into a shutdown because Democrats won’t do the right thing,” Mr. Vance told reporters. “I hope they change their mind.”
Mr. Schumer, the minority leader, said “very large differences” remained on health care.
“The American people are hurting in their health care,” Mr. Schumer said. “We’re seeing people not being able to get the health care they need, and the American people are crying out for some help. It is our job as legislative leaders to try and solve this problem.”
Mr. Trump’s meeting with Mr. Schumer; Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the majority leader; Speaker Mike Johnson; and Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, came less than 32 hours before the government was slated to shut down, at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. It marked the first time Mr. Trump hosted the Democratic leaders at the White House in his second term.
Democratic leaders characterized the private meeting at the White House as candid and frank, but said they left without being any closer to a breakthrough.
On Monday evening, Mr. Trump seemed to make that possibility more remote. He shared an A.I.-generated video on Truth Social, mocking Mr. Schumer, Mr. Jeffries and the Democratic Party by fabricating Mr. Schumer’s voice at a news conference on Monday afternoon. The video falsely accuses Democrats of trying to give free health care to undocumented immigrants to gain their support. In the video, Mr. Jeffries, who is Black, is pictured with a fake mustache and wearing a sombrero.
Because Republicans have only a narrow majority in the Senate, passing a government spending bill that can win the necessary 60 votes depends on attracting the support of several Democrats. They have said they will not lend their votes to funding legislation unless Republicans agree to add about $1 trillion in health care spending. Democratic lawmakers hope to extend Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year and reverse the cuts to Medicaid and other health care programs enacted in the marquee tax legislation passed earlier this year.
Democrats warned that up to 15 million people could lose their health coverage and 24 million could see their premiums go up by 75 percent.
Republicans have so far refused to agree to any concessions.
Mr. Schumer said he and Mr. Jeffries “laid out to the president some of the consequences of what’s happening in health care, and by his face, he looked like he heard about them for the first time.”
Before the meeting, Democrats had expressed some optimism about the possibility of a bipartisan compromise. But as they left the White House, Mr. Jeffries told reporters that “we are not going to support a partisan Republican spending bill.”
Democrats are also demanding that Republicans release federal funding that lawmakers previously approved that the White House has since unilaterally sought to cancel. “We made the point clear, that how could we negotiate a bipartisan agreement and then have the president unilaterally” undo it all, Mr. Schumer said.
For their part, Republicans repeatedly chided Democrats as being too unyielding, with Mr. Thune accusing them of “hostage taking.” Mr. Vance and the other Republican leaders repeated that they would be willing to work with Democrats on health care spending, but that they wanted to pass the seven-week funding extension first.
Republican leaders have said they will force another vote on Tuesday in the Senate on the House-passed legislation to keep funds flowing at current levels, effectively daring Democrats hours before the shutdown deadline to block it.
“If the Democrats make the decision to shut the government down, the consequences are on them,” Mr. Johnson told reporters after the meeting. “And I think it’s absolutely tragic.”