Democrats say Trump needs to be involved in shutdown talks. He’s shown little interest in doing so

WASHINGTON– WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump shows little rush to negotiate a compromise that would end the government shutdown, even as Democrats insist no breakthrough is possible without his direct involvement.

Three weeks later, Congress is at a standstill. The House hasn’t been in session for a month, and senators left Washington on Thursday, frustrated by the lack of progress. Republican leaders are refusing to negotiate until a short-term funding bill aimed at reopening the government is passed, while Democrats say they won’t agree without guarantees on expanding health insurance subsidies.

For now, Trump seems content to stay on the sidelines.

He spent the week celebrating a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which he led, held an event in memory of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and refocused attention on the war between Russia and Ukraine. Meanwhile, his administration handled the shutdown in unconventional ways, continuing to pay the troops while laying off other federal employees.

When asked Thursday if he was willing to deploy his experience negotiating shutdown measures, Trump didn’t seem interested.

“Well, look, I mean, all we want to do is just extend. We don’t want anything, we just want to extend, live with the deal that they made,” he said during an exchange with reporters in the Oval Office. Later Thursday, he criticized the Democratic health care demands, calling them “crazy,” adding, “We’re just not going to do it.” »

Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that Democrats must first vote to reopen the government, “then we can have serious conversations about health care.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune echoed that approach before leaving for the weekend, saying Trump was “ready to step in and sit down with the Democrats or whoever, once the government opens up.”

Yet frustration is beginning to surface even within Trump’s own party, where lawmakers recognize that little happens in Congress without his leadership.

As she left the Capitol on Thursday, Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski said, “We’re not making a lot of progress this week. ” For things to move forward, Murkowski acknowledged that Trump may need to be more involved: “I think he’s a big part of it. »

“I think there are people in his administration who appreciate the fact that Congress really has no role to play at this point,” she added. “I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all.”

While Congress was paralyzed by the shutdown, Trump moved quickly to implement his vision for the federal government.

He called budget chief Russ Vought a “grim reaper,” and Vought used the opportunity to withhold billions of dollars for infrastructure projects and lay off thousands of federal workers, signaling that workforce reductions could become even more drastic.

At the same time, the administration has acted unilaterally to fund Trump’s priorities, including paying the military this week, easing pressure on what could have been one of the key deadlines for ending the shutdown.

Some of these measures, particularly layoffs and funding changes, have been criticized as illegal and are the subject of legal challenges. On Wednesday, a federal judge temporarily blocked the administration from laying off workers during the shutdown, ruling that the budget cuts appeared politically motivated and were made without sufficient justification.

And while Congress is focused on tackling defunding, lawmakers have had little time to debate other issues.

In the House, Johnson said the House would not return until Democrats approved the funding bill and refused to swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva. Democrats say the move is intended to prevent him from becoming the 218th signature on a release petition aimed at forcing a vote on the release of documents related to the sex trafficking investigation against Jeffrey Epstein.

So far, the closure has had little impact on public opinion.

An AP-NORC poll released Thursday found that 3 in 10 American adults have a “somewhat” or “very” favorable opinion of the Democratic Party, similar to a September AP-NORC poll. Four in 10 respondents have a “somewhat” or “very” favorable opinion of the Republican Party, virtually unchanged from last month.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Republicans had shown little seriousness in negotiations over ending the shutdown.

“Leader Thune has not made any offers to me at this point,” Schumer said Thursday.

Frustrated with congressional leaders, Democrats are increasingly turning to Trump.

During a CNN town hall Wednesday evening, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders, both repeatedly called for the president’s involvement when asked why negotiations had stalled.

“President Trump is not talking. That’s the problem,” Sanders said.

Ocasio-Cortez added that Trump should more regularly “have congressional leaders in the White House.”

Democrats’ focus on Trump reflects both his leadership style — which allows little to happen in Congress without his approval — and the fact that any funding bill requires the president’s signature to become law.

This time, however, Republican leaders who control the House and Senate are resisting any pressure to get Trump to intervene.

“You can’t negotiate when someone has a hostage,” said South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds, who added that Trump’s involvement would allow Democrats to try the same tactic in future legislative fights.

Trump has largely followed this advice. After previously saying he would be open to negotiations with Democrats over health insurance subsidies, he reversed his decision after Republican leaders suggested he misspoke.

And that’s unlikely to change for now. Trump has no plans to personally intervene to broker a deal with Democrats, according to a senior White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. The official added that the only stopgap funding bill Democrats can expect is the one already on the table.

“The president is happy to have a conversation about health care policy, but he won’t do so while Democrats hold the American people hostage,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said Thursday.

During his second term, Trump took a top-down approach, leaving little for Congress to act without its approval.

“What’s obvious to me is that Mike Johnson and John Thune don’t do much without Donald Trump telling them what to do,” said Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona.

Its hold is particularly strong in the Republican-led House, where President Mike Johnson effectively owes his position to Trump and is counting on his influence to gain power through tough legislative fights.

When Republicans refused to vote on Trump’s priorities in Congress, he called them on the phone or summoned them to his office to influence them directly. When that didn’t work, he vowed to unseat them in the next election. This has led many Democrats to believe that the only path to a deal is through the White House and not the president’s office.

Democrats also want assurances from the White House that they will not renege on a deal. Earlier this year, the White House completely removed legislative power by cutting $4.9 billion in foreign aid in August, through a legally dubious process known as “pocket termination.” And even before taking office late last year, Trump and his ally Elon Musk blew up a bipartisan funding deal that the two parties had negotiated.

“I think we need to see ink on paper. I think we need to see legislation. I think we need to see votes,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “I don’t accept small promises. It’s not my job.”

Both parties also see no reason to back down under public pressure, believing they are winning the messaging battle.

“Everyone thinks he wins,” Murkowski said. “No one wins when everyone loses. And that’s what’s happening right now. The American public is losing.”

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Associated Press reporter Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.