The state of play in the Senate ahead of the shutdown deadline
Earlier this month, the GOP-controlled House passed a bill known as a continuing resolution that would extend current funding levels for seven weeks and thus avoid a shutdown. But the bill fell short in the Senate, where 60 votes were needed. Republicans control 53 seats in the upper chamber, meaning they need Democratic votes to get the bill over the finish line.
But Senate Democrats appear mostly united in opposing the bill, arguing Republicans should have negotiated with them to find an outcome they could support. Senators are returning to the Capitol on Monday afternoon, where they are set to convene at 3 p.m. to search for a path forward.
Thune told NBC that whether the government shuts down is “totally up to the Democrats,” outlining that “there is a bill sitting at the desk in the Senate right now” that the House passed that would keep the government open. He said the continuing resolution could get another vote this week.
“This decision, in my judgment at this point in time, is up to a handful of Democrats,” Thune said. “We need eight Democrats to pass it through the Senate.”
Congressional leaders set to meet with Trump at White House at 3 p.m.
The top four congressional leaders — Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries — are set to meet with the president at the White House around 3 p.m.
The meeting comes as Democrats have for weeks sought to get Republicans to the negotiating table. Schumer told NBC on Sunday that after Mr. Trump canceled a meeting with the leaders last week, he called Thune on Friday and urged him to get the leaders together for a meeting. The New York Democrat called the meeting a “first step,” saying “we need a serious negotiation.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar says “Republicans have created a health care crisis”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, told “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Sunday that “Democrats are united in pushing” for an extension of expiring health insurance subsidies, accusing Republicans of creating a “health care crisis.”
“My constituents, Americans, are standing on a cliff right now with these insurance premium increases that are upon them,” Klobuchar said. “So, Democrats are united in pushing on this and saying, ‘look, let us do something about this crisis before it is too late.”
Klobuchar, a member of Senate Democratic leadership, outlined that without the extension of the health insurance subsidies, premiums could increase by an estimated 75%. And she stressed that addressing the subsidies is a “now thing.”
“It’s not a December thing. It’s not a January thing. It’s not an offramp,” Klobuchar said. “It is something we have to get done now.”
Trump: “I just don’t know how we are going to solve this issue”
Mr. Trump told CBS News on Sunday that “I just don’t know how we are going to solve this issue.” He indicated that a shutdown is likely unless Democrats back down from their negotiating position.
The president cast the Democrats’ current demands, which have centered on extending Affordable Care Act insurance subsidies, as ill-advised. He said if the Democrats want to discuss health care, they should work with him to prevent undocumented migrants from accessing public benefits.
“The Democrats, incredibly, want to keep their old policies of open borders and we’re not going to have it. We’re not going to allow it,” Mr. Trump said. He added that any possible health care negotiations must address immigration and border-related matters, otherwise, “It’s just not acceptable for us.”
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