WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is set to meet with the four top congressional leaders from both parties on Monday, September 29, in a high-stakes effort to prevent a looming federal government shutdown. The meeting comes just under 48 hours before the funding deadline at midnight on October 1, which marks the end of the fiscal year.
The White House confirmed that attendees will include House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune on the Republican side, along with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. This upcoming session represents a rare bipartisan gathering in the Oval Office aimed at breaking the impasse over government funding.
Negotiations have been deadlocked in recent days, with Senate Democrats refusing to support a stopgap funding bill passed by the Republican-controlled House. The bill proposed to keep the government funded through November 21 but failed to secure the 60 votes required in the Senate, primarily due to Democratic concerns over cuts to healthcare programs enacted in the current fiscal plan.
Trump’s scheduled meeting follows his cancellation earlier in the week of a meeting with the Democratic leaders, which had heightened tensions between the parties. Both Schumer and Jeffries issued a joint statement affirming their commitment to bipartisan dialogue, saying, “We are resolute in our determination to avoid a government shutdown and address the Republican healthcare crisis. Time is running out.”
If Congress and the White House fail to agree on a funding package by the deadline, the government faces its 15th partial shutdown since 1981. In such a scenario, essential government operations such as military and law enforcement would continue, but non-essential services—including national parks and some administrative offices—would close or reduce staffing.
The Trump administration has warned that a shutdown could lead to widespread furloughs of government employees and drastic cuts to programs helping low-income women and children. These concerns add to the urgency as both parties are pressured to find common ground.
This critical meeting was first reported by Punchbowl News and has since been confirmed by multiple sources, highlighting the gravity of the fiscal impasse facing the federal government as the fiscal year closes.