Washington, Sept. 29 -- With just hours left before funding runs dry at midnight on Tuesday, the United States is again tiptoeing toward a partial government shutdown, a ritualized crisis that has hardened into governing style. On Monday, President Donald Trump summoned congressional leaders to the Oval Office for a last-ditch round of bargaining that, by early afternoon, resembled a stage set for blame rather than a venue for compromise. The meeting itself underscores how little runway remains.

Republicans, who control both chambers and the White House, are pushing a seven-week stopgap bill to keep money flowing into late November. Democrats say they will not supply the votes without statutory guarantees to extend Affordable Care Act su...