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In today's issue:

▪ Last-ditch meeting to avoid shutdown

▪ Eric Adams exits NYC mayoral race

▪ Federal agents patrol downtown Chicago

▪ Russia-Ukraine war threatens to spill over

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President Trump and the four top congressional leaders are set to meet at the White House today for what could be the last best chance at avoiding a government shutdown.

Both sides appear to be digging in ahead of the meeting.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said in separate Sunday television interviews that they were “hopeful” about avoiding a funding lapse this week but signaled they expect concessions.

“The meeting is a first step, but only a first step. We need a serious negotiation,” Schumer said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“Now, if the president at this meeting is going to rant, and just yell at Democrats, and talk about all his alleged grievances, and say this, that and the other thing, we won't get anything done. But my hope is it'll be a serious negotiation.”

GOP leaders haven’t budged.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) accused Democrats of holding the country “hostage” with demands for enhanced ObamaCare tax credits as part of a funding deal, while Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) maintained any discussion on the subsidies that expire at the end of the year would need to come after a stopgap is passed.

Unless an agreement is reached to keep the government open, funding will expire at the end of the day Tuesday.

▪ The Hill: Lawmakers dig in as shutdown deadline looms.

▪ The Hill: What happens during a government shutdown.

A House-passed measure backed by Republicans that would fund the government at current levels through Nov. 21 was defeated in the Senate earlier this month, along with a Democratic alternative.

With the Senate returning today after the Rosh Hashanah holiday, Democrats in the upper chamber will face a big decision on whether to vote down the bill again, The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports.

Sixty votes are needed to overcome a filibuster in the upper chamber, and with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) expected to oppose the bill over its continuation of Biden-era funding levels, at least eight Democrats would need to support the bill for it to advance.

The Hill’s Al Weaver reports that Democrats don’t seem to have any good options.

If they back the GOP bill, they risk further angering their base that wants their leaders to stand up against the Trump administration. But shutting the government down could hurt the economy and spur blame.

“It’s doubly made no good because it’s very clear that Republicans want [a shutdown]. Trump wants it. He’s fine with that, happy to have it,” one Senate Democratic aide said. “I don’t really know what your good option here is when they want one.”

Vice President Vance said during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday” that the administration doesn’t want a shutdown but if one occurs he argued it will be Democrats’ fault for not supporting the “clean” funding bill.

Predicting who will come out as the winner of the shutdown in the eyes of the public can be difficult to know in advance.

Further complicating Democrats’ calculus is the memo from the White House Office of Management and Budget calling to lay off many federal workers across various agencies if a shutdown occurs, causing non-essential employees to be furloughed.

Some members of the Senate Democratic caucus, like Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), have expressed interest in finding an off-ramp. A promised vote on extending the health care subsidies could do just that.

The fact Trump invited congressional leaders to the White House for a meeting, after canceling one with Democratic leaders last week, was viewed by Schumer as a sign the bare-knuckled tactics were starting to pay off, Bolton reported.

Whether the meeting can stave off a shutdown remains to be seen.

Trump famously met with Schumer and then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) at the White House in late 2018 to try to extend government funding as Trump demanded money for building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. Tempers raged at the meeting as the two sides blamed each other, and no deal was reached.

What followed was the longest shutdown in U.S. history, lasting more than a month.

“That was way too long. Ultimately, Donald Trump and Republicans came to their senses,” Jeffries said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”

“Hopefully, we avoid a shutdown this time around. And if we’re in one, we find a quick path out.”

Editor's note: Blake Burman's Smart Take will return later this week.

3 Things to Know Today

1. Four people were killed and eight others injured in a shooting and fire Sunday at a Mormon church in Michigan. Trump said it appeared to be a “targeted attack on Christians.”

2. Federal immigration agents patrolled downtown Chicago as the administration steps up its crackdowns in major cities. Agents were armed, wearing masks and in camouflage, NewsNation reported.

3. Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador earlier this year, was transferred from a facility in Virginia to one in Pennsylvania. He’s facing charges of human trafficking, to which he’s pleaded not guilty.

Leading the Day