Snopes - Democrats didn't shut down government to fund health care for 'illegal aliens.' Here's context [View all]

Democrats forced a U.S. government shutdown because they want to fund free health care for people without legal immigration status in the United States.

Rating: False

Context
Democrats are trying to extend tax credits that make some health insurance premiums more affordable, but immigrants in the country illegally are not eligible for these programs. Republicans have cited a provision in a Democratic proposal as funding health care for people in the country illegally, but it simply repeals restrictions Republicans placed on federally subsidized health care eligibility for immigrants with a legal right to be in the country.

As the U.S. government ground to a halt in fall 2025 over disagreements about federal spending, Republicans centered their message around one claim: Democrats forced the shutdown to give free health care to immigrants in the country illegally.

"The Democrats shut down the government because President Trump and the Republicans will not force American taxpayers to pay for free health care for illegal aliens," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a news conference Oct. 1, the day the shutdown began (see 1:07). Then, she turned it over to Vice President JD Vance, who said: "The Chuck Schumer, AOC wing of the Democratic Party shut down the government because they said to us, 'We will open the government, but only if you give billions of dollars of funding for health care for illegal aliens'" (see 5:24).

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/government-shutdown-health-care/