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Learn more at NEI Academy.org. Good evening. I'm John Yang. The battle lines are drawn for tomorrow's

high-stakes Oval Office meeting between President Trump and bipartisan congressional leaders

one day before the deadline to avert a government shutdown.

Faring separately on NBC's Meet the Press, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer,

each said the other would be to blame for a shutdown.

I think there are potentially a path forward.

We have to see where it goes, but we can't do it while the American people are being held hostage

by the Democrats in a government shutdown.

We need a serious negotiation.

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.

Republicans want a short-term spending bill without any other provisions, while Democrats

say the price of their support is restoring Medicaid cuts and extending subsidies that help

low and middle income earners buy health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

Adding to the uncertainty are administration plans to use a shutdown to fire more federal workers.

Eric Katz covers federal agencies for the online publication government executive.

Eric, tell us about these plans to use this shutdown to fire more federal workers.

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