Schumer, Jeffries Demand Meeting With Trump as Shutdown Looms

Democratic leaders in Congress, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), on Sept. 20 requested a meeting with President Donald Trump as the threat of a government shutdown looms.

“We write to demand a meeting in connection with your decision to shut down the federal government because of the Republican desire to continue to gut the healthcare of the American people,” the two New York Democrats wrote in a message to the White House.

They said that Democrats “have been clear and consistent in our position.”

“We are ready to work toward a bipartisan spending agreement that improves the lives of American families and addresses the Republican healthcare crisis.”

Democrats want modifications to federal health care laws in exchange for their backing to pass a stopgap funding bill preventing a government shutdown. The government is currently set to enter a shutdown after midnight on Sept. 30, unless Congress can pass legislation to keep the government funded.

The bill to avert a shutdown might require Democratic support to pass the narrowly divided House, and will certainly require such support to overcome the 60-vote filibuster threshold in the Senate.

However, Democrats have indicated that they won’t give their backing unless Republicans agree to modify the health care sections of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which cut nearly a trillion dollars in Medicaid spending.

Republican backers of the bill say that these cuts solely targeted waste, fraud, and abuse. The legislation’s critics have pointed to Congressional Budget Office estimates that more than 10 million Americans will lose coverage under the bill and highlight the potential impact the plan could have on small rural hospitals.

In exchange for their backing of a resolution to keep the government open, Democrats have demanded an extension in subsidies for low- and middle-income Americans who purchased health insurance through the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare. The proposal would also reverse Medicaid cuts included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has indicated that any shutdown would lie at Democrats’ feet after Republican leaders rejected the Democrats’ plan.

Thune said Democrats “have a choice to make” as the Sept. 30 deadline approaches: They can work with Republicans, or “they can shut down the government with all that will mean for the American people.”

Republicans, including Trump, have pushed for the passage of a “clean” stopgap funding bill, also known as a continuing resolution (CR).

In a post on Truth Social, Trump encouraged Republicans to “stick TOGETHER to fight back against the Radical Left Democrat demands” by voting in favor of a clean CR.

“Congressional Republicans, including Leader John Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson, are working on a short term ‘CLEAN’ extension of Government Funding to stop Cryin’ Chuck Schumer from shutting down the Government,” Trump said.

“Democrats want the Government to shut down. Republicans want the Government to OPEN.”

The House last week advanced a clean CR, paving the way for a final vote on the funding bill.

However, that resolution failed to overcome the filibuster on an initial vote in the Senate on Sept. 19, being rejected by a margin of 44–48.

On Sept. 17, Schumer said that Democrats “don’t have a red line” and are willing to discuss a way forward.

“We will sit down and negotiate if they will sit down and negotiate,” Schumer said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.