Trump Invites Congressional Leaders for Meeting Amid Shutdown Republicans and Democrats both invited to Wednesday meeting; topics to include border securityBy Peter Nicholas and Natalie Andrews
https://www.wsj.com/articles/white-house-invites-congressional-leaders-to-meet-with-trump-wednesday-11546374858?cx_testId=16&cx_testVariant=cx&cx_artPos=0&cx_tag=collabctx&cx_navSource=newsReel#cxrecs_s
President Trump has invited a bipartisan group of congressional leaders to the White House on Wednesday in a bid to negotiate an end to a partial government shutdown that is now in its second week, a White House official said Tuesday.
The invitation went to the top eight Republican and Democratic leaders in both the House and Senate, and the meeting is expected to include a briefing on border security from the Department of Homeland Security, a congressional aide said.
It was unclear if Democrats planned to attend the meeting. Since the shutdown began in late December, Mr. Trump and congressional Democrats have largely avoided direct negotiations.
The two sides are at odds over spending for a Southern border wall, with Mr. Trump insisting on funding for the wall and Democrats staunchly opposed.
In recent tweets, Mr. Trump has sought to coax Democrats to the negotiating table while also portraying their opposition to wall funding as an irresponsible acceptance of what he called “open borders.”
“Border Security and the Wall ‘thing’ and Shutdown is not where Nancy Pelosi wanted to start her tenure as Speaker!” Mr. Trump tweeted on Tuesday. “Let’s make a deal?”
Congress is scheduled to open a new session Thursday, with Mrs. Pelosi taking over the speakership after Democrats won control of the House in November elections.
As of Tuesday afternoon, it was uncertain who would attend Mr. Trump’s meeting. Some congressional Democratic leadership aides said the meeting might not happen, or would need to be postponed, because all of the lawmakers invited might not return from their New Year’s break to Washington, D.C., in time.
Aides to Mrs. Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.), as well as their two deputies, all confirmed Tuesday afternoon that they had received the invitation, but declined to say whether they would attend.
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Incoming Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R., La.) planned to attend, his spokeswoman said. And aide to Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.), soon to be minority leader, didn’t respond.
Recent attempts to reach a breakthrough and reopen the government have gone nowhere.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.), a Trump ally, had lunch with the president at the White House on Sunday and laid out a plan that would couple border wall spending with new protections for undocumented immigrants, known as “Dreamers,” who were brought to the U.S. when they were young. The plan was aimed at picking up Democratic votes. Though Mr. Graham said that the president voiced openness toward the proposal, congressional Democratic officials expressed skepticism that something as complex as the status of Dreamers could be resolved in the current round of talks.
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