The president has invited a bipartisan group of lawmakers to meet with him Wednesday as the partial government shutdown stretches into Day 26.
The invitation comes just a day after a group of House Democrats skipped a shutdown meeting that they saw as little more than an attempted photo-op by President Donald Trump.
To mitigate the shutdown’s impact, the White House has reportedly called back nearly 50,000 federal employees to resume functions without pay, including food inspections, overseeing airline safety and processing tax refunds.
For his part, Republican Leader Mitch McConnell isn’t doing anything to end the shutdown. He’s refusing to schedule votes on bills the House passed that would reopen some government agencies.
Because of the impasse, the House and Senate are expected to cancel their recesses set for next week.
