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EPISODE · Oct 1, 2025 · 18 MIN

The health care debate behind the government shutdown

from Post Reports · host The Washington Post

The effects of the government shutdown – which started early Wednesday morning – are already being felt. Some national parks are closed, federal job training is suspended, and large swaths of the federal workforce have been furloughed. One major debate led to the shutdown: a fundamental disagreement over health care policy.Today on Post Reports, national health reporter Paige Winfield Cunningham joins host Elahe Izadi to break down the ins and outs of the health care policy fight that Democrats used to force a government shutdown. Today’s show was produced by Rennie Svirnovskiy. with help from Lucas Trevor. It was edited by Ariel Plotnick and mixed by Sean Carter. Thanks also to Fenit Nirappil.Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Oct 1, 2025

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At 12:01 on Wednesday morning, the United States federal government shut down. We explain why a debate over health care policy was central to Democrats and Republicans’ inability to make a deal to extend funding for federal agencies.

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The health care debate behind the government shutdown

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