‘Brutal slog:’ Government shutdown looms as bipartisan negotiations derail

By Thérèse Boudreaux
The Center Square

Government funding negotiations came to a standstill Tuesday after President Donald Trump cancelled talks with Democratic congressional leaders, saying no meeting “could possibly be productive” given their demands.

After the U.S. Senate failed to pass either Democrats’ or Republicans’ federal funding stopgap proposals Friday, Congress left for a week-long recess. That leaves lawmakers less than 48 hours when they return to pass a Continuing Resolution extending government funding; otherwise, the government will shutdown on Oct. 1.

But Republicans are unwilling to grant Democrats’ demands to include in the CR a permanent extension of the pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies expansion, which could cost more than $1 trillion.

In a social media post Tuesday announcing his decision to cancel talks, Trump lambasted congressional Democrats for having “totally lost their way” and urged them to “get serious about the future of our Nation.”

“I’ll be happy to meet with them if they agree to the Principles in this Letter,” he added. “Otherwise, it will just be another long and brutal slog through their radicalized quicksand. To the Leaders of the Democrat Party, the ball is in your court.”

Republicans’ CR would have extended current government funding levels until Nov. 21, buying lawmakers time to pass all 12 annual appropriations bills for fiscal year 2026. It also included $30 million for additional lawmaker security and $58 million for U.S. Supreme Court judges and members of the executive branch.

Despite the nonpartisan nature of the bill, which passed the House on Friday, Democrats refused to provide the necessary votes in the Senate. They argue that a funding stopgap should address the expiring subsidies to prevent millions of Americans from seeing their health care premiums spike at the end of the year.

“Donald Trump just cancelled a high stakes meeting in the Oval Office with myself and Leader [Chuck] Schumer,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., posted on X. “The extremists want to shut down the government because they are unwilling to address the Republican healthcare crisis that is devastating America.”

Republicans, however, have called Democrats’ stance “political theater” and are prepared to pin the blame should the government shutdown.

“The contrast couldn’t be clearer,” Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., shot back Tuesday. “Republicans want to keep the government open, operating, and funded in a fiscally responsible manner. Radical Democrats want to hold the government hostage to advance their woke and wasteful policies.”