WASHINGTON — The U.S. government will partially shut down after midnight on Tuesday after a pair of competing spending bills failed to advance in the Senate amid partisan finger-pointing and vitriolic attacks against Democratic congressional leaders by President Donald Trump.
Republicans proposed a bill keeping the government running at current funding levels until November, giving lawmakers more time to hammer out a broader spending agreement. That bill garnered the support of only three members of the Democratic caucus ― Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Angus King of Maine, an independent who caucuses with Democrats.
Democrats offered their own bill to keep the government open, but one that also included an extension of enhanced subsidies for people who get their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act, which are due to expire at the end of the year. No Republicans voted for that measure, and it failed as well.
Democratic lawmakers staged press conferences on both sides of the Capitol throughout the day highlighting Congressional Budget Office estimates saying millions will soon lose Medicaid coverage and Affordable Care Act subsidies, and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) responded angrily to an AI-altered video Trump posted depicting him wearing a sombrero and mustache after a White House meeting on Monday.
