Meadows: ‘Can’t guarantee’ U.S. will avert December shutdown

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said on Wednesday that he “can’t guarantee” lawmakers will be able to reach a deal in order to avert a mid-December shutdown of the federal government.

Congress and the White House have until Dec. 11 to approve new spending legislation to prevent the federal government from shutting down in the middle of a pandemic and amid a projected surge in coronavirus cases. Meadows said he was hopeful an agreement would be reached but didn’t rule out that an impasse would occur. There has already been two government shutdowns during Trump’s four years in office, one of which lasted more than a month.

Lawmakers began negotiations this week on spending legislation that would fund the government and avert the shutdown, but key sticking points remain over international aid policy, public health spending, and tribal health care, among other policy disagreements, according to Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., vice chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

If appropriators cannot reach agreement on legislation to fund federal agencies, Congress could approve a “continuing resolution” that would lock in existing spending levels with no change to existing policy. White House officials say they want to fund the government, but President Donald Trump’s erratic policy demands and negotiating style have for years upended negotiations with Congress, culminating in the longest-ever government shutdown in 2018 over his demands for a border wall with Mexico.

Meadows met with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in the Capitol on Wednesday. While not ruling out the possibility of a shutdown, Meadows said: “I can tell you it’s a high priority to make sure we keep our government funded. ... Obviously, we want to keep the government funded.”