Trump, US Congress leaders to meet, try to avert government shutdown

 President Donald Trump was due to meet with congressional leaders on Monday in a last-ditch effort to head off a government shutdown that could disrupt a wide range of services as soon as Wednesday.

It was unclear whether the afternoon White House meeting will yield an agreement to extend government funding beyond a Tuesday midnight (0400 GMT Wednesday) deadline. Democrats say any agreement to extend government funding must also preserve expiring health benefits. Trump's Republicans insist health and government funding must be dealt with as separate issues.

If Congress does not act, thousands of federal government workers could be furloughed, from NASA to the national parks, and a wide range of services would be disrupted. Federal courts might have to close and grants for small businesses could be delayed.

Budget standoffs have become relatively routine in Washington over the past 15 years and are often resolved at the last minute. But Trump's willingness to override or ignore spending laws passed by Congress has injected a new dimension of uncertainty into the debate this time.

Trump has refused to spend billions of dollars approved by Congress and is threatening to extend his purge of the federal workforce if Congress allows the government to shut down. Only a handful of agencies have so far published plans detailing how they would proceed in the event of a shutdown.