D.C. Memo: Dems insist on health care funding as shutdown looms

WASHINGTON — The nation inched closer to a government shutdown this week after Democratic leaders in the U.S. House and Senate rejected a stopgap funding proposal released by House Speaker Mike Johnson because the measure does not contain any Democratic priorities.

If Congress does not pass a funding bill, the government will close down after Sept. 30 when the legislation currently funding the federal government expires.

But as the clock ticks toward that deadline, there is no agreement on how to avoid the shuttering of the federal government.

Johnson has scheduled a Friday vote for the stop-gap measure, called a continuing resolution, or CR. But there’s no guarantee it will pass since he can only lose three Republican votes and Democrats are united in opposition.

Democrats want an ext