Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries says Trump is marching the country into a government shutdown
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said President Donald Trump and the Republican Party are “marching the country” into a government shutdown over their refusal to meet with Democrats and strike a deal to save health care funding from cuts.
Jeffries told the Associated Press in an interview late Friday that he remained hopeful Congress could reach an agreement to prevent a federal funding lapse next week, ahead of the Oct. 1 deadline.
But with Republicans having canceled next week’s House voting session and Trump canceling his meeting with the Democratic leaders this week, he said, “the onus is on Donald Trump to show some presidential leadership.”
“Donald Trump and Republicans are chaos agents,” Jeffries said. “At moments in time that require stable, presidential leadership, Donald Trump is incapable of providing it.”
This shutdown, not the nation’s first, could be more difficult. Trump’s budget office this week ordered federal agencies to prepare a mass firing of federal workers, rather than the typical temporary employee furlough, if the federal government were to close.
The Republican leaders, Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, say a shutdown can still be avoided if Democrats drop their demands. Before leaving town, House Republicans approved legislation that would keep the government funded into November, as Congress works to finish up its regular appropriations work. But that measure failed in the Senate, as did a Democrat alternative that included the health care funds.
“It’s my hope that we can find resolution over the next few days and avoid a government shutdown,” Jeffries said.
The Democratic leader, who is in line to become the House speaker if Democrats regain the majority in next year’s midterm elections, has become the party’s chief messenger in the high-stakes funding fight. The Democrats are confronting restive voters demanding that they stand up to the Trump administration and quit funding the White House’s agenda.
Trump may not say Jeffries’ name out loud — the Democratic leader said he was informed recently that in the past decade, since Trump entered politics, the Republican president has not mentioned the Democrat from Brooklyn – but Jeffries this week repeatedly name-checked him.
“Donald Trump, Get back to Washington, DC.,” Jeffries said earlier at the U.S. Capitol, as the president attended the Ryder Cup in New York. “Why are you at a golf event right now? And the government is four days away from closing. That’s outrageous.”
After Trump abruptly canceled the planned meeting with him and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, Jeffries said at the Capitol, “Why did you back out of the meeting, bro?”
Jeffries told his colleagues on a private conference call on Friday with House Democrats to “stay the course.”
Democrats are fighting to shore up health care funding, and in particular to prevent the expiration of enhanced subsidies, put in place during the COVID-19 crisis, that helped Americans pay for insurance through the Affordable Care Act exchanges. Without action, the boosted subsidy will lapse, risking premium spikes for millions of Americans nationwide.