President Trump has talked with top congressional Republicans and two of his Cabinet secretaries during the second day of the government shutdown but has yet to do any direct negotiating with Democratic leaders.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement Trump has spoken with his staff multiple times on Sunday to get updates on negotiations to reopen the federal government. He’s also spoken with Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin to get updates on how the shutdown is impacting those departments.
He also spoke with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn. But, for the second day in a row, Trump has not spoken to any Democratic lawmakers directly to try and negotiate the end of the government shutdown, now in its second day.
Sanders did rip Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for comments he made on the Senate floor Sunday, criticizing Trump for backing away from a deal on immigration rejected by the White House hours before the shutdown.
“Sen. Schumer’s memory is hazy because his account of Friday’s meeting is false. And the President’s position is clear: We will not negotiate on the status of unlawful immigrants while Sen. Schumer and the Democrats hold the government for millions of Americans and our troops hostage,” Sanders said.
Chief of staff John Kelly spoke with Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell about the shutdown on Sunday and has also talked with Trump about multiple other incidents involving the military, Sanders said. Among those are the deaths of two American service members in an Apache helicopter crash Saturday.
White House legislative affairs director Marc Short is holding bipartisan meetings, she said.
“We are continuing to work hard towards reopening the government and making sure our great military and their families, vulnerable children and the American people are being taken care of,” Sanders said.
