President Donald Trump meets key congressional Republicans and Democrats at the White House on Monday, hoping to revive stalled spending negotiations on the eve of a looming US government shutdown. The White House is upping the ante by threatening to fire large numbers of civil service workers, rather than the usual practice of simply holding up their pay until a deal is reached. The White House has appeared unwilling to give an inch to the opposition, with Trump blaming his Democratic rivals for the tense showdown. In March, with the threat of a shutdown already looming, Republicans refused to engage in dialogue with Democrats over massive budget cuts and the layoff of thousands of federal employees. That time, 10 Senate Democrats, including Schumer, reluctantly voted for that Republican stop-gap measure in order to avoid a shutdown.