Summary
United States President Donald Trump plans to meet with Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress to discuss how to prevent a partial government shutdown. The government needs to agree on a spending bill before the deadline to avoid the shutdown. The main disagreement is over whether healthcare provisions should be included in the spending bill.
Key Facts
- President Trump is meeting with congressional leaders to discuss government funding.
- Without an agreement, the government faces a partial shutdown from midnight on Wednesday.
- Democrats want the spending bill to include healthcare expansion, reversing Medicaid cuts.
- Republicans want healthcare issues handled separately in a broader spending package.
- Republicans currently control 53 out of 100 Senate seats, but 60 votes are needed to pass spending bills.
- Senate leaders John Thune and Chuck Schumer disagree on who is responsible for the standoff.
- If no agreement is reached, federal employees may be furloughed or work without pay during the shutdown.
- The longest U.S. government shutdown was 34 days, occurring in late 2018 to early 2019.
