Schumer Pushes For ‘real’ Negotiations Ahead Of White House Meeting

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is urging Republicans to come to the table for “real” government funding negotiations, a day before congressional leaders will meet with President Donald Trump.

“The meeting is a first step, but only a first step. We need a serious negotiation,” Schumer said during an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” with host Kristen Welker.

Schumer, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries will go to the White House on Monday to meet with Trump less than 48 hours before the deadline to avoid a funding lapse. It’s the first time Trump has met with Schumer or Jeffries on government funding after abruptly canceling a meeting last week.

Senate Democrats have drawn a red line in the funding talks that if Republicans want their votes to help advance a funding bill in the Senate, they have to negotiate with them. Schumer and Thune spoke Friday, a call that was first reported by POLITICO, where the Democratic leader urged Thune to help set up the meeting.

Democrats are pushing for an extension of soon-to-expire enhanced Affordable Care Act credits, as well as rolling back changes to Medicaid included in Republicans’ recent “big, beautiful” bill.

Jeffries went further last week saying that not only did any spending agreement have to involve health care, but also that such an agreement had to be “ironclad and in legislation.” But Senate Democratic leadership has also been careful to try to avoid drawing red lines, unifying their caucus behind the first step: Getting a negotiation.

Asked Sunday if he would accept a government funding deal that doesn’t include an extension of the ACA subsidies, Schumer demurred saying that Democrats “need a real negotiation.”

“The fundamental question hasn’t been answered yet and we’ll see on Monday — are they serious about negotiating with us in a real way?” Schumer said. “Our health care situation is a shambles.”

Though the enhanced subsidies don’t expire until the end of the year, Democrats have warned that Congress can’t wait until then to cut a deal because Americans will have to decide this fall whether or not to re-enroll.

Thune, however, reiterated during a separate interview with “Meet the Press” with Welker that while Republicans were open to a conversation about how to extend the tax credits that Democrats had to first help fund the government past Sept. 30. Thune's interview was taped before Saturday night’s announcement that the White House had rescheduled Trump’s meeting with congressional leaders.

Thune said that there was “potentially a path forward” on extending the tax credits but there would need to be “reforms.” Ideas that Republicans have discussed include placing new income limits on who qualifies for the credits, as well as new protections against potential fraud. And a group of GOP senators is talking with senior White House officials and CMS administrator Mehmet Oz as they craft a proposal to make changes to the credits meant to attract Republican votes.

“These were plus-ups that were done in response to Covid. These were enhancements. And it's a program … that is fraught with waste, fraud, and abuse,” Thune said.

“We acknowledge that, hopefully, there'll be some steps taken that can address the concerns the Democrats have. But you can't do this by Tuesday,” he added