Republican and Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill say Washington is headed for a government shutdown next week unless President Trump intervenes to cut a deal with Democrats.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has said repeatedly he does not want to sit down with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) to negotiate a deal to keep the government open past Sept. 30, repeatedly telling reporters he wants the stopgap funding measure to move by “regular order.”

Under the Senate rules, that means 60 votes will be required to move the measure under regular order, and Democratic votes will be needed.

Senate Democrats on Friday voted overwhelmingly to defeat the House-passed measure, which given GOP absences failed to win even a simple majority on the floor. Centrist Sen. John Fetterman (Pa.) was the only Democrat to vote for it.

Democrats say now it’s time for Thune to negotiate after it’s clear he doesn’t have the 60 votes to pass the seven-week funding measure passed by the House.

But Republican sources familiar with the Senate’s internal dynamics say that Thune doesn’t want to begin negotiating with Schumer until he’s clear what Trump is willing to accept, and Trump himself has yet to give the GOP leader clear guidance about what he would sign into law.

Thune says the White House needs to weigh in before any deal is reached and explained that while his staff has been in contact with White House staff, he has yet to speak directly to Trump on the matter.

Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.)

© The Hill