iStock/Bill Chizek(WASHINGTON) — President Trump has invited congressional leaders to a briefing Wednesday on “border security” at the White House, congressional sources confirm.
The meeting will be the first sit-down between Trump and Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer in 22 days since their contentious sit down in the Oval Office last month.
The meeting will include the top two leaders in each party and each chamber. The White House has not provided any information on the meeting or the administration officials who will be present.
After 11 days of no progress, the president signaled on Twitter that he’s ready to make a deal.
“Border Security and the Wall ‘thing’ and Shutdown is not where Nancy Pelosi wanted to start her tenure as Speaker! Let’s make a deal?” he tweeted.
The president has continued to blame Democrats for the shutdown, labeling it the “Schumer Shutdown.” However at that Oval Office meeting in December the president told Schumer he would take the blame.
“I will be the one to shut it down. I’m not going to blame you for it. The last time you shut it down, it didn’t work. I will take the mantle of shutting it down.”
House Democrats have prepared two bills aimed at ending the partial government shutdown but neither includes any new money for President Trump’s border wall.
The bills were made public Monday afternoon and House Democrats hope to vote on them by Thursday.
The measures include a mix of short-term and long-term funding plans to re-open the government agencies that have been closed for 10 days, after a dispute over funding the construction of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
The first bill includes year-long funding plans for every government agency currently closed, with the exception of the Department of Homeland Security.
The second bill would reopen and fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) only on a short-term basis. The so-called “Continuing Resolution” funding bill would keep the lights on at DHS only until Feb. 8, 2019, and continue current funding of $1.3 billion for border security.
The president signaled he’d reject their proposal, saying in a tweet Monday: “The Democrats will probably submit a Bill, being cute as always, which gives everything away but gives NOTHING to Border Security, namely the Wall.”
“Please explain to the Democrats that there can NEVER be a replacement for a good old fashioned WALL!” he tweeted.
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