Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said that President Donald Trump would not negotiate to avoid a government shutdown.
Based on that, the Senate Democrat said Trump would “own” the shutdown.
Partial transcript as follows:
DANA BASH: I want to talk about government funding. It is set to expire in nine days. You and your fellow Democrats are pushing to add health care subsidies to the funding bill. You’re under a lot of pressure. I don’t need to tell you from the base of your party to fight Republicans on something, even. it means, in this case, shutting down the government. Is that what’s going to happen?
SCHUMER: “Look, it‘s the Republicans shutting down the government first. These issues are very important to the American people. Health care was decimated. People are losing their health care. Hospitals are closing. People are losing their jobs. It‘s outrageous. And the American people can‘t stand it. But what we are asking, very simply, is what has always been done in these kinds of budget negotiations. A bipartisan negotiation. The Republican bill is a totally partizan bill with zero zero input from Democrats. And that‘s not how to get things done. We had two bills on the floor. Friday. Both failed the democratic bill in the Republican bill. And that‘s because there has been no negotiation with the Republicans. There always used to be. When I was majority leader for four years, we didn‘t have a shutdown because we sat down with Republicans. So Hakeem Jeffries and I have now demanded to sit down with Donald Trump, because that‘s the only way to avoid a Trump shutdown. The Republican leadership is listening to Trump and not talking to us.
BASH: He, the president, has said he‘d love to meet with you. Is it going to happen?
SCHUMER: Any time and place to negotiate and avoid the Trump shutdown. Right now it‘s a Trump shutdown because he won‘t even talk to us. He won‘t even consider what the American people want. Is lowering costs. They don‘t like his tariffs. They don‘t like the health care stuff. And when you don‘t, when you sit down and say, it‘s my way or the highway, you‘re creating a shutdown. This is a Trump shutdown. Unless he sits down and negotiates.
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