President Donald Trump’s abrupt decision to cancel a planned meeting with top Democratic leaders is only the latest twist in a funding standoff that threatens to trigger a partial government shutdown next week.
As Republicans push for a “clean,” seven-week funding extension to avoid a shutdown, Democrats are determined to use their leverage on that bill by demanding a fix for expiring health insurance subsidies that could swell the ranks of the uninsured.
And with neither side willing to blink so far, the tit-for-tat verbal jousting playing out on social media may be inching the country closer to a shutdown that neither party claims to want.
