Hey, good morning. It is Sunday, September the 21st. Congress only has 10 days to pass a bill to avoid a shutdown of the federal government, but neither the House nor the Senate plan to be in session at all this coming week.

Funding for the federal government runs out at midnight on September

the 30th, but lawmakers left town on Friday. The Senate is not expected to be back on Capitol Hill

until September 29th. The House doesn't plan to return until October 7th, the week after the

shutdown could start. Now, obviously those plans could change, but as things stand,

Democrats and Republicans are locked in. There is no realistic path forward right now, and on top

of that, Donald Trump doesn't want Republicans to work with Democrats at all. When asked to

address Democrats' demand in order to fund the government, the president said during an interview

earlier this month, quote, don't even bother dealing with them. We will get through it. Democrats' demand in order to fund the government, the president said during an interview earlier

this month, quote, don't even bother dealing with them. We will get through it, get it through,

because Republicans are sticking together for the first time in a long time, end quote.

But something's got to give because Republicans can't get the spending resolution through the

Senate on their own, where

60 votes are needed to push it through. Yesterday, the two top Democrats on the Hill, the Senate

Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the House Minority Leader Hakeem-Jeffries, I'm sorry,

Senate Minority Leader and House Minority Leader appealed directly to Donald Trump to ask him to meet with

them. In a letter to the White House, they wrote, quote, Republicans will bear responsibility

for another government shutdown because of the refusal of GOP congressional leadership to even talk

with Democrats, end quote. As a result, it's now your obligation to meet with us directly to reach an agreement

to keep the government open. But the White House does not appear to be open to the idea. When asked

for a comment, the White House told NBC News, quote, Democrats walked away from a bipartisan

negotiation on the continuing resolution. This letter shows desperation. There really haven't been any talks

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