U.S. Vice President JD Vance speaks next to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) on the day U.S. President Donald Trump meets with top congressional leaders from both parties, just ahead of a September 30 deadline to fund the government and avoid a shutdown, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., Sept. 29, 2025.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
A looming federal government shutdown appeared even more likely after top Democrats and Republicans met with President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday.
“I think we’re headed to a shutdown because the Democrats won’t do the right thing,” Vice President JD Vance told reporters after the meeting, which came less than two days before the shutdown will begin in the absence of a funding deal.
The Democratic participants, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, likewise said that the two sides remain far apart.
“We have very large differences,” Schumer said after the meeting. But he added that he believes Trump heard Democrats’ objections “for the first time,” suggesting the face-to-face was at least partially constructive.
Both sides continued to assert that the other will be to blame if the government shuts down starting Wednesday.
“It’s up to the Republicans whether they want a shutdown or not,” Schumer said.
Republicans, who hold the White House and slim majorities in both chambers of Congress, want to pass a stopgap bill to maintain federal funding at current levels until late November.
Democrats demand that that bill — known as a continuing resolution — include funding and protection for a handful of key measures, especially an extension of enhanced Obamacare tax credits that are due to lapse at the end of the year.
Republicans have slammed Democrats for refusing a “clean” resolution to keep the government from shutting down.
“This is purely and simply hostage taking,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said after Monday’s meeting.
But Democrats say they’ve been shut out of the process.
“Their bill has not one iota of Democratic input. That is never how we’ve done this before,” Schumer said.
Dueling short-term funding bills to avert a shutdown failed earlier this month in the Senate, where 60 votes are needed to overcome the filibuster. Republicans hold a 53-vote majority in the chamber.
