As President Donald Trump prepares to depart for a multi-day trip to Asia on Friday, several Democrats are calling on the president to cancel and negotiate an end to the second-longest government shutdown in recent history.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in the Senate on Oct. 22 that it was “outrageous” for the president to leave the country during the government shutdown "while the American people are suffering."
“Shouldn't the president listen to the cares of the American people and their desperate need on health care, rather than taking a foreign trip?” Schumer, D-New York, asked Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, who held a talk-a-thon on the Senate floor for over 22 hours in protest of the Trump administration's policies.
Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries requested a meeting with Trump on Oct. 21. Trump, however, said that day he will only meet with the Democratic leaders once the government reopens.
"I would like to meet with both of them, but I said one little caveat, I will only meet if they let the country open," Trump told reporters earlier this week. As Democrats continue to demand health care reforms in exchange for their votes to reopen the government, Republican lawmakers have largely said they won't negotiate until the shutdown ends.
