The congress' top Democratic leaders abruptly pulled out of a planned meeting with US President Donald Trump after he attacked them on Twitter, casting doubt on the prospects for a quick agreement to avert a government shutdown at the end of next week.
Trump tweeted early on Tuesday that "I don't see a deal!" with Senate Minority leader Charles Schumer and top House Democrat Nancy Pelosi and accused them of being soft on crime, taxes and illegal immigration.
Schumer and Pelosi shot back by cancelling the afternoon White House meeting and asking instead for immediate talks with top Republican leaders in congress.
"Given that the president doesn't see a deal between Democrats and the White House, we believe the best path forward is to continue negotiating with our Republican counterparts in Congress instead," Schumer and Pelosi said in a statement.
"Rather than going to the White House for a show meeting that won't result in an agreement, we've asked Leader McConnell and Speaker Ryan to meet this afternoon."
A spokeswoman for Speaker Paul Ryan said there were no changes in his schedule to announce.
Congress faces a December 8 deadline to pass stopgap legislation to keep the government open and a slew of other unfinished legislation.
It was hoped the White House meeting might lay a foundation to keep the government running and set a path for a year-end spending package to give both the Pentagon and domestic agencies relief from a budget freeze.
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