05/23/2019

Trump Calls Off Bipartisan Talks

The talks ended amid animosity with Democratic leadership

Negotiations on a bipartisan budget deal and an infrastructure package stalled this week after President Donald Trump said he will not work with congressional Democrats as long as they pursue investigations into him and his administration.

“You can’t investigate and legislate simultaneously – it just doesn’t work that way,” Trump tweeted Wednesday. “You can’t go down two tracks at the same time.”

Just last week, Trump signaled he could be open to a deal with Democrats to raise the budget caps that will cause strict spending cuts in the fall. In early 2018, Trump cut a deal with Democrats to raise the caps in 2018 and 2019 by nearly $300 billion; the caps in place for 2020 and 2021 remain at the levels enacted in the Budget Control Act of 2011, and if they aren’t raised, would result in $71 billion in defense spending cuts and $55 billion in domestic spending cuts.

Trump had a scheduled meeting to discuss infrastructure Wednesday with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) but walked out, reportedly because Pelosi told reporters he was “engaged in a cover-up.”

“Instead of walking happily into a meeting, I walk in to look at people who have just said that I was doing a cover-up," Trump said while holding an impromptu press gathering in the Rose Garden. "I don’t do cover-ups.”

This article was provided to OSAE by the Power of A and ASAE's Inroads.