Jeffries says he hasn’t heard from White House since Monday meeting

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said he has not heard from the White House since a Monday meeting on government funding, underscoring the tenuous state of negotiations as lawmakers work to avert a lapse in federal operations.

Jeffries, speaking to reporters, framed the lack of follow-up as a sign that the path forward remains unsettled. He emphasized that Democrats remain ready to negotiate but said timely engagement from the administration is critical as agencies, federal workers, and contractors face mounting uncertainty.

The meeting earlier in the week brought senior officials and congressional leaders together amid a familiar standoff: how to keep the government open while contending with competing demands over spending levels and policy riders. Without a bipartisan agreement on full-year appropriations, leaders may again look to a short-term continuing resolution to buy time—an option that has become a recurring feature of recent funding cycles.

Silence from the White House can reflect a tactical pause while staff-level talks continue, or it may signal deeper divisions over strategy and scope. Either way, the pressure is building as the calendar tightens. Even small delays complicate logistics for floor votes, procedural hurdles in both chambers, and the sequencing of any fallback stopgap.

The stakes extend beyond Capitol Hill. A funding lapse can trigger furloughs, slow payments to contractors, and disrupt services, with states and localities often forced to adjust contingency plans in real time. Markets and federal agencies typically brace for uncertainty well before any deadline, magnifying the urgency for clear signals from negotiators.

The White House did not immediately comment on Jeffries’s characterization of the post-meeting contact. According to the Hill’s reporting, the lack of communication since Monday adds a fresh wrinkle to an already compressed timeline, with leaders on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue weighing the political and practical costs of another last-minute scramble.