President Joe Biden met with the top four leaders in Congress on Tuesday as a government shutdown looms yet again.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Biden said. “We have to figure out how we’re going to keep funding the government, which is an important problem, an important solution we need to find. I think we need to do that.”
The president mentioned the need to fund Ukraine and Israel, saying “humanitarian assistance” was a big part of the latter while making sure Israel can face threats from Hamas and Iran. He then circled back to the looming shutdown.
“It’s Congress’s responsibility,” Biden said. “We have to deal with a shutdown that would damage the economy significantly.”
Biden, along with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), met in the Oval Office and, along with Vice President Kamala Harris, discussed ways to keep the government open beyond March 1.
Several of Biden’s top aides were in attendance as well, including White House chief of staff Jeff Zients and national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
The now-familiar scenario of a looming shutdown comes as the House is still on recess until Wednesday, meaning there will be just two days once members return to get legislation passed and raising the possibility of another continuing resolution to extend the deadline.
Policy arguments between the two parties will also be a complicating matter.
In a letter to his Democratic colleagues on Sunday, Schumer warned of the harms of a shutdown “caused by an extreme wing within the Republican Party.”
Johnson shot back in response that “this is not a time for petty politics,” saying House Republicans will work in good faith to reach a positive outcome, “even as we continue to insist that our own border security must be addressed immediately.”
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Funding for the departments of Agriculture, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs would run out at the end of the week. Most other government agencies will see funding expire next week if Congress fails to act.
The standoff marks the fourth time since October that Congress has faced a government funding deadline.