MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
President Trump canceled a meeting with Democratic leaders to discuss a possible government funding deal. Negotiations seem to be stuck. The top House Democrat, Hakeem Jeffries, insists any funding bill must address health care.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Our position is not complicated. Cancel the cuts. Lower the costs. Save health care.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
NPR congressional correspondent Deirdre Walsh joins us once again. Deirdre, good morning.
DEIRDRE WALSH, BYLINE: Good morning, Steve.
INSKEEP: OK, so they should have been passing one-year appropriations. They're not doing that. They're talking about a short-term extension, and Democrats want to add this thing on health care. And why did the president pull out of the meeting?
WALSH: Well, he posted a lengthy message on social media, as he does, saying that demands from Democrats about attaching those health care provisions were, quote, "unserious," and he said no meeting could possibly be productive. Hill Republicans proposed what Democrats have voted for in the past - a straight extension of current funding levels through November 21 to get to this broader spending deal. That narrowly passed in the House last week, but it didn't get the 60 votes it needs in the Senate.
INSKEEP: Oh, yeah. Thanks for the reminder. Republicans have the majority, but in the Senate, you need more than a majority. So what are the demands that Democrats are making?
WALSH: Well, they put out an alternative bill that also failed to advance last week. They want to extend tax credits that are part of the Affordable Care Act. Those help middle- and working-class Americans buy health care plans, and they expire on December 31. Democrats also want to roll back the Medicaid changes that were part of the president's tax bill that he signed in July. The president says those are all nonstarters.
INSKEEP: OK. Is there any way to avoid a shutdown then?
WALSH: It seems unlikely. You know, Congress can work sometimes at the very last minute facing a deadline to get something done, but there are no talks at this point. Republicans insist Democrats just have to back the seven-week funding bill without other policy demands on it. Congress is on recess this week. But next Monday, when they get back in the Senate, the majority leader, John Thune, says he's going to bring up that stopgap bill again for a vote. They need seven Democrats to get to 60 votes. So far, they only have one.
There are some Republicans who agree with Democrats that Congress needs to do some kind of extension of health care subsidies. But since those don't expire until December, they say that debate shouldn't be linked to this funding bill. That issue could be some kind of off-ramp to this stalemate.
INSKEEP: Oh, OK. Well, thanks for telling us there might be something, even though we don't exactly know. But let's talk this through. The dynamic in recent years, many recent years, is that Republicans seem eager to shut the government down or a partial shutdown. Sometimes they actually go through with it and they do it. They lead the way. Sometimes they even say they like it. They've even done it when they had full control of government. But this time, it is the Democrats who are making an extra demand and saying they might be willing to shut it all down. What changed?
WALSH: I mean, the politics are really the driving factor right now for Democrats. Back in March, the top Senate Democrat, Chuck Schumer, infuriated the base when he helped Republicans avoid a shutdown. Now he's arguing that Democrats are fighting to protect health care. The base really does want this fight, and denying Republicans the vote they need to advance a bill in the Senate is really the only power they have in the minority. So I anticipate we're going to just see this continued messaging war. Republicans are branding this a Schumer shutdown. If a shutdown happens, both sides are pretty hard line in their different positions. So it's going to be difficult to see how we could get out of it.
INSKEEP: NPR's Deirdre Walsh. Thanks for your insights, as always.
WALSH: Thanks, Steve. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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