Speaker Mike Johnson made “unequivocally” clear that he wants to avoid a government shutdown during a private Tuesday meeting with President Joe Biden and other congressional leaders, according to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
With just four days to go until federal funding partially runs out, congressional leaders emerged from the meeting with the president optimistic they could avoid a shutdown, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters at the Capitol that the meeting focused mainly on keeping the government open, “which I think we all can agree on.”
But the White House sitdown also featured an “intense” component focused on Ukraine, Schumer said.
“We had said to the speaker, get it done,” said Schumer, who just returned from Ukraine. “It’s in his hands.”
The congressional leaders also discussed border security, which the Senate tried to tackle earlier this year before Republicans blocked a bipartisan proposal. Schumer said he told Johnson that Congress “can’t tarry” further on aiding Ukraine following the GOP rejection of the border bill.
