Story highlights The top two Democrats in Congress have a Thursday meeting scheduled

Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer pulled out of their first planned meeting last week

(CNN) The on-again, off-again meeting between President Donald Trump and the top two congressional Democrats is back on, ahead of a Friday deadline to avoid a government shutdown.

In a statement Monday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California, said they would travel to the White House Thursday to meet with Trump and GOP Hill leaders to discuss the spate of year-end issues that need to be resolved.

"We're glad the White House has reached out and asked for a second meeting. We hope the President will go into this meeting with an open mind, rather than deciding that an agreement can't be reached beforehand," the two Democrats said in a joint statement, referencing a tweet from Trump that blew up their last scheduled meeting when Trump said he doubted he could reach a deal with "Chuck and Nancy."

That negative assessment from Trump caused Schumer and Pelosi to abruptly back out of the meeting, which was held without them. Photographers were invited in to take pictures of the empty chairs where they were supposed to sit.

Trump and lawmakers have a long to-do list before the end of the year, including wrapping up the GOP-led tax reform effort, reaching deals related to keeping the government funded into the new year, and possibly passing two health care bills that are tied to the repeal of the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate, which is part of the Senate-passed tax bill.

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