Sept. 20 (UPI) — Democratic Party leaders Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and Sen. Chuck Schumer on Saturday demanded that President Donald Trump meet with them to avoid a government shutdown on Oct. 1.

The Senate on Friday failed to pass a House-approved budget extension, which Jeffries and Schumer, both of New York, say means the president must deal with them to prevent a shutdown.

“It is now your obligation to meet with us directly to keep the government open and address the Republican health care crisis,” they said in a joint letter to Trump on Saturday.

“We do not understand why you prefer to shut down the government rather than protect the health care and quality of life of the American people,” they wrote.

Jeffries and Schumer are the minority party leaders in the Senate and House, respectively, and have insisted that the fiscal year 2026 budget include an extension of subsidies for the Affordable Care Act.

The subsidies are scheduled to expire, along with the fiscal year 2025 budget, on Oct. 1.

Jeffries and Schumer said Republican leaders in the House and Senate have repeatedly refused to negotiate to overcome a potential Senate filibuster by Democrats, which would require 60 votes, NPR reported.

Senate Democrats proposed an alternative budget extension bill on Friday, which also failed to muster enough votes.

Jeffries and Schumer said a government shutdown could occur because Republicans refuse to talk with Democrats on the matter.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Friday denied excluding Democrats from budget negotiations.

“The House has just passed a short-term, clean, non-partisan continuing resolution to fund the government for a few additional weeks while we continue bipartisan work on appropriations bills,” Thune, R-S.D., said on the Senate floor.

He said congressional Democrats voted 13 times to shut down the federal government during the Biden administration and won’t “gain political points from shutting down the government over a clean, non-partisan continuing resolution.”