Chuck Schumer urges Trump for meeting 'any time, any place' to break government shutdown impasse

WASHINGTON, DC: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday, October 21, that both he and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries reached out to President Donald Trump for a meeting as the government shutdown stretches on.

Schumer said the duo "urged" the POTUS to meet with them, and that they were open to setting up "an appointment with him any time, any place."

Chuck Schumer says 'things get worse every day' for American people

The Senate Minority Leader said, "Hakeem and I reached out to the president today and urged him to sit down and negotiate with us to resolve the healthcare crisis, address it, and end the Trump shutdown."

"He should sit — the things get worse every day for the American people. He should sit down with us, negotiate in a serious way before he goes away," Schumer added.

Meanwhile, Schumer and his Democratic caucus have remained steadfast in their demands for an extension to expiring Obamacare subsidies. 

Despite Senate Republicans being open to holding a vote on the matter after the government reopens, Democrats want an ironclad guarantee that the subsidies will be extended well before their expiration at the end of 2025.

Interestingly, if Trump agrees to the request, it would be the first meeting among the trio since Schumer, Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, met in the Oval Office a day before the shutdown began.

Senate Democrats blocked Republicans’ attempts to reopen government 11 times

Senate Democrats have blocked Thune and Republicans’ attempts to reopen the government 11 times.

Meanwhile, another vote on the House-passed continuing resolution, which would reopen the government until November 21, is expected on Wednesday, October 22.

Moreover, Senate Republicans met with the POTUS for lunch at the White House on Tuesday. Thune spoke to reporters and reiterated that Senate Republicans were united in their war of attrition strategy to out the same bill on the floor again.  

He added that Trump would likely agree to meet with Schumer and Jeffries, but only after Senate Democrats unlocked the votes needed to reopen the government.

"We have negotiated. I don't know what there is to negotiate. This is about opening up the government. We have offered them several off-ramps. Now, the Democrats want something that's totally untenable," Thune said.

The Senate Majority Leader added, "I mean, they want $1.5 trillion in new spending. They want free healthcare for people who are noncitizens in this country. That is just a flat nonstarter. It doesn't pass the Senate. It won't pass the House. It won't be signed into law by the president."