White House Fires Back at Dem Shutdown Demands

The White House ramped up its rhetorical assault in a freshly circulated memo, blasting Democrats’ hardline stance on averting a government shutdown and warning that yielding to their agenda would unleash nearly $200 billion in federal healthcare dollars toward undocumented immigrants.

Sourced exclusively by Fox News Digital, the document contends that Democrats’ push to dismantle the healthcare provisions of President Donald Trump’s landmark “big, beautiful bill”—rechristened the Working Families Tax Cut Act—could funnel just over $192 billion into coverage for illegal immigrants over the coming decade.

“Democrats are demanding these reforms be repealed as a condition of keeping the government open for four weeks,” the memo read.

“This would result in the federal government spending nearly $200 billion on healthcare for illegal immigrants and non-citizens over the next decade — nearly enough to fund the entire Children’s Health Insurance Program over the same period— all while repealing reforms that strengthen care for the most vulnerable Americans.”

Senate Stalemate Drags On Amid Funding Impasse

Senate Democrats have stonewalled three Republican bids in the chamber to advance the House GOP’s interim funding measure, which would sustain operations through November 21 as Congress hammers out full-year appropriations.

With no resolution in sight for the shutdown that struck at midnight Wednesday, the partisan gridlock shows little sign of easing.

Democrats, in turn, have floated their counterproposal—likewise rebuffed by Republicans—that would maintain government functions until October 31, while restoring axed allocations for NPR and PBS and gutting the healthcare elements of Trump’s marquee legislation.

Trump and his GOP allies have framed the Democrats’ intransigence as a covert ploy to extend healthcare access to illegal immigrants, dismissing the party’s stated goal of safeguarding expiring Obamacare tax credits.

“That is a d-mn lie,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor. “Not $1 of Medicare, Medicaid or [Obamacare] is allowed to go to undocumented immigrants, not a dollar. So why do they keep saying this? This seems to be their theme because they’re afraid to talk about the real issue. It’s typical that the Republican response is to have a diversion, try to scare people emotionally.”

Unpacking the Reforms at Risk—and the Citizen-First Imperative

The White House memo zeroes in on six targeted reforms embedded in the “big, beautiful bill” that, if rolled back, would reopen the spigot for immigrant healthcare funding. Key among them: halting Medicaid support for most non-citizens, curtailing the boosted Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) for emergency services to illegal immigrants, severing Medicare and Obamacare eligibility for most non-citizens, sealing the so-called “California loophole” that allegedly let states siphon extra funds for undocumented residents, and nullifying a “special rule” that bypassed Obamacare’s five-year Medicaid bar for low-income immigrants via premium subsidies.

“Democrats’ funding proposal would put American Patients Last by undoing critical [Working Families Tax Cut Act] reforms, thereby spending nearly $200 billion in taxpayer money on healthcare benefits for illegal immigrants and other non-citizens,” the memo read.

This showdown reinforces a fundamental principle: America must prioritize its own citizens’ well-being before extending resources to non-citizens, especially undocumented ones. Redirecting nearly $200 billion—enough to fully bankroll the Children’s Health Insurance Program—toward foreign nationals diverts critical support from vulnerable Americans, like low-income families and the elderly, who rely on these programs for survival.

In an era of strained budgets and rising costs, putting citizens first ensures fiscal responsibility, bolsters national security by discouraging illegal entry, and upholds the social contract that hardworking taxpayers expect from their government. Failing to do so not only erodes trust in institutions but risks overburdening systems designed to protect those who built and sustain this nation, making reforms like those in Trump’s bill not just prudent, but essential for long-term equity and stability.

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