Senate Republicans head to White House during shutdown

WASHINGTON (AP) – Like government shutdown enters its fourth week, Senate Republicans will head to the White House on Tuesday — not for urgent discussions about how to end it, but for a show of unity with the president. Donald Trump because they refuse to negotiate on Democratic demands.

Senate Democrats are also confident in their strategy to continue to vote against a bill passed by the House that would reopen the government until Republicans, including Trump, urge them to extend health care subsidies that expire at the end of the year.

With both sides showing no signs of movement, it’s unclear how long the standoff will last — even if hundreds of thousands of federal workers I will miss another paycheck In the coming days, states are warning that key federal programs will soon be completely abandoned. And the lunch meeting in the White House Rose Garden appears unlikely, for now, to lead to a bipartisan resolution as Senate Republicans are entrenched and Trump has followed their lead.

Asked about the luncheon message, Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, the second-ranking Republican leader in the Senate, told Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” Tuesday that it will: “Republicans are united, and I expect the president to say, ‘Hold on.’

Senate Republican Leader John Thune of South Dakota said Monday that he believes Trump is willing to “get involved in the discussion” about extending the subsidies. “But I don’t think they’re ready to do that until (Democrats) open up the government,” he said.

Missed paychecks and cash-strapped programs

As Capitol Hill remains shut down, the effects of the shutdown are worsening.

Federal workers may not receive additional paychecks amid complete uncertainty about when they could possibly be paid. Government services such as Special Supplementary Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Childrenknown as WIC, and One step ahead preschool programs that serve families in need face potential funding cuts. On Monday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the National Nuclear Security Administration was furlough of 1,400 federal workers. The Federal Aviation Administration has reported a shortage of air traffic controllers and flight delays in cities across the United States.

And as the stop continues future healthcare costs Amid uncertainty for millions of Americans, most U.S. adults are worried about the rising cost of health care, a new study finds. Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll, as they do decisions about next year’s health coverage.

Yet there has been little urgency in Washington because each side believes the other will eventually cave.

“Our position remains the same: We want to end the shutdown as soon as possible and resolve the ACA premium crisis that threatens more than 20 million hard-working Americans,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Monday, referring to expanded Affordable Care Act subsidies that expire in December.

Schumer called the White House meeting a “pep rally” and said it was “shameful” that House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., kept the House out of town during the shutdown.

November deadlines

Members of both parties recognize that as the shutdown drags on, it becomes less and less likely that Congress will be able to extend subsidies or fund the government through the regular appropriations process. The House GOP’s bill, which Senate Democrats have rejected 11 times, would only keep the government open until November 21.

Thune suggested Monday that Republicans could propose a longer extension of current funding instead of passing individual spending bills if the shutdown doesn’t end soon. Congress should pass an extension beyond Nov. 21, he said, “or even something on a much longer-term basis.”

Democrats are focused on November 1, when next year’s enrollment period for ACA coverage begins and millions of people sign up for their coverage. without expanded subsidy support which began during the COVID-19 pandemic. Once those enrollments begin, they say, it would be much harder to restore the subsidies, even if there was a bipartisan compromise.

“Very soon, Americans are going to have to make some very difficult choices about which health care plan they choose next year,” Schumer said.

And Trump?

Tuesday’s meeting at the White House will be an opportunity for Republican senators to engage with the president on the shutdown after it was more involved in foreign policy and other issues.

Last week, the president called the Democratic demands “crazy,” adding, “We’re just not going to do it.” »

North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven said Republican senators will discuss strategy with the president at lunch on Tuesday. “Obviously we’ll talk to him about it, and he’ll give us his ideas, and we’ll talk about ours,” Hoeven said. “Anything we can do to try to get Democrats to join us” and pass the Republican bill to reopen the government, Hoeven said.

Still, Republican lawmakers expect Trump to stick to his current position of rejecting negotiations until the government is open.

“Until they put something reasonable on the table to discuss, I don’t think there’s anything to talk about,” Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy said.

Democrats say Trump needs to do more to get the government reopened.

“He needs to stay away, get off the golf course,” said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. “We know that House and Senate Republicans don’t do anything without permission from their boss, Donald J. Trump.”

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Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Stephen Groves and Matt Brown contributed to this report.