Trump Hints at Imminent Government Shutdown Ahead of Meeting with ‘Chuck and Nancy’
President Trump is meeting with Congressional leadership today to negotiate tax reform and a new spending bill. However, by the look of his latest tweet, he doesn’t think there’s really any point to this.
Meeting with “Chuck and Nancy” today about keeping government open and working. Problem is they want illegal immigrants flooding into our Country unchecked, are weak on Crime and want to substantially RAISE Taxes. I don’t see a deal!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 28, 2017
Congress has until December 8 to pass a bill that would avert a possible government shutdown. Even though both sides have reportedly proposed a short-term stopgap to postpone negotiations, any new spending bill is likely to be wrapped up in a multitude of partisan issues, which could lead to a new round of arguments and stalemates on Capitol Hill.
The last time Trump negotiated with Democrats on debt limits, he ended up accepting a deal for a short-term budget increase that also allowed for federal relief funding after Hurricane Harvey. There’s a chance that Democrats will use today’s negotiation to continue their previous efforts to establish legal protections for DACA recipients, as well as a border security plan which doesn’t include a wall.
UPDATE – 11:38 a.m. EST: “Chuck and Nancy” seem to agree with Trump that their meeting would be pointless, because they just announced its no longer going to happen.
NEW: Democratic leaders cancel meeting with Pres. Trump following morning tweet: “Given that the President doesn’t see a deal between Democrats and the White House, we believe the best path forward is to continue negotiating with our Republican counterparts in Congress instead." pic.twitter.com/1pseDqzAdZ
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) November 28, 2017
[Image via screengrab]
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