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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Sunday slammed Republicans’ “totally partisan” funding bill and reiterated his push to meet with President Trump as “the only way” to avoid a shutdown.
“What we are asking very simply is what has always been done in these kinds of budget negotiations: a bipartisan negotiation. The Republican bill is a totally partisan bill with zero — zero — input from Democrats, and that’s not how to get things done,” Schumer said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“We had two bills on the floor Friday. Both failed. The Democratic bill and the Republican bill. And that’s because there has been no negotiation with the Republicans,” Schumer continued. “There always used to be. When I was majority leader, for four years, we didn’t have a shutdown because we sat down with Republicans.”
“So [House Minority Leader] Hakeem Jeffries [(D-N.Y.)] and I have now demanded to sit down with Donald Trump because that’s the only way to avoid a Trump shutdown. The Republican leadership is listening to Trump and not talking to us,” he added.
Senate Democrats on Friday voted overwhelmingly to defeat the House-passed GOP funding measure, which, given GOP absences, failed to win even a simple majority on the floor. Centrist Sen. John Fetterman (Pa.) was the only Democrat to vote for it.
Democrats are now pushing Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to negotiate, but the Republican leader said the White House needs to weigh in before any deal is reached. Thune explained that while his staff has been in contact with White House staff, he has yet to speak directly to Trump on the matter.
Schumer and Jeffries sent a letter to Trump Saturday asking for him to meet with them to negotiate a funding deal, arguing he has an “obligation” to sit down and talk.
Schumer and Jeffries sent a letter to Trump on Saturday asking for him to meet with them to negotiate a funding deal, arguing he has an “obligation” to sit down and talk.
“They want all this stuff. They don’t change. They haven’t learned from the biggest meeting they’ve ever taken. … I’d love to meet with them, but I don’t think it’s going to have an impact,” Trump said as he walked to Marine One before departing the White House for an event in Virginia.
