House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Friday afternoon blamed Republicans for the potential federal government shutdown and took a swing at President Donald Trump’s leadership during the negotiations.
Pelosi said that Trump is “failing to lead,” noting that Trump blamed President Barack Obama for the shutdown in 2013. She also hit Trump for a tweet last year positing that a shutdown could be “good.”
“There’s no such thing as a good shutdown,” she told reporters in a press conference on Capitol Hill.
Democratic House leaders pledged to remain in Washington, D.C. while they wait for the Senate to act on a deal to keep the government open. Pelosi seemed pleased that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was headed to the White House to talk about a funding deal with Trump.
“I’m optimistic that that overture was made, hopefully to be constructive,” she said.