White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says Democrats "are about to shut down the federal government because President [Donald] Trump won't force American taxpayers to pay for free healthcare for illegal aliens."
Democrats are doubling down on healthcare demands with just days to avert a government shutdown, while Republicans are pushing for a "clean" stopgap funding bill without policy additions.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said Wednesday that "any agreement" on healthcare in budget talks "has to be ironclad and in legislation."
"There's no trust that exists between House Democrats and House Republicans at this particular point in time, given the fact that they've consistently tried to undermine bipartisan agreements that they themselves have reached," Jeffries said at a news conference.
"We have to have a conversation with Republicans in order to work toward decisively resolving the healthcare crisis that they've created," Jeffries said. "And part of that healthcare crisis relates to the Republican refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits."
Republicans have balked at the demands.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said in a CNN interview Wednesday that the demands were 'unreasonable and unserious.'''
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., responded to Thune on X, "What's 'unserious' is ignoring the 93% spike for health insurance coming to Americans on November 1."
"Democrats are fighting to lower prices, while Republicans are failing families," Schumer said.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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