Warning of a government shutdown, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) on Tuesday rejected the 2017 budget cuts proposed by the White House and urged GOP leaders in Congress to forge a bipartisan path.

“This supplemental is, yes, a non-starter,” Hoyer said during a press briefing in the Capitol.

Hoyer predicted that, because House budget hawks will almost certainly oppose any spending package that can pass both chambers, Republican leaders will need to reach across the aisle for Democratic support to keep the government open — a process that must yield “a consensus,” he said, “not a take-it-or-leave-it” proposition.

ADVERTISEMENT

“We would be interested in talking to them, if they want to talk. But if we do so it will be on the basis that it will be a consensus, not a 'take-it-or-leave-it, we’ll shut down the government [threat].' If the government shuts down there is no doubt it will be because Republicans refused to come to a reasonable consensus with us.”

The comments came in response to a proposal from President Trump’s Office of Budget and Management (OMB) that seeks steep cuts across most agencies through September, including billions of dollars in reductions to education programs, housing subsidies and medical research.

Congress in December passed a temporary spending bill, known as a continuing resolution, that funds the government through April 28. If lawmakers don’t act before then to extend the funding, large parts of the government will shut down.

Hoyer said President Trump’s proposed cuts flout 2017 spending levels previously accepted by both parties. He noted that the defense spending bill passed with overwhelming support in December because it kept the bipartisan agreement, as opposed to the White House budget numbers, which cut deeply into those established numbers.

“The art of the deal is keeping the deal,” Hoyer said. “The art of the deal is having the other side trust you.”

Hoyer said he has not yet spoken with GOP leaders about the spending debate. But he was quick to note that there are only 11 legislative days remaining before April 28, and he urged GOP leaders to begin those talks in an effort to reach an agreement well ahead of the deadline.

ADVERTISEMENT

“We should do that before we go home for the Easter break,” he said. “I’m certainly open to discussing that with the Republican leadership, and I hope they are as well, because they’re going to need us.

“That’s the history.”

- This story was updated at 2:10 p.m.