The next election is over a year away, but ABC’s Rachel Scott is already in peak midterm form. A report on the ongoing shutdown is completely Democrat-coded, regurgitating Democrat talking points and placing the onus for ending the shutdown exclusively on Republicans.
Watch the report in its entirety, as aired on ABC World News Tonight on Monday, October 13th, 2025:
DAVID MUIR: Tonight, day 13 of the government shutdown. No end in sight. Thousands of federal workers have been fired, and what Speaker Mike Johnson is now saying tonight about Obamacare subsidies meant to keep health care costs down for millions. Here’s Rachel Scott.
RACHEL SCOTT: Tonight, as the government shutdown heads into its third week, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson today with a stark warning.
MIKE JOHNSON: We're barrelling toward one of the longest shutdowns in American history.
SCOTT: The longest shutdown was during the first Trump administration and lasted 35 days. The House Speaker said Democrats can end the shutdown tomorrow, calling their hard line on extending the Obamacare subsidies to keep health care costs for millions from rising “a boondoggle”. Democratic leadership not budging.
HAKEEM JEFFRIES: People are facing these dramatically increased premiums, copays and deductibles because of the Republicans’ continued refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits.
SCOTT: Millions of federal workers have now received their last paycheck, and The White House using the shutdown to fire more than 4,000 federal workers including many inside the Department of Education, where sources say the special education staff has been decimated. Jackie Castillo Blaber, a mother of two children with disabilities, called the cuts a gut punch.
JACKIE CASTILLO BLABER: Every minute counts for these kids and they already have gaps and the delay in services makes those gaps become impossible hurdles for them.
SCOTT: And tonight we are learning that the Trump administration is working to reverse the firings of about 130 CDC employees who were let go by mistake due to a coding error, David.
MUIR: Rachel Scott tonight. Rachel, thank you.
The first thing you’ll note is that the report is House-centric, even though the House already passed a clean resolution that would’ve averted and would end this government shutdown. And this is a clever omission. Not mentioning the Senate keeps the issue of a House-passed CR off the table, takes the onus of passing the House CR off of the Senate, and drives opposition to Republicans.
In describing the issue keeping the sides apart, Scott echoes Dem talking points about the Covid-era subsidies having to be made permanent in order to keep healthcare costs affordable. She does this without mentioning the temporary nature of the subsidies.
Finally, there is a victim story to push to viewers, in an effort to elicit an emotional response. The report is clearly on the side of the Democrats, as is often the case on ABC News product.