President Trump said Wednesday a government shutdown could happen and argued that Democrats should shoulder the blame if Congress fails to pass a funding bill. 
 
 "It could happen," Trump said when asked about the chances of a shutdown. “The Democrats are really looking at something that is very dangerous to our country. They are looking at shutting down.” 
 
 Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump accused Democrats of impeding talks on a spending deal with demands on immigration. 
 
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 “They want to have illegal immigrants pouring into our country, bringing with them crime. Tremendous amounts of crime,” the president said. 
 
 “We don’t have to have that. We want to have a great, beautiful, crime-free country. And we want people to coming into our country, but we want them to come on our basis." 
 
 Trump's warning came as lawmakers on Capitol Hill are scrambling to pass a funding measure before the Dec. 8 shutdown deadline. 
 
 The president is set to meet Thursday with Speaker Paul Ryan Paul Davis RyanDem lawmaker resurfaces 2013 Trump tweet criticizing Obama for Syrian airstrikes Schumer says Trump strikes 'appropriate,' warns against greater involvement in Syria Key Dem: Farm bill likely doomed without 'radical changes' MORE (R-Wis.), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellDem lawmaker resurfaces 2013 Trump tweet criticizing Obama for Syrian airstrikes Schumer says Trump strikes 'appropriate,' warns against greater involvement in Syria Trump authorizes military strikes in Syria MORE (R-Ky.), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro PelosiDem lawmaker resurfaces 2013 Trump tweet criticizing Obama for Syrian airstrikes Schumer says Trump strikes 'appropriate,' warns against greater involvement in Syria Lawmakers rip Trump for not seeking congressional approval for Syria strikes MORE (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer Charles (Chuck) Ellis SchumerJames Comey’s history of misconduct Schumer rips Gingrich for comparing FBI raid of Trump lawyer to Nazi secret police Sadly, fiscal restraint is no longer a core principle of the GOP MORE (D-N.Y.) to discuss a spending deal. 
 
 Schumer and Pelosi pulled out of a White House meeting last week after Trump said "I don't see a deal." 
 
 Several high-profile Democrats have threatened to vote against a spending bill if Congress does not address immigrants who may lose their protections to live and work in the U.S. due to Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA). 
 
 Republican leaders have said they will not consider a DACA fix as part of a government funding package. 
 
 The White House has called for tougher immigration controls and more border-security measures in return for relief for DACA recipients. 
 
 Democrats have rejected the notion they would shoulder blame for a shutdown, pointing out Republicans control both chambers of Congress and the White House. 
 
 With Democrats and Republicans at odds on a broader spending bill, lawmakers are working to pass a stopgap measure to keep the government open and buy more time for negotiations. 
 
 But that process has been stalled by complaints from conservative House Republicans over a funding strategy. 
 
 This report was updated at 12:38 p.m. ||||| Story highlights "There's not going to be a government shutdown. It's just not going to happen," McConnell said. 
 
 Democrats say they will insist on DACA funding in a spending bill, teeing up a potential showdown. 
 
 Washington (CNN) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Sunday that he is confident there will not be a government shutdown over partisan disagreements about immigration issues when funding runs out at the end of the week. 
 
 "There's not going to be a government shutdown. It's just not going to happen," McConnell told George Stephanopoulos on ABC's "This Week" when asked if Congress would be able to keep the government running. 
 
 The issue being discussed as a roadblock to keeping the government funded is the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program , which is set to end in March. The Obama-era program has protected young undocumented immigrants, known as "dreamers," who came to the US as children, from deportation. Democrats say they will insist on protections for the dreamers in return for their support for a spending bill, giving rise to a potential showdown. 
 
 In return, some Republicans have said they want a robust border security package, something Trump campaigned on, but many Democrats are resisting. 
 
 "That's a ridiculous position," McConnell said of the Democrats' stance on the DACA issue . "There's no crisis. There's no emergency. The President has given us until March to address it. I don't think the Democrats would be very smart to say they want to shut down the government over a non-emergency." ||||| Speaker Paul Ryan speaks while flanked by House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy during a news conference on Capitol Hill on Dec. 5. | Mark Wilson/Getty Images GOP leaders tamp down opposition to shutdown strategy House Republicans have been divided over a short-term spending bill, even as President Donald Trump blamed Democrats for a possible government shutdown. 
 
 House GOP leaders believe they have the votes to avert a government shutdown Friday without Democratic help after spending much of Wednesday wrestling with internal Republican opposition. 
 
 Speaker Paul Ryan and his team huddled with unhappy conservatives and other opponents of their plan to keep the government open for two weeks. The House Republican Conference is broadly eager to avoid a distraction that might derail tax reform legislation. But they've been struggling to reach a truce to keep the government running. 
 
 Even allies of Ryan, including appropriators like Rep. Tom Graves, despise the strategy being pushed by the top. Graves said in an interview that short-term funding bills are a tactic of the minority and argued that Republicans are “squandering” their power of the purse. 
 
 Story Continued Below 
 
 Graves also noted that the House passed its GOP spending bills eight weeks ago — and the Senate has totally ignored them. 
 
 “The Senate needs two more weeks? I’m asking: 'What have you done the last eight?'” said the Georgia Republican, who is close with Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy. "I want to see Senate action, and I think they owe it to the House to show us those next steps." 
 
 Despite the opposition, GOP leadership sources said they believe Republicans will fall in line and vote for the "continuing resolution" on Thursday. So too did conservatives, who have voiced their own objections. 
 
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 “I’ve had more fruitful conversations with leadership on this issue in the last eight hours than I’ve had in the last eight days," said Freedom Caucus Chair Mark Meadows Wednesday evening. "That being said, there is no agreement at this point, but I fully expect that if there is CR through the 22nd that is put on the floor tomorrow, then it will pass.” 
 
 The White House endorsed the bill Wednesday night in another sign that Congress would avoid a shutdown at week's end. Still, the administration reiterated its firm position that military and national security funding — including a border wall — “must be prioritized” in a broader spending agreement later this month. 
 
 Just hours earlier, President Donald Trump on Wednesday blamed Democrats for a possible government shutdown. 
 
 "It could happen," Trump said of a shutdown at the White House Wednesday afternoon. "The Democrats are really looking at something that is very dangerous for our country. They are looking at shutting down... They want to have illegal immigrants pouring into our country." 
 
 In fact, the real problem has been Republican infighting, according to multiple House GOP sources. 
 
 In a rare move, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) crossed the Capitol Rotunda Wednesday to meet with some rank-and-file House Republicans in McCarthy's office, including Graves. He told them that if they pass a two-week stopgap right away, he could keep it "clean" — without policy riders demanded by Democrats or moderate Republicans. 
 
 Late last month, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) suggested McConnell would attach key Obamacare payments to a must-pass spending bill by the end of the year, an idea that infuriated House Republicans. McConnell's comments to the small group, however, suggest that he has no such plans to add the measure to the CR. 
 
 "He was there mostly to make the pitch: ‘Hey send us this two-week bill, that will help us on the tax front. We think we can keep that one clean,'" summarized Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), who was in the meeting with McConnell. "They think the longer they make it, the more likely it is that something will come back with some kind of mischief you don’t like attached to it." 
 
 Cole added: "I think that argument is beginning to win over most of our members.” 
 
 However, some House Republicans left the meeting with McConnell even more frustrated than when they went in. Pressed on why the Senate had not taken up the House GOP appropriations package, McConnell said, effectively, he didn't have time for it. 
 
 That rubbed many in the room the wrong way. McConnell also told the members he is open to taking recommendations. But when Graves told him he should announce plans to take action on the House-passed government funding bill from September, McConnell said, "I don't have an answer to your question," according to one source in the room. 
 
 Even if GOP leaders ease the worries of their allies, conservatives still spent much of Wednesday warring with them. 
 
 House Freedom Caucus leaders have been asking for a commitment GOP leadership does not believe it can give them: a promise to "hold the line" and refuse Senate Democrats' demands for increased spending on non-defense programs. 
 
 GOP leaders do not believe that's realistic since the Senate needs at least eight Senate Democrats to overcome a filibuster and pass any long-term funding deal. And those on the left have demanded equivalent increases for defense and non-defense spending to win their votes. 
 
 "This is not a new theme that comes up: [Democrats] know that Republicans want to fund the military... so what they do is they hold that hostage in trying to get things that are not in the best interest of the American taxpayer, and so it is truly trying to have a real plan to break that" trend, said Meadows. "It's all about tactic and strategy." 
 
 It's a different tune than the conservatives sang Wednesday morning upon exiting a House Freedom Caucus meeting. Conservatives emphasized the need to get tax reform finished immediately, mirroring the argument GOP leadership has been making to try to get conservatives to back their short-term spending patch. 
 
 “I think the real focus for all of us is tax reform and getting tax reform done,” Meadows said earlier in the day. “That was the crux of the conversation we had today: that we gotta get across the finish line on tax reform. Any distraction from that is a problem.” 
 
 The back and forth highlights the dilemma conservatives face — whether to back the measure to keep the focus on tax reform or use their leverage to try to win a harder line on year-end spending. 
 
 Trump is leaning on Congress to send him the tax bill as soon as possible. And GOP leaders on both sides of the Capitol want to iron out their differences and clinch a much-needed legislative win within the next 10 days. 
 
 An internal spending war would only create more hurdles for tax reform in an already packed December, leaders say. 
 
 If the conservative faction ultimately backs the package, it would likely seal the GOP’s hopes of avoiding the need for a last-minute deal with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) or Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who could demand additional concessions to keep the government open. Many Democrats are vowing to vote against government funding legislation if it doesn't also provide deportation relief for Dreamers, the undocumented immigrants who came to the country as minors. 
 
 Indeed, without the Freedom Caucus votes, Ryan warned that he would need to bring Democrats into the talks to keep the government funded past Friday. 
 
 Schumer, Pelosi, Ryan and McConnell will meet with Trump at the White House Thursday to discuss year-end spending and immigration issues. 
 
 Earlier this week, GOP leaders floated an olive branch to the far-right to try to win them over: a promise that if they back a two-week spending patch, leaders will fight for conservative principles on the second stop-gap funding due in mid-December. 
 
 During a closed-door GOP Conference meeting Tuesday, lawmakers discussed the idea of the House passing a spending bill that includes a full year of spending for the Pentagon — but only for the Pentagon — in a week or two. Conservatives, however, don't believe GOP leaders will stick with that position when it's rejected by the Senate and want a commitment that they will reject any spending bill later this year that increases spending for non-defense programs. 
 
 Some House Republicans have said they would try to jam legislation through the Senate by peeling off votes from red-state Democrat who are up for reelection in 2018. They believe attaching bipartisan priorities like funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program and hurricane recovery could sweeten the pot. 
 
 But multiple Democratic senators said this week they would oppose a spending bill that funds the Pentagon but leaves domestic programs in the lurch — even if it includes some of their priorities like children’s health funding or disaster relief dollars. 
 
 “We have to have domestic priorities also,” Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) told reporters Tuesday when asked about the GOP's full-year defense plan, though she added that she'd need to see the House bill to make a final decision. 
 
 Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois, a top member of the defense spending panel, also ruled out the idea. "Just defense?" he said in response to a reporter’s question. "No." 
 
 Connor O’Brien contributed to this report. ||||| President Donald Trump with Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, right, speaks during a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Meeting Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017. (AP Photo/Manuel... (Associated Press) 
 
 President Donald Trump with Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, right, speaks during a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Meeting Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the budget battle in Congress (all times local): 
 
 1:05 p.m. 
 
 The top House Democrat says President Donald Trump is the "only person talking about a government shutdown." 
 
 Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, in a tweet, responded on Wednesday to Trump's claim that a government shutdown "could happen" Saturday, and he blamed it on Democrats' stance on immigration. 
 
 On Capitol Hill, chances of a shutdown were diminishing as Republicans were talking about passing a two-week extension to avoid a shutdown at midnight on Friday. 
 
 Pelosi, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and the top congressional Republicans plan to meet with Trump at the White House on Thursday. 
 
 Pelosi said: "Democrats are hopeful the president will be open to an agreement to address the urgent needs of the American people and keep government open." 
 
 ___ 
 
 12:05 p.m. 
 
 President Donald Trump says a government shutdown "could happen" Saturday, and he is blaming it on Democrats' stance on immigration. 
 
 Speaking Wednesday before a Cabinet meeting, Trump blamed Democrats for opposing his border security and hardline immigration plans. He says they are "looking at something that is dangerous for our country." 
 
 Some Democrats have called for a legislative fix for those previously covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program before Trump canceled it earlier this year. 
 
 Democrats want the fix to be included in legislation to keep the government open past Friday. The White House has called for tighter immigration controls and increased border security funding in return. 
 
 Trump says of Democrats: "They want to have illegal immigrants pouring into our country." 
 
 ___ 
 
 9:40 a.m. 
 
 The hard-right House Freedom Caucus is showing an openness to a deal that would prevent a partial government shutdown this weekend. 
 
 The group's members say Republicans must focus on passing the GOP's prized tax bill. 
 
 The North Carolina congressman who leads the caucus says any distraction from taxes — including a shutdown — would be a problem. 
 
 Mark Meadows and several others in the roughly 30-member group aren't ruling out backing a leadership-backed spending measure that would expire Dec. 22. They plan to talk to leaders later Wednesday. 
 
 The caucus has wanted the spending bill to run an additional week. They say the shorter version would tempt Republicans to cut a deal with Democrats so Congress could go home for Christmas. 
 
 ___ 
 
 2:50 a.m. 
 
 Top Republicans are trying to smooth over GOP divisions over the budget as leaders work to push through a short-term spending bill by week's end and avert a partial government shutdown. 
 
 Republican leaders have postponed a planned House vote on the temporary spending measure until Thursday. That buys time to iron out disputes with conservatives seeking tighter budget curbs. 
 
 The delay shows the clout that conservatives hold.
– It's an unusually busy time on Capitol Hill. GOP lawmakers are trying to get a tax bill to President Trump before the end of the year, but first they must contend with a Friday deadline to avert a government shutdown. On Wednesday, President Trump raised the possibility that the shutdown will indeed take effect on Saturday, reports the Hill. "It could happen," he told reporters at the White House, blaming Democrats for an impasse over immigration. "The Democrats are really looking at something that is very dangerous to our country. They are looking at shutting down." Trump was referring to Democratic demands that any stopgap legislation also address the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals issue, referring to young, undocumented immigrants at risk of deportation. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, however, downplayed the risk of a shutdown, per the AP. Pelosi said Trump is the "only person talking about a government shutdown." She and Sen. Charles Schumer meet with the president and top congressional Republicans on Thursday. Previously, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stated categorically that no shutdown would take place. House conservatives in the Freedom Caucus, meanwhile, were raising their own fiscal demands in regard to the shutdown, notes Politico. House Speaker Paul Ryan met with them Wednesday, though no deal was reached.