WASHINGTON — Congress headed into the weekend with a government shutdown all but certain to begin on Wednesday, as Democrats demand Republican majorities in the House and Senate act to keep health insurance costs from rising while the White House dismissed that condition as “radical left insanity.”

Some Republican lawmakers have voiced support for extending health insurance subsidies set to expire at the end of the year, but they say that should wait until after Congress passes a short-term bill to extend government funding, which runs out at the end of September.

But in an interview Friday, Sen. Maria Cantwell said extending the subsidies — which come in the form of a tax credit applied to insurance purchased through Affordable Care Act exchanges, often called Obamacare — can’t wait. Th

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