Democrats chose to shut down the federal government Wednesday rather than restrict free health care for illegal aliens.
The Republican-led House passed a clean continuing resolution on September 19 that would give Congress until November 21 to set funding for fiscal year 2026 so that the regular appropriations process could continue. The resolution would keep funding at existing levels — notably, Democrats voted for a clean continuing resolution 13 times under the Biden administration, Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., pointed out while on Fox News.
The resolution failed to pass the Senate, with just three Democrats voting in favor. The resolution needs 60 votes to pass. Another vote is set for Wednesday.
Democrats proposed a continuing resolution that would add an extra $1.5 trillion in spending, with $500 million to go to outlets like NPR and PBS, a $50 billion cut in investments in rural health care, and “billions in funding for DEI and climate projects in foreign countries,” according to Speaker Mike Johnson’s office. Most importantly, however, Democrats resolution would reinstate free health care for illegal aliens.
As Vice President J.D. Vance explained, “the Biden administration gave mass parole to millions upon millions of illegal aliens and then they simultaneously made those paroles eligible for health care benefits funded by taxpayers.”
“In the One Big Beautiful Bill President Trump and congressional Republicans turned off that funding for health care to illegal aliens. And Democrats want to turn it back on,” Vance explained.
The Democrat-proposal would rescind Subtitle B in Title VII of the One Big Beautiful Bill which had narrowed the eligibility of government health care benefits, including Medicare eligibility and premium tax credits, to specific groups: Americans, lawful permanent residents, “certain Cuban and Haitian immigrants” and “Compact of Free Association migrants lawfully residing in the U.S.”
The One Big Beautiful Bill meant that certain lawfully present immigrants would not be eligible for Medicaid. Lawfully present immigrants includes asylees and parolees.
Rescinding Subtitle B would effectively grant accessibility to some noncitizens — such as illegal aliens who were granted parole for at least one year under the Biden administration like Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, by removing the specific eligibility language, as Johnson pointed out in an interview with CNN.
Director of Research at the Center for Immigration Studies Steven A. Camarota testified before Congress in April that the Biden administration granted parole status to an estimated 2.8 million “otherwise inadmissible aliens.” As Camarota testified, parolees may be eligible for certain welfare, including Medicaid.
By rescinding Subtitle B of the One Big Beautiful Bill, Democrats would erase the eligibility limits Republicans put in place. That change would reopen Medicaid and other taxpayer-funded health benefits to parolees. But since the Biden administration granted parole status to “otherwise inadmissible aliens,” removing those restrictions would effectively restore healthcare to millions of legitimately illegal aliens.
Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2