Washington's Shutdown Blame Game Escalates as Deadline Looms

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Dow Jones NewsSep 24, 10:06 PM UTC
DJ Washington's Shutdown Blame Game Escalates as Deadline Looms -- Barrons.com

By Janet H. Cho

 

Lawmakers aren't even officially in town this week, yet Democrats and Republicans, including President Donald Trump, spent Wednesday blaming each other for the looming federal funding impasse.

 

House Democrats pushed back against the president's claims -- which he shared on social media -- that they were trying to shut down the government. Instead, Democrats blame Republicans for "betraying" their promises to working-class Americans by cutting healthcare funds.

 

At the same time, Trump, who had no public appearances on his schedule Wednesday but is hosting a dinner at the White House's "Rose Garden Club" in the evening, said the ball was in Democrats' court.

 

Trump who earlier canceled a meeting with Democratic leaders over their "ridiculous demands," said Wednesday on his social media platform: "I look forward to meeting with you when you become realistic about the things that our Country stands for."

 

Top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said earlier Wednesday that with only six days until government funding lapses, Trump and the Republicans were marching the country "toward a painful Republican shutdown, while exacerbating the healthcare crisis that they have unleashed in America."

 

Lawmakers are racing to extend funding for the federal government for a number of weeks after Sept. 30 or risk a shutdown that would start at midnight heading into Oct. 1. Republicans have demanded a "clean" bill, but Democrats want to extend subsidies for Affordable Care Act health plans, which are expiring, and want to attach that to the bill.

 

House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D., Calif.), talking on the steps of the Capitol with fellow lawmakers, warned that premiums will skyrocket next year if funding isn't restored, adding that children won't be able to get their medications and seniors won't be able to see their doctors.

 

It's an issue Jeffries has tried to hammer home, though a temporary funding extension did pass the House without any Democrats supporting it before lawmakers recessed last week. The Senate then shot the bill down.

 

"The notion that we're supposed to accept that this is a 'clean' Continuing Resolution is a joke," Jeffries told reporters on Wednesday, adding that Democrats are "a hard 'No' on the Republican spending bill."

 

Republicans are trying to cast a possible shutdown as a Democrat problem. Trump said Wednesday: "All Congressional Democrats want to do is enact Radical Left Policies that nobody voted for."

 

Trump's dinner starts at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the White House's rose garden, which the administration has refurbished into an outdoor event space with seating and umbrellas. The White House said that cabinet officials and senior staff would attend, but didn't respond to Barron's additional questions about the guest list.

 

At least one top cabinet member will miss the party. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is scheduled to speak at an event in New York, according to an invitation to the event from the sponsor.

 

National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer are among those who will attend the dinner, people familiar with the matter confirmed to Barron's.

 

Write to Janet H. Cho at [e-mail]

 

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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September 24, 2025 18:06 ET (22:06 GMT)

 
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