Trump, Democrats Deadlocked as Shutdown Deadline Looms

US President Donald Trump and Democratic leaders made little headway at a tense White House meeting aimed at averting a government shutdown that could begin as early as Wednesday. Both sides emerged accusing the other of being to blame if Congress fails to extend government funding past the Tuesday midnight deadline.

“I think we’re headed to a shutdown,” Vice President JD Vance warned.

At the heart of the standoff is whether Congress should tie expiring health benefits to a short-term spending bill. Democrats insist the two must move together, while Trump’s Republicans argue health care should be handled separately. “We have very large differences,” said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.

Without action, thousands of federal employees could be furloughed, services from NASA to national parks disrupted, and small business grants delayed. Even federal courts may be forced to shut their doors.

Budget brinkmanship has become a fixture in Washington, but Trump’s refusal to spend billions already approved by Congress — and threats to expand his purge of the federal workforce — have added new uncertainty. Only a handful of agencies have released shutdown contingency plans.

Meanwhile, the White House on Monday extended more than 20 federal advisory committees through 2027, though their funding remains unclear.

The dispute involves $1.7 trillion in discretionary spending — about one-quarter of the $7 trillion federal budget — with the rest locked into health, retirement programs, and rising interest payments on the $37.5 trillion national debt.

Democrats had floated a seven- to ten-day extension, but Republicans countered with a stopgap lasting until November 21. Schumer flatly rejected the GOP’s plan. Senate Republican Leader John Thune has scheduled a Tuesday vote on his party’s bill, despite its earlier failure in the chamber.

Shutdowns are hardly new — there have been 14 since 1981 — but the most recent, under Trump’s first term, lasted 35 days and set a record. This time, the flashpoint is health care. About 24 million Americans could see insurance costs spike if temporary Affordable Care Act tax breaks lapse at year’s end.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries pressed for those subsidies to be made permanent now: “Simply accepting the Republican plan to continue to assault and gut health care is unacceptable.”

Republicans say they may revisit the issue but not as part of a temporary spending deal. “What’s not reasonable is to hold those ideas as leverage and to shut down the government,” Vance argued.

Democrats, eyeing the 2026 midterms, see health care as a mobilizing issue. Yet some aides privately worry that if a shutdown drags on, voters could blame them for stonewalling Trump — a risk Republicans have already dubbed evidence of “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”