Trump to meet with party leaders ahead of looming budget deadline

President Trump will sit down with congressional leaders from both parties at the White House on Tuesday as lawmakers enter the frantic final weeks of the year with a federal budget deadline looming on Dec. 8, The Washington Post reports.

With military spending as a major point of debate — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is expected at the meeting, too — Democrats are attempting to use their leverage to protect so-called "DREAMers," or immigrants brought to the United States unlawfully as children. "You don't want to have a spending showdown shutdown crisis before the midterms next year," noted Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.). "So I think it's important for both sides, honestly, to reach that agreement."

Party leaders are bracing for the unpredictable: At the last such sit-down, Trump unexpectedly sided with "Chuck [Schumer] and Nancy [Pelosi]" over raising the debt ceiling, leaving members of his own party "livid" and "shell-shocked."

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