Democrats dig in on health care as threat of government shutdown looms

Congressional Democrats are zeroing in on health care as a key sticking point in negotiations with the threat of a government shutdown looming.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both of New York, have said that they will not support GOP-backed legislation to keep the government funded unless it includes certain health-care provisions, setting up a bitter policy fight with GOP lawmakers that could trigger a shutdown.

"We have made clear that under no circumstances will we support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues to rip away health care from the American people," Jeffries said on the House floor this week.

With funding on the brink, congressional Democrats are demanding that any legislation that would avert a shut