Crisis Talks Begin: Senate Republicans Rush to White House as US Shutdown Stalemate Deepens!

WASHINGTON: As the government shutdown enters its fourth week, Senate Republicans are headed to the White House on Tuesday — not for urgent talks on how to end it, but for a display of unity with US President Donald Trump as they refuse to negotiate on any Democratic demands.
Senate Democrats, too, are confident in their strategy to keep voting against a House-passed bill that would reopen the government until Republicans, including Trump, engage them on extending 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 stalemate will last — even as hundreds of thousands of federal workers will miss another paycheck in the coming days and states are sounding warnings that key federal programs will soon lapse completely.
And the meeting at the White House appears unlikely, for now, to lead to a bipartisan resolution as Senate Republicans are dug in and Trump has followed their lead.
“I think the president’s ready to get involved on having the discussion” about extending the subsidies, said Senate Republican leader John Thune, R-SD, on Monday. “But I don’t think they are prepared to do that until (Democrats) open up the government.”
What about Trump?
Tuesday’s White House meeting will be a chance for GOP senators to engage with the president on the shutdown after he has been more involved in foreign policy and other issues.
The president last week dismissed Democratic demands as “crazy,” adding, “We’re just not going to do it.”
North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven said that Republican senators will talk strategy with the president at Tuesday’s lunch. “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, GOP lawmakers expect Trump to stay in line with their current posture to reject negotiations until the government is open. “Until they put something reasonable on the table to talk about, I don’t think there’s anything to talk about,” said Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy.
Democrats say they believe Trump has to be more involved for the government to reopen. “He needs to get off the sidelines, get off the golf course,” said House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-NY.
“We know that House and Senate Republicans don’t do anything without getting permission from their boss, Donald J. Trump.”