Here's What's At Stake In The Government Shutdown Fight

WASHINGTON, DC — Unless President Trump can work out a deal with Congress to extend federal funding, the American government will partially shut down at the end of Friday. High-stakes policies and programs — including funding for millions of children's health insurance and protections for undocumented immigrants who arrived as minors — hang in the balance as lawmakers and the president push for a resolution.

A government shutdown would be no minor inconvenience. It could cost the country billions of dollars in lost economic activity and would likely create hardships for millions of Americans, including veterans, farmers, the sick and the unemployed.

Obviously, the federal government can't close completely. The military would continue to operate and employees considered vital would keep working. Still, many valuable and important functions would be delayed or stopped until Congress and the president come to an agreement.

Thus far, negotiations to avoid a shutdown have been tumultuous.

• Here's what will happen if the government shuts down

Hours before Trump and Capitol Hill leaders were to hold a budget meeting last week, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer abruptly called off the session. The cancellation came after Trump took to Twitter to vilify their stances on taxes, immigration and crime and say he saw no prospects for an agreement, and the standoff has exacerbated bitter feelings on both sides.

The White House will hold a summit for leadership of both parties on Thursday to hash out the details of an agreement.

"We hope the president will go into this meeting with an open mind, rather than deciding that an agreement can't be reached beforehand," Schumer and Pelosi said Monday in a written statement.

The two Democrats pointedly said they'd accepted Trump's offer to meet with them. And in what seemed an attempt to isolate the president, they said they hoped he'd be amenable to an agreement "as negotiations with our Republican counterparts continue."

Republican leaders want to push a bill through Congress this week keeping the government afloat through Dec. 22 as bargainers seek a longer-term spending pact. But the GOP will need Democratic votes to succeed, and potential opposition from Democrats and GOP conservatives has left the path unclear for averting a closure just weeks before the start of the 2018 election year.

Adding an obstacle, the roughly 30 members of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus planned a Monday evening meeting to discuss the budget clash as their leader said he was against a short-term deal.

Rep. Mark Meadows, a North Carolina Republican and chair of the Freedom Caucus said he opposes a two-week agreement.

"Failing to see what it will accomplish that couldn't be accomplished in the last 8 weeks," he wrote in a text message.

He said his group will also discuss the Republican tax bill, the party's chief legislative priority, at its Monday gathering. The Senate approved its near $1.5 trillion tax legislation before dawn Saturday while the House passed a similar measure in November.

Democrats and some Republicans are also demanding a plan to protect immigrants who arrived illegally in the U.S. as children.

Trump scuttled a program from President Barack Obama's administration that protected them from deportation, and he gave Congress until March to work out a new agreement. Trump expressed a desire to work with Democrats to extend that program, called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, but he and Republicans want border protection money in return and there have been no signs of progress.

Getting an immigration deal enacted in December would cause an eruption in House GOP ranks, where many conservatives oppose the idea.

In addition, some from both parties want to restore billions in federal payments to health insurers that Trump halted last autumn. There are also demands for money for battling opioid abuse.

Funding for CHIP, the Children's Health Insurance Program, lapsed on Oct 1 when Congress failed to renew the program. Unless it is extended soon, millions of families could start receiving notice that their health insurance is going to expire.

Since it was enacted in the '90s, the program has dramatically reduced the uninsured rate of children from 14.9 percent 4.8, the group pointed out. It offers insurance to about 9 million children of lower-income families that wouldn't otherwise be covered by Medicaid.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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