AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
President Donald Trump will meet tomorrow with top congressional leaders from both parties. The White House meeting comes just one day before a deadline to approve legislation to avoid a government shutdown. For the latest on the negotiations and what it means for civil services, we're joined now by Senator Andy Kim. He's a Democrat representing New Jersey. Good morning, Senator.
ANDY KIM: Good morning.
RASCOE: Senate leaders John Thune and Chuck Schumer and House leaders Mike Johnson and Hakeem Jeffries will meet with President Trump tomorrow. What do you expect to come out of that meeting?
KIM: Well, I'm glad this meeting is happening, and I'm glad that President Trump changed his mind. I think it shows that the president is feeling pressure from his position before saying that he doesn't want to deal with Democrats, doesn't want to negotiate. And I think that's because the American people are feeling a lot of pain right now. You know, I'm here in New Jersey, going around my state. People here have been telling me overwhelmingly about just the continued challenges that they're facing in terms of cost of living, health care and housing, and they want relief, and they don't see that from Donald Trump right now.
RASCOE: What is the party's strategy - your party's strategy - going into these negotiations?
KIM: Well, the negotiations are about addressing these exact needs from the American people. You know, they're terrified about their health care costs. Starting October 1, we're going to see health care costs increase dramatically for so many Americans, and we want to make sure that that is addressed by this president, by this Republican administration that has done so much to be able to hurt them by gutting Medicaid and so many other issues. So we're going to be fighting to be able to lower those costs for Americans and help them be able to address the needs in their families.
RASCOE: If Republicans are unwilling, as they have said, to roll back some of those changes that came from the spending bill that was passed earlier this year, that's going to affect Medicaid, that's going to affect medical insurance, should Democrats hold out for a shutdown?
KIM: Well, look, you know, we'll see how the negotiations go tomorrow in terms of what Trump is willing to move on because we know that, you know, Speaker Johnson and congressional Republicans, they're just doing whatever Trump is saying. So, you know, go in, be able to talk to Donald Trump and see how much this pressure is coming down on him. You know, he is somebody that has said in the past that if a shutdown happens, that it's the president's fault. So we'll see how far he's willing to go. But what we need to make sure we're addressing here are the just high costs that people are facing. And just what I hear from people is just - they just use the word chaos, and they use the word exhausted. You know, they are exhausted by Donald Trump, and they don't see this chaos as helping them. In fact, it's making things more unpredictable in their lives.
RASCOE: But if there is a shutdown, that would be chaotic, too, right? The Trump administration has threatened mass firings across the government if there's a shutdown. What would you say to those who will blame Democrats for that?
KIM: Well, no, I don't think they're going to blame Democrats because, I mean, look, even Donald Trump said, you know, it's the president's job to pull people together. You know, look, they see it as him unwilling to govern. Right now, we're seeing a situation where Donald Trump is literally trying to take down and dismantle the other two branches of government. You know, it doesn't want to be able to do what we normally need to do in terms of being able to negotiate. And the American people are seeing that. They're seeing that he is the focal point, the cause of this chaos in their lives.
RASCOE: Is there any plan for what would happen if the shutdown happens and more federal workers are let go? Is there a message that Democrats have? Is there a plan, you know, to try to support people who are losing their jobs?
KIM: Oh, absolutely. I mean, we've been fighting all along to be able to support federal workers. I used to be a federal civil servant under both Republicans and Democratic presidents. I served through multiple shutdowns. I didn't get a paycheck, despite working. I know how difficult this is, and I don't want to see this. But what we also see is just a blatant lawlessness from Donald Trump right now. And when they're threatening to fire federal employees, it comes across as just, like, you know, straight up, you know, mafia, straight up, just like, you know, we're going to do whatever we want to do. And people don't want that. So, you know, I think it's going to backfire immensely on Donald Trump if he leads us down that path.
RASCOE: Should Americans be worried about essential services like weather forecasting and federal emergency response if there's a shutdown?
KIM: You know, having been through this multiple times, you know, we know some of the things that we're going to have to worry about, and that's what we're trying to close the gap on. You know, we want to be able to make sure that, you know, this is something that if a shutdown happens, if Donald Trump causes a shutdown, that we're going to try to minimize the damages and the challenges facing the American people. So, yes, that's part of the negotiations. You know, we're going to try to do our best to minimize it if it gets to that. I hope we avoid it. You know, I hope Donald Trump comes to these negotiations, willing to be able to address some of these needs that the American people are facing and show that, yes, you know, we need to make sure we come together at this time.
RASCOE: That's Senator Andy Kim of New Jersey. Thank you so much.
KIM: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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