Feb. 27 (UPI) — A White House meeting between President Joe Biden and top congressional leaders is set for Tuesday with another threat of a partial government shutdown looming.
Biden will be joined by Vice President Kamala Harris as he meets with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., at 11:30 a.m. in the Oval Office.
A swath of federal departments could close their doors by Friday if no action is taken by lawmakers, including Agriculture, Energy, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation and Veteran Affairs. A handful of other departments would follow suit a week later on March 8.
“Even a partial shutdown by extreme House Republicans would mean chaos and pain for the American people,” Schumer said on Facebook.
He also took aim at House Republicans in a letter to colleagues over the weekend as he said it was “clear” they “need more time to sort themselves out” after a missed deadline on a set of funding bills that was due over the weekend.
“Unless Republicans get serious, the extreme Republican shutdown will endanger our economy, raise costs, lower safety and exact untold pain on the American people,” Schumer wrote.
Johnson, who has pushed for several policy riders to be attached to the spending bills fired back on X, calling Schumer’s letter “counterproductive rhetoric,” blaming the Democrats for harming the economy.
“Our position is that the American people and our mission is to take steps to rein in Democrats’ overspending and policies that are harming the economy, raising prices and making everyday life harder for our constituents,” Johnson said on social media.
“This is not the time for petty politics. House Republicans will continue to work in good faith and security must be addressed immediately.”
Divisions among House Republicans have helped stall the approval of 12 spending bills to keep the government running through 2024. The government has remained open thanks to three stopgap measures.
The group is also set to discuss a package to send funding to Ukraine that passed the Senate in a 70-29 vote as 22 Republicans joined all but two Democrats in approving it.
“With this urgent aid package, Congress can help ensure Ukraine wins the war, ensure Putin is not victorious, ensure that democracy can thrive in the 21st century,” he added.
Schumer urged Johnson to travel to Ukraine, as he did with a delegate of Senate Democrats last week, saying it would be “virtually impossible for anyone with decency and goodwill to turn their back on Ukraine if they saw the horrors of that war with their own eyes.
“If Speaker Johnson put the national security supplemental on the floor today, it would pass with a large number of both Democrats and Republicans,” Schumer said. “Now is the time for action.”
Biden had also pressured Johnson, who opposes sending foreign aid to Ukraine or elsewhere without measures to secure the U.S.-Mexico border, to hold a vote on the measure, calling the House decision to go on recess without a vote “bizarre.”
