Top Democrats set for spending talks with GOP, Donald Trump

Top Democrats said Monday they will reengage with President Trump and GOP leaders to discuss a year-end spending deal, hoping to avoid a government shutdown over immigration and other thorny issues after feuding torpedoed earlier talks.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said they will push for a fiscal pact that gives equal billing to military spending and domestic initiatives, while combating the opioids crisis, when they sit down at the White House on Thursday.

They’re also seeking a bipartisan deal that provides legal status for immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children — alongside “tough border security measures” — even as GOP leaders say that debate should be left for the new year.

All sides are trying to regroup after Mr. Schumer and Mrs. Pelosi refused to show up to a White House meeting on Nov. 28, citing Mr. Trump’s claim that given Democrats’ demands, there wasn’t a path to agreement.

“We’re glad the White House has reached out and asked for a second meeting. We hope the president will go into this meeting with an open mind, rather than deciding that an agreement can’t be reached beforehand,” the Democratic leaders said Monday.

Majority Republicans will offer a stopgap spending bill to avoid a shutdown Saturday, when current funding runs out. That would buy time for substantive talks on long-term spending caps before a pre-Christmas vote to fund the government into next year.

“Congressional leaders continue to work with the administration on a long-term funding proposal to help agencies accomplish their goals and plan for the future,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. “As we wait for the House to take the next steps, I encourage my colleagues in the Senate to review the legislation. We will pass it before the end of the week.”

Democrats haven’t taken a position on the two-week continuing resolution. They’re taking stock of how much leverage they have to push their own priorities, since the GOP needs their support to reach 60 votes in the Senate.

Last week, Mr. Schumer called Mr. Trump a “destructive force” in the negotiations. He and Mrs. Pelosi said they were done talking with Mr. Trump, and would instead negotiate only with Mr. McConnell and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan.

Democrats on Monday said they would give it another try, though they have a list of demands. They want to fund rural infrastructure, provide more hurricane relief to Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico and renew the Children’s Health Insurance Program, among other things.

“There is a bipartisan path forward on all of these items,” they said.

Congress allowed CHIP to expire Sept. 30, and partisan fights over how to pay for its reauthorization have jammed up efforts to renew it. The two-week resolution offered by GOP leaders would waive federal rules and free up leftover money for states on the cusp of exhausting their funds, so children don’t lose coverage while Congress devises a long-term deal.

A key sticking point is what to do about illegal-immigrant “Dreamers,” whose protected status is set to expire in March.

Democrats want to act now, saying it’s too risky to let the matter slip into the new year.

Republican leaders say they want a fix, too, after Mr. Trump said he couldn’t leave the legally suspect Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals deportation amnesty in place. Yet they do not want to wrap the debate into the spending fight, raising the specter of a shutdown if enough Democrats insist on grappling with it before the end of the year.

Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican, said Democrats are launching “a hysterical and cynical ploy, putting their party and their agenda ahead of the nation.”

“How can you claim to care about the 800,000 undocumented immigrants that this program protects through work permits and deportation relief,” he said, “but then turn your back on the 322 million people who need to know that their government is still able to function?”