WASHINGTON (Reuters) — President Donald Trump will meet with top Democrats in Congress — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries — on Thursday to discuss government funding amid a looming shutdown ahead of a Sept. 30 funding deadline, a source familiar with the talks said on Monday.
Schumer and Jeffries on Saturday demanded a meeting with Trump to avoid a government shutdown when funding ends.
In a letter addressed to Trump, Schumer and Jeffries, both of New York, said on Saturday that GOP leaders din Congress had repeatedly and publicly refused to engage in bipartisan negotiations to keep the government open at the direction of the president.
Healthcare is at the center of the fight over funding, with Democrats seeking more money for subsidies under the Affordable Care Act and the restoration of the funding cut from the Medicaid program for lower-income Americans.
Republicans hold 53 seats in the Senate, compared with the 47 held by Democrats, and have a 219-213 majority in the House.
The Senate on Friday rejected a short-term funding bill and then left town for a weeklong break, increasing the odds of a shutdown. The Friday effort fell short of the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster in the Senate.
Congress has struggled to pass spending legislation in recent years amid rising partisan tensions, repeatedly raising the threat of a shutdown that would leave government workers unpaid and a wide range of services disrupted.
The annual funding debate covers only about 25% of the federal government's $7 trillion budget, which also includes mandatory programs such as Social Security and Medicare, as well as payments on the nation's $37.5 trillion debt.
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