The elements are in place for Congress to start negotiating out of a likely record-breaking government shutdown, and people are still at the table talking.
President Donald Trump is back in town, the Affordable Care Act premium increases are on the board for next year, the off-year elections are over on Tuesday, and there’s a Senate recess scheduled to start Friday.
By Tuesday, Democrats’ blockade of the House’s stopgap funding bill will hit its 35th day, tying the record.
“Get in a room, figure this thing out. It’s not rocket science,” Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., told Semafor.
Trump said on 60 Minutes he’s open to a fix for rising ACA premiums after Democrats reopen the government, while reiterating his view that Republicans should kill the legislative filibuster.
GOP leaders still oppose that, we’re told.