Temporary Budget Talks Stalling
Some Government Functions May Halt from October 1 if No Agreement is Reached
Trump Threatens to Fire Federal Workers if Government Shuts Down
Trump-Democrat Meeting on the 29th,
‘[Herald Economy=Do Hyun-jung] As the U.S. faces a potential federal government shutdown due to a lack of consensus on a temporary budget, President Trump and Congress are set to meet on the 29th (local time).’,
‘President Trump is scheduled to meet with Republican and Democratic leaders on the afternoon of the 29th. The meeting will include Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries from the Democrats. The Republicans will be represented by Senate Majority Whip John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson.’,
‘The Republicans and Democrats have not been able to agree on a short-term spending bill, and if a temporary budget isn’t processed, some federal government agencies will suspend operations (shutdown) from the 1st of the following month. Previously, government agencies without legal funding grounds remained temporarily inactive until consensus on the budget was reached. However, President Trump announced that if government activities are suspended, significant layoffs of related federal workers would occur. Trump has pressured the Democrats by blaming any possible layoffs during a shutdown on them and had refused to meet with them. With negotiations between the Democrats and Republicans at a stalemate, attention is focused on whether Trump’s decision to meet with Congress could lead to an agreement.’,
‘John Thune, Republican Senate Majority Whip, criticized the Democrats during an NBC interview, accusing them of holding the temporary budget process hostage to push through their leftist agenda.’,
‘The Republicans are in favor of passing a “clean CR” to maintain the current expenditure levels of government agencies and gain time for fiscal year 2026 budget procedures and negotiations. The Democrats oppose the CR, demanding an extension of subsidies for public health insurance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly known as “Obamacare,” whose premium subsidies expire at the end of this year. Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic House Minority Leader, clearly stated on ABC News that their stance is to reverse budget cuts, lower costs, and protect healthcare services.’,
‘While the Republicans hold the majority in both the House and Senate, passing a temporary budget in the Senate requires 60 votes rather than a simple majority. This means the Republicans, who hold 53 seats, need at least 7 Democratic votes.’,
‘With both parties still not seeing eye-to-eye, Minority Leader Schumer expressed hope ahead of the meeting for “serious negotiations” and criticized the approach of one party creating a strictly partisan bill and demanding “take it or leave it.”‘,
‘Speaker Johnson stated, “The Obamacare subsidies are a topic for policy discussion that needs to be decided by the end of the year,” adding that “keeping the government running right now is not the moment for those discussions.”‘