WASHINGTON–White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt admonished Democrat lawmakers on Friday for their government funding framework, which gives more to illegal aliens for emergency visits through Medicaid than it does to Americans who are children, elderly, or disabled.
Leavitt tore into the Democrat proposal during Friday’s White House press briefing, an uncharacteristic second briefing in just three days.
“What did the Democrats want in their continuing resolution? They inserted a provision to undo a provision in the working families tax cut, the One Big Beautiful Bill, that ended taxpayer-funded healthcare… benefits for illegal aliens,” she said.
“Democrats’ proposals would require Medicaid to pay more for emergency care provided to illegal aliens than Medicaid does for American patients who are disabled, elderly, or children,” Leavitt added. “And this bill would have also allowed California to continue a gimmick that funds its Medicaid for illegals program.”
While Democrats, who control neither chamber of the legislative branch, are making unrealistic demands to reopen the government, Republicans are merely looking to continue the current funding levels from fiscal year 2024, as approved by then-President Joe Biden and the very Democrats keeping the government closed, in a clean continuing resolution with zero strings attached.
The Republican proposal, which passed the House on September 19 and was blocked by Senate Democrats for a third time on Friday, would fund the government into November while Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune work to pass individual appropriations bills through regular order for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2026.
Because Democrats opted to close the government, the White House is now tasked with prioritizing funds for essential government services over non-essential services. Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought announced a pause in $2.1 billion in Chicago infrastructure projects on Friday, following the announcement of nearly $8 billion in cancellations to Democrats’ “Green Energy Scam” funding on Wednesday.
The White House has also paused $18 billion in New York City infrastructure projects due to the shutdown.
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