President Trump said Friday night that the chances of avoiding a government shutdown are “not looking good,” casting doubt on Congress’s ability to strike a last-minute spending deal.
“Not looking good for our great Military or Safety & Security on the very dangerous Southern Border,” Trump tweeted.
The president sought to pin blame on Democrats, who largely oppose passing a stopgap spending bill through the Senate.
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“Dems want a Shutdown in order to help diminish the great success of the Tax Cuts, and what they are doing for our booming economy,” the president wrote.
Trump’s comments came less than three hours before the midnight deadline for lawmakers to avert a shutdown.
Lawmakers are scrambling to broker a spending agreement, but hope was rapidly fading on Capitol Hill about the chances of passing a spending bill before the deadline.
The president published his tweet just half an hour before the Senate was expected to vote on the short-term spending measure. That vote is expected to fail and it’s unclear whether senators will reach an alternate agreement.
Trump’s tone shifted from earlier Friday, when he described having an “excellent” meeting with Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) designed to break the spending impasse.
Schumer left the meeting and returned to the Capitol without a deal in hand.