Democrats Agree to Meet Trump at 3 p.m. to Discuss Government Shutdown
President Donald Trump invited Democratic congressional leaders for a meeting at the White House Wednesday at 3 p.m. ET in an effort to end a partial government shutdown that was now in its 12th day.
"I'm in the Oval Office," the president tweeted Monday. "Democrats, come back from vacation now and give us the votes necessary for Border Security, including the Wall."
Democratic Congressional leaders agreed to a bipartisan meeting with Trump Wednesday, but so far neither side appears to be backing down in demands to fund the government.
The president refused to sign a bipartisan short-term spending bill on Dec. 20 that would have funded the government until February because it didn't include $5 billion to fund a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico.
Republicans, who held the majority in both the House and Senate in 2018, scrambled to find a way to fund the government before Christmas, holding emergency meetings with Democrats and passing a last-minute bill in the House that included $5 billion for a border wall.
Senate Democrats refused to vote on the new House bill to fund the wall and the partial shutdown, which affected Homeland Security, Justice, Commerce, Interior, Agriculture, Housing and Urban Development, and Transportation departments, began Saturday, Dec. 22.
Three-quarters of the government isn't affected by the shutdown because funding already had been approved.
Democrats will hold a majority in the House of Representatives starting Thursday after contentious midterm elections. Trump rushed to fulfill a campaign promise of a border wall with Mexico before losing the Republican majority in both houses of Congress.
But now with the 116th Congress set to be sworn in Thursday with Democrats set to have full control of the House while Republicans added to their Senate majority, Trump is seeking a truce.
"Border Security and the Wall 'thing' and Shutdown is not where Nancy Pelosi wanted to start her tenure as Speaker!" Trump Tweeted on New Year's Day. "Let's make a deal?"
Pelosi, who is expected to once again become House speaker since becoming the first woman in the role when elected in 2011, replied to Trump's tweet saying that it's a great opportunity to show how Democrats will "quickly pass our plan to end the irresponsible #TrumpShutdown."
".@realDonaldTrump has given Democrats a great opportunity to show how we will govern responsibly & quickly pass our plan to end the irresponsible #TrumpShutdown - just the first sign of things to come in our new Democratic Majority committed to working #ForThePeople," she tweeted.
"Our first order of business will be to end the reckless Trump shutdown and reopen the government," Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the incoming caucus chairman, said in an interview to the Associated Press.
