Trump invites congressional leaders to White House amid shutdown
President Trump has invited top congressional leaders in both parties to the White House on Wednesday for a briefing on border security amid the ongoing partial government shutdown.
Trump will host the leader and whip of each party from both chambers, a list that includes expected Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), incoming House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), House GOP leaders Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) and Steve Scalise (La.), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.), Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.), sources told The Hill.
The news of the briefing comes after a prolonged impasse in which Trump hammered Democrats as weak on border security, and Democrats set out a plan to pass bills reopening the government in the House, which they will control starting Thursday.
{mosads}Trump has demanded $5 billion to fund a border wall along the southern border, while Democrats have refused to offer anything more than an extension for 2018 border security funds that included $1.3 billion for fencing.
The partial shutdown, now in its 11th day, has forced 800,000 workers to either stay home or work without pay.
Trump appeared to offer Pelosi an olive branch earlier Tuesday, inviting her to make a deal to end the partial government shutdown.
“Border Security and the Wall ‘thing’ and Shutdown is not where Nancy Pelosi wanted to start her tenure as Speaker!” he wrote. “Let’s make a deal?”
Pelosi later appeared to brush aside Trump’s suggestion, tweeting, “.@realDonaldTrump has given Democrats a great opportunity to show how we will govern responsibly & quickly pass our plan to end the irresponsible #TrumpShutdown – just the first sign of things to come in our new Democratic Majority committed to working #ForThePeople.”
Trump’s tweet seeking to make a deal with Pelosi came after the president tweeted a number of attacks against Democrats earlier Tuesday.
Wednesday’s briefing would be the first between Trump and Democratic leaders since an explosive, televised Oval Office sit-down last month between Trump, Schumer and Pelosi.
During that meeting, Trump said he would be “proud to shut down the government for border security,” while Pelosi asserted that he could not muster the votes to fund his wall even in the Republican-controlled House. The following week, the House passed a bill with $5.7 billion for the wall and security, though it lacks the votes to pass in the Senate.
Democrats remain doubtful, saying they expect the meeting to be more of a one-sided presentation from the White House than a discussion over the shutdown.