Overview

• A partial federal shutdown began at midnight Wednesday after the Senate failed to advance a stopgap funding bill.
• In a tense ABC interview, Speaker Mike Johnson rejected George Stephanopoulos’s framing that Democrats’ plan preserves coverage, saying Democrats blocked funding to pursue health-policy changes.
• Stephanopoulos stated the Democratic proposal does not provide healthcare to illegal immigrants, a point conservative outlets disputed by citing emergency Medicaid reimbursements to hospitals.
• Johnson said 44 Senate Democrats opposed what he called a clean continuing resolution, with Sens. John Fetterman and Catherine Cortez Masto and Independent Angus King voting with Republicans and Sen. Rand Paul the lone GOP defection.
• Policy flashpoints include extending Affordable Care Act tax credits and reversing limits on certain Medicaid emergency reimbursements, with Republicans arguing those rollbacks could affect noncitizen care.