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President Biden tried to interrupt by way of a impasse on Capitol Hill over protecting the federal government working and offering assist for Ukraine and Israel as he convened the highest 4 leaders of Congress on the White Home on Tuesday.
“We obtained a whole lot of work to do,” Mr. Biden stated earlier than the closed-door assembly within the Oval Workplace. He added: “A shutdown would harm the economic system considerably.”
On his solution to the White Home, Home Speaker Mike Johnson was requested whether or not there could be a partial authorities shutdown. “No, we’re going to work to forestall that,” he stated.
The assembly was being attended by Mr. Johnson, Republican of Louisiana; Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the minority chief; Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the bulk chief; Consultant Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York and the minority chief; and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Lawmakers are working out of time to strike a deal to avert one other partial authorities shutdown. The primary batch of funding will run out on Friday at midnight, whereas funding for some businesses, together with the Protection Division, will expire on March 8.
“A primary, primary precedence or responsibility of Congress is to maintain the federal government open,” Karine Jean-Pierre, the White Home press secretary, stated on Monday. “So, that’s what the president desires to see. He’ll have these conversations.”
Individually, Mr. Biden will ask the leaders to go crucial emergency assist for Ukraine. The administration has spent months pushing for added funding, arguing that Ukraine is working out of artillery, air protection weaponry and different munitions. The invoice additionally contains billions in safety help for Israel because it tries to wipe out Hamas after the terrorist assaults on Oct. 7.
Retaining the federal authorities open, nonetheless, seems to be the primary order of enterprise.
The spending invoice is being held up by calls for from hard-right lawmakers within the Home, together with measures to limit abortion entry, that many members is not going to help. Ultraconservatives have introduced the federal government to the brink of a shutdown or a partial shutdown 3 times up to now six months as they attempt to win extra spending cuts and conservative coverage situations written into how federal cash is spent.
The assembly comes after Mr. Schumer introduced on Sunday that leaders had failed to succeed in a deal over the weekend as a result of “Home Republicans want extra time to kind themselves out.” Mr. Johnson accused Senate Democrats of “making an attempt at this late stage to spend on priorities which might be additional left than what their chamber agreed upon.”
The White Home has ramped up strain on Mr. Johnson in current weeks as Ukraine noticed the second anniversary of Russian invasion over the weekend. Mr. Biden continues to emphasize that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia is a world menace.
Jake Sullivan, Mr. Biden’s nationwide safety adviser, stated on Sunday that he had spoken with Mr. Johnson. The speaker had indicated he want to go Ukraine funding, Mr. Sullivan stated, however was “attempting to determine a solution to do it.”
“Properly, that is a kind of cases the place one individual can bend the course of historical past,” Mr. Sullivan stated throughout an interview on ABC’s “This Week,” including that the international assist package deal would go overwhelmingly with bipartisan help if put up for a vote.
“Proper now, it comes right down to his willingness to really step as much as the plate and discharge his duty at this crucial second,” Mr. Sullivan stated. “And historical past is watching.”
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