President Donald Trump and congressional leaders are reporting no progress on talks to prevent the government from shutting down after 30 September, as the White House threatens mass layoffs of workers if Democrats fail to support a funding deal.
US Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) and US House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) were set to meet with Trump on Thursday to discuss options for keeping the federal government funded. But Trump on Wednesday canceled the meeting, which he predicted could not be productive based on the "unserious and ridiculous demands" that Democrats have been seeking.
Republicans have been pushing to pass a funding bill that would keep the government open until 21 November, which they say would provide time for negotiations for full-year appropriations. The House passed that short-term spending bill last week but it failed in the Senate, where any funding bill will require bipartisan support to avoid a Democratic filibuster.
Maximum pain planned
The Trump administration is threatening to make a potential shutdown as painful as possible as a way to pressure Democrats. If funding runs out, the administration would have some discretion in deciding which workers to furlough and which services should be considered "essential" enough to retain.
The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) this week said that if there is a shutdown, it is considering mass firings of workers in programs "not consistent" with Trump's priorities.
"This is all caused by the Democrats," Trump said on Thursday.
Democrats have argued any blame for a shutdown should fall on Trump and congressional Republicans, who have refused their requests to negotiate on funding despite needing their votes. Democrats are pushing to reverse healthcare cuts, among other demands. They criticized the White House's threats to pursue mass firings, something the administration has already been doing for months unilaterally.
"We will not be intimidated by your threat to engage in mass firings," Jeffries said in a social media post.
Any dealmaking is likely to begin on 29 September, when the Senate returns from a week-long break. The House is not scheduled to return until 1 October, but Republicans have said they will bring back members earlier if needed.
Agency shutdown impacts unclear
Most federal agencies have yet to release detailed plans for a shutdown, during which some agencies can sustain normal operations and others will halt non-essential work, depending on how they are funded. The US Energy Information Administration said on Thursday that if there is a lapse in appropriations, there will not be "an immediate impact."
The US Interior Department said it will be posting its plans in the "coming days." The US Environmental Protection Agency referred questions to the OMB, which in March deleted dozens of shutdown plans for federal agencies that it has yet to republish.
The US Department of Energy did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump was serving as president during the last shutdown, which lasted 35 days before Trump decided to abandon demands to fund a border wall. During the last shutdown, the Trump administration continued many oil and gas permitting activities, even as it curtailed work at many other federal agencies.
