This is the first since a record 35-day pause in 2019, during Trump’s first termVice-President JD Vance took centre stage at a White House briefing normally headed by Leavitt to upbraid Democrats over their demands. Federal funding expired at midnight after Trump and lawmakers failed to agree on a deal to keep the lights on, prompting agencies to wind down services, while the White House warned of “imminent” firings of public sector workers. Senate Democrats, who are demanding extended health care subsidies for low income families, refused to help the majority Republicans approve a House-passed bill that would have reopened the government for several weeks while negotiations continue. As the messaging war over the shutdown intensified, Vice-President JD Vance took centre stage at a White House briefing normally headed by Leavitt to upbraid Democrats over their demands. But it bars undocumented immigrants from receiving the health care benefits Democrats are demanding, and the party has not called for a new act of Congress to change that.