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President Donald Trump will meet with the top four congressional leaders at the White House on Monday, just days before a potential government shutdown that could furlough millions of federal employees and disrupt key services nationwide, according to multiple officials familiar with the plans.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) are all expected to attend the Oval Office meeting, a White House official and four congressional aides told NBC News.
The meeting marks a renewed attempt at bipartisan negotiations after Trump abruptly canceled a planned sit-down with Democratic leaders on Thursday — reportedly at the urging of Johnson and Thune. At the time, the president dismissed Democratic proposals as “unserious and ridiculous.”
Since then, the standoff between the White House and congressional Democrats has intensified. Schumer and Jeffries have accused Trump of brinkmanship as the Sept. 30 funding deadline approaches, while the president has blamed Democrats for “manufacturing a healthcare crisis” by trying to tie policy changes to the spending bill.
In a joint statement Saturday evening, Schumer and Jeffries confirmed the meeting and emphasized their willingness to negotiate.
“President Trump has once again agreed to a meeting in the Oval Office,” the two Democrats said. “As we have repeatedly said, Democrats will meet anywhere, at any time and with anyone to negotiate a bipartisan spending agreement that meets the needs of the American people. We are resolute in our determination to avoid a government shutdown and address the Republican healthcare crisis. Time is running out.”
Republican leaders have rejected Democratic demands to include health care provisions in a short-term stopgap bill and are instead pushing to extend government funding for seven weeks while continuing longer-term appropriations talks.
Behind the scenes, tensions escalated further this week when the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) directed federal agencies to prepare mass firing and furlough plans in the event of a shutdown.
Unless Congress passes a continuing resolution or full-year spending legislation before midnight on Sept. 30, funding for most government operations will lapse, threatening to halt paychecks for more than 2 million federal workers and service members.
Schumer reportedly called Thune on Friday, urging him to convince Trump to meet before the deadline. A Schumer aide described the call as “urgent,” citing the shrinking window for compromise.
Meanwhile, Senate Democrats plan to hold a conference call Sunday to coordinate their negotiating strategy before returning to Washington.
With only days remaining before the deadline, both parties face mounting political pressure to avert a shutdown — but neither side has shown signs of backing down.
