Congressional leaders emerged from an Oval Office meeting on Tuesday saying they were optimistic that they could reach a deal before a Friday deadline to avert a partial government shutdown.
But the leaders appeared to remain divided on Ukraine funding, with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., insisting that addressing the situation at the border needed to be the top priority.
“My purpose was to express what I believe is the obvious truth, and that is that we must take care of America’s needs first,” Johnson told reporters after the meeting.
The hourlong meeting focused on three contentious issues that have roiled Congress:
- A series of annual bills required to fund government.
- An emergency funding bill that includes aid to Ukraine and Israel.
- The large numbers of migrants crossing the U.S. border with Mexico. Crossings, including requests for asylum, have overwhelmed resources at the borders and in cities and states around the country.
Johnson says he is focused on the border
Earlier this month, the Senate reached a deal that included funding for Ukraine and other national security priorities — including policy measures for the border. The White House backed that bill but Republican leaders in the House of Representatives have refused to hold a vote on the measure. Former President Donald Trump, who is the front-runner to become the Republican nominee for this year’s presidential election, opposes the package.
Johnson said the House would actively look at Ukraine funding “in a timely manner” but also reiterated that Biden needed to take executive action to restrict the number of migrants crossing the southern border. “It’s time for action, it’s a catastrophe, and it must stop,” he said.
Biden, who is traveling to Brownsville, Texas, on Thursday, has said he is looking at options for executive action to curb the flow of migrants. But he told governors last week that existing laws and a lack of funding were limiting his choices.
The border has become a major issue in the presidential election, and Trump is also slated to speak in Texas on Thursday about the border.
Schumer said the Ukraine talks were intense
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the talks on Ukraine funding were some of “the most intense I have ever encountered in my many meetings in the Oval Office,” with leaders focused on the consequences of Ukraine losing its fight against Russia. “We said to the speaker, ‘Get it done,'” he said.
“This is an existential moment for the free world,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters.
The leaders seemed more optimistic about the funding bills
On government funding, Johnson said the House was working “around the clock” to reach a deal, which he said he thought was possible.
Funding for four departments is set to expire on Friday, with a second deadline for rest of the departments on Friday, March 8.
To the frustration of lawmakers in both parties, the federal government is currently operating on an extension of a spending deal passed in 2022 by the previous Congress.
Full-year spending bills for 2024 were supposed to be complete by September and are now nearly six months late.
Schumer told reporters that Johnson “said unequivocally he wants to avoid a government shutdown” and said that remaining issues were “not insurmountable.”
Jeffries, who leads House Democrats, said there may need to be a bipartisan agreement to extend eight funding bills slated to lapse on March 8 to give time for funding talks to continue.
That could come at a cost to Johnson, who pledged when he took control of the House last fall to stop funding the government with short-term extensions.
But he’s already passed two such extensions, relying on Democratic votes to overcome Republican defections, and a third could be required if a spending deal does not materialize in the coming day or so.
Upset, in part, over a previous spending deal struck with the administration, a small faction of House Republicans ousted Johnson’s predecessor as speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
Asked by reporters after the meeting whether a spending deal could really be possible by Friday’s deadline, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said, “Hope springs eternal.”
Transcript:
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
The top four congressional leaders met with President Biden in the Oval Office today. A government shutdown is looming, and funding for Ukraine’s war effort is also on the line. Here’s how House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York, described it.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
HAKEEM JEFFRIES: It was an intense meeting. It was an honest meeting, and ultimately, it was a productive meeting.
SHAPIRO: They came out optimistic about avoiding a shutdown but with no clear path on the Ukraine aid. NPR senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith is here to tell us about it. Hey, Tam.
TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: Hi, Ari.
SHAPIRO: Let’s start with the optimism. There have been a few of these shutdown showdowns over the past year. Why were the leaders positive today?
KEITH: Republican House speaker Mike Johnson said negotiators are quite close to an agreement to keep the government funded for the rest of the year, close enough that they were willing to express optimism. After the meeting, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters at the Capitol that things are moving in the right direction.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MITCH MCCONNELL: Under no circumstances does anybody want to shut the government down, so I think we can stop that drama right here.
KEITH: That drama could stop right here, right now. Or it could flare up, and all this optimism could go out the window, which is a movie we have seen many times before.
SHAPIRO: It sure is. So from the relatively happy talk to the more difficult parts, how did the rest of the meeting go?
KEITH: The other big agenda item was finding a way to get military assistance to Ukraine. The White House says that Ukraine is running out of ammunition, and it is already hurting them on the battlefield. And Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has been to a lot of meetings at the White House over the years, but this is how he described this one.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
CHUCK SCHUMER: The meeting on Ukraine was one of the most intense I have ever encountered in my many meetings in the Oval Office.
KEITH: Ukraine is counting on military assistance from the U.S., and based on what everyone said coming out of that meeting, Johnson is a man on an island. But Speaker Johnson has given no indication that he’s willing to let the House vote on Ukraine funding. Schumer, McConnell, the White House – they are all saying it is Johnson who controls the fate of this aid.
SHAPIRO: Well, what is Speaker Johnson saying?
KEITH: He says the House needs to focus on the needs of Americans first, and by that, he means addressing the situation at the border, which now ranks as a top issue for voters from both parties. So Johnson said he’s open to Ukraine aid, but he didn’t commit to moving on it.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MIKE JOHNSON: I was very clear with the president and all those in the room that the House is actively pursuing and investigating all the various options on that, and we will address that in a timely manner. But, again, the first priority of the country is our border and making sure it’s secure.
KEITH: Biden is going to visit the border on Thursday, as is former president Donald Trump – different part of the border. But that certainly drives home what is a very hot political issue. Johnson wants Biden to take executive action. The White House is not ruling that out, but they also insist that more funding is needed from Congress and policy changes, too. Now, you may remember that there had been a bipartisan Senate deal that combined these things – Ukraine aid and border security funding and the policy changes. But Johnson said it was dead on arrival, and Trump demanded that Republicans oppose it. And, Ari, if you get the feeling that this is all quite circular and that the assistance to Ukraine appears no closer to passing, you would be right.
SHAPIRO: NPR’s Tamara Keith at the White House. I guess it’s appropriate to say talk to you again soon.
KEITH: Sure thing.
