The meeting would mark the first time Donald Trump has sat down with top congressional leaders of both parties since the shutdown started. | Mark Wilson/Getty Images Government Shutdown Trump invites congressional leaders to White House for wall briefing The meeting would be the first time the president has sat down with Democrats since the shutdown started.

President Donald Trump has invited congressional leaders to a Wednesday afternoon briefing on the border wall at the White House, according to three congressional sources familiar with the invitation.

White House officials on New Year’s Eve asked House and Senate leaders in both parties to attend the meeting. The session, which will include a briefing by top Homeland Security Department officials, comes as a partial government shutdown over Trump’s border wall reaches its eleventh day.


The meeting would mark the first time Trump has sat down with top congressional leaders of both parties since the shutdown started. There have been virtually no discussions until this point, and the meeting would offer both sides a chance to restart talks.

Democrats are set to take control of the House on Thursday and immediately pass a bill to reopen the government without providing the $5 billion the president has requested for his wall with Mexico. Trump, meanwhile, has vowed to hold out and continue the shutdown standoff until he gets funding for the southern structure.

Invitations for the meeting went to incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer as well as House GOP leaders Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise, Senate Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin and Senate Republican leaders Mitch McConnell and John Thune.