President Donald Trump told Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer to “go to hell” in a Saturday post on social media as Senate leaders and the White House struggle to end a standoff over confirming Trump’s nominees.
Senate Republican leader John Thune, Schumer and the White House had been engaged in a round of intense talks to end the standoff over Trump’s nominees and let senators head home for the August recess, sources briefed on the conversations told CNN.
But Trump’s post Saturday signaled that talks have all but collapsed, as he wrote that Schumer’s demands were “egregious and unprecedented.”
Democrats have been slow-walking Trump’s lower-level nominees, forcing Thune to keep the Senate in session this weekend to confirm them. In the minority, Democrats have the power to force Thune to jump over time-consuming hurdles before they can vote.
Schumer made several demands in order to agree to let a batch of nominations be quickly confirmed by the Senate, according to the sources. The demands include the unfreezing of federal funds for an array of programs, including the National Institutes of Health and foreign aid.
Schumer also wants Trump to agree that he won’t attempt to push through another package to slash federal funding known as “rescissions” — after a $9 billion package to codify some cuts was approved earlier this summer.
Trump earlier in the week called on the Senate to remain in session and skip recess until all his nominees were confirmed.
“Tell Schumer, who is under tremendous political pressure from within his own party, the Radical Left Lunatics, to GO TO HELL! Do not accept the offer, go home and explain to your constituents what bad people the Democrats are, and what a great job the Republicans are doing, and have done, for our Country. Have a great RECESS,” Trump wrote Saturday.
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