Article snippet: The odds of a government shutdown grew dramatically Tuesday as President Trump tweeted that he saw no path to a year-end deal with Democrats “Chuck and Nancy,” who then promptly backed out of a meeting at the White House. Shortly after Trump’s “I don’t see a deal!” tweet, Senate Minority Leader MORE (Calif.) said they didn’t see the point of sitting down with Trump. “If the President, who already said earlier this year that ‘our country needs a good shutdown,’ isn’t interested in addressing the difficult year end agenda,” the Democrats said in a statement, “we’ll work with those Republicans who are, as we did in April.” Later, at the White House, flanked by empty chairs with name cards for Schumer and Pelosi, Trump said he was “not surprised” by the move and accused the Democrats of being “all talk” and “no action.” The president said he would blame Schumer and Pelosi if the government shuts down. “If that happens, I would absolutely blame the Democrats,” he said. The blow-up sent shockwaves through Washington as lawmakers, aides, lobbyists and reporters openly wondered whether the coming holiday season would be consumed by a new crisis over government funding. There are just eight legislative days left before funding runs out for the federal government on Dec. 8, yet Congress appears no closer to a major spending deal today than it did before the weeklong Thanksgiving recess. Congressional leaders have said a one-week stopgap funding measure may be needed to... Link to the full article to read more