Trump hosts Senate Republicans at renovated WH as shutdown drags on

Head Start programmes for preschoolers nationwide are scrambling for federal funds. The federal agency tasked with overseeing the US nuclear stockpile has begun furloughing its 1,400 employees. Thousands more federal workers are going without paychecks.

But as President Donald Trump welcomed Republican senators for lunch in the newly renovated Rose Garden Club -- with the boom-boom of construction underway on the new White House ballroom -- he portrayed a different vision of America as a unified GOP refuses to yield to Democratic demands for health care funds, and the government shutdown drags on.

We have the hottest country anywhere in the world, which tells you about leadership, Trump said in opening remarks, extolling the renovations underway as senators took their seats in the newly paved-over garden turned patio.

It was a festive atmosphere under crisp, but sunny autumn skies as senators settled in for cheeseburgers, fries and chocolates, and Trump's favoured songs -- YMCA and You Can't Always Get What You Want -- played over the new sound system.

And while Trump said the shutdown must come to an end -- and suggested maybe Smithsonian museums could reopen -- he signalled no compromise with Democrats over the expiring health care funds.

From the beginning, our message has been very simple, we will not be extorted on this crazy plot of theirs, Trump said.

Shutdown drags into record books  As the government shutdown enters its fourth week -- on track to become one of the longest in US history -- millions of Americans are bracing for health care sticker shock, while others are feeling the financial impact. Economists have warned that the federal closure, with many of the nearly 2.3 million employees working without pay, will shave economic growth by 0.1 to 0.2 percentage points per week.

There are few signs of an end to the stalemate. Democratic leaders Sen Chuck Schumer and Rep Hakeem Jeffries outreached to the White House on Tuesday, seeking a meeting with Trump before the president departs for his next overseas trip, to Asia.

We urged him to meet with us, Schumer said. We said we'll set up an appointment with him anytime, anyplace before he leaves.

But Republicans, departing the White House with gifts of Trump caps and medallions, said there is nothing to negotiate with Democrats over the health care funds until the government reopens.

People keep saying negotiate' -- negotiate what? Senate Majority Leader John Thune said after the hour-long meeting. He said Republicans and the president are willing to consider discussions over health care, but open up the government first.

Missed paychecks and programmes running out of money  While Capitol Hill remains at a standstill, the effects of the shutdown are worsening.

Federal workers are set to miss additional paychecks amid total uncertainty about when they might eventually get paid. Government services like the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, and Head Start preschool programmes that serve needy families are facing potential cutoffs in funding. On Monday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the National Nuclear Security Administration is furloughing its federal workers. The Federal Aviation Administration has reported air traffic controller shortages and flight delays in cities across the United States.

At the same time, economists, including Goldman Sachs and the nonpartisan CBO, have warned that the federal government's closure will ripple through the economy. More recently, Oxford Economics said a shutdown reduces economic growth by 0.1 to 0.2 percentage points per week.

The US Chamber of Commerce noted that the Small Business Administration supports loans totaling about USD 860 million a week for 1,600 small businesses. Those programmes will close to new loans during the shutdown. The shutdown also has halted the issuance and renewal of flood insurance policies, delaying mortgage closings and real estate transactions.

Rising healthcare costs  And without action, future health costs are expected to skyrocket for millions of Americans as the enhanced federal subsidies that help people buy private insurance under the Affordable Care Act, come to an end.

Those subsidies, in the form of tax credits that were bolstered during the COVID-19 crisis, expire December 31, and insurance companies are sending out information ahead of open enrollment periods about the new rates for the coming year.

Most US adults are worried about health care becoming more expensive, according to a new Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research poll, as they make decisions about next year's health coverage.

Members of both parties acknowledge that time is running out to fix the looming health insurance price hikes, even as talks are quietly underway over possible extensions or changes to the ACA funding.

Democrats are focused on November 1, when next year's enrollment period for the ACA coverage begins and millions of people will sign up for their coverage without the expanded subsidy help. Once those sign-ups begin, they say, it would be much harder to restore the subsidies even if they did have a bipartisan compromise.

What about Trump?  Tuesday's White House meeting offered a chance for Republican senators to engage with the president on the shutdown after he had been more involved in foreign policy and other issues.

But certain senators left the meeting saying it was more of a luncheon than a substantial conversation. They said they could hear, but not see, the ballroom construction nearby.

Trump had previously indicated early on during the shutdown that he may be willing to discuss the health care issue, and Democrats have been counting on turning the president's attention their way. But the president later clarified that he would only do so once the government reopens.