The leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives Hakeem Jeffries stated that there is still a chance for a bipartisan budget deal. According to him, “the path to compromise is still open,” despite the ongoing shutdown. He spoke after a meeting at the White House with Donald Trump and members of Congress.
One of the key topics is the end of expanded subsidies under Obamacare. These payments end at the end of the year, and as Jeffries noted, this is causing concern in the administration. At the same time, he emphasized that discussions about medical aid for undocumented migrants are more of a political move than a real obstacle to negotiations.
Jeffries also commented on statements about possible cuts and suspension of funding in “Democratic” states. He is confident that such threats will backfire on their authors and will not affect party unity.
According to him, it is important to distinguish what happened at the White House from what started immediately after the meeting.
“At first there was a serious conversation. But then the president behaved unseriously and even strangely,” Jeffries said.
He was referring to mariachi memes that Trump posted on social media, addressed personally to him.
Despite this, according to Jeffries, the Democrats do not intend to back down and will continue to seek compromise — even if the shutdown drags on.
Jeffries Maintains Democratic Unity While Senate Blocks Republican Bill
Last month, Hakeem Jeffries rallied almost the entire Democratic caucus in the House of Representatives — more than two hundred people voted against the Republicans’ temporary budget. Previously, the party did not object to such decisions, but now decided to stand firm. Only one person broke away from the entire group.
This time, Jeffries also secured the support of Chuck Schumer — the leader of the Democratic minority in the Senate. There was no such unity in the spring: back then, Schumer and some Democratic senators decided not to interfere with the Republican project, just to avoid a shutdown.
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Now the situation is different. Only a few Democrats in the Senate sided with the Republicans — and that was not enough. They fell just short of the required 60 votes , and the bill failed again. The attempt to push through a seven-week budget on Friday also led nowhere.
Democrats are demanding an extension of tax subsidies that make private insurance through Obamacare more affordable. Another point is guarantees from the White House. It will not be able to unilaterally cut spending previously approved under the deal.
On Sunday, Chuck Schumer said on CBS:
“They refuse to talk to us.”
According to him, the only way out of the deadlock is through new negotiations between Trump and the four Congressional leaders.
The White House Threatens Layoffs, Shutdown Continues Without Negotiations
The shutdown in the US has already lasted five days. And it seems the White House is preparing for the worst. They do not rule out that if talks with the Democrats completely stall, Trump may resort to layoffs in federal agencies.
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Presidential adviser Kevin Hassett on CNN tried to pressure opponents: let the Democrats finally give in before it’s too late. Otherwise, there will be economic losses and the first cuts, which the head of the budget office Russell Vought had previously warned about.
“Trump and Vought are ready to act if necessary. But they still hope this can be avoided. If the president decides that the negotiations are completely dead, layoffs will begin. But there is hope that with the start of the new week, the Democrats will realize: laying people off is unreasonable,” Hassett said.
Trump, in turn, has already blamed his opponents, calling possible cuts “Democrat-caused layoffs.”
“If anyone gets fired — it’s because of the Democrats,” he told reporters on Sunday.
Recall, the shutdown began on October 1 — at the start of the new fiscal year. Senate Democrats blocked a temporary bill that would have allowed government agencies to be funded until November 21.
