WASHINGTON 

US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized Republican leadership on Thursday, accusing President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson of abandoning the country at a time of crisis.

"The Trump administration, the federal government has now been shut down for more than a week, but Donald Trump, Speaker Johnson and Republicans in Congress are nowhere to be found," Schumer said on the Senate floor as the federal government remained shuttered for a ninth day.

Instead of playing with people's lives, Schumer said Trump and Republicans need to sit down with Democrats and have a "serious negotiation" to fix health care and reopen the government.

"We need to end this shutdown as soon as possible. Every day that Republicans refuse to negotiate to end this shutdown, the worse it gets for Americans, and the clearer it becomes who's fighting for it," he said.

He lambasted what he described as the Republicans' absence from the halls of Congress during the crisis.

"Republicans are absent. The House is literally on vacation, and Donald Trump, meanwhile, continues to play with people's lives and threaten mass layoffs for federal workers," he said.

Pointing to the public’s awareness, the Democratic leader asserted that Americans understand where the responsibility lies.

"American people are smart. They see what Trump and the Republicans are doing. They know Republicans are the ones in charge. They have the presidency, the House, the Senate, not Democrats," he said, urging Republicans to negotiate with Democrats in a "serious way" to fix the health care premiums crisis.

Following six unsuccessful efforts, the Senate is set to vote again Thursday on legislation to end the shutdown, as both parties continue to accuse each other of obstructing progress toward reopening the government.