The Trump administration is blaming Democrats for the US government shutdown, claiming they are pursuing “radical demands” including free healthcare for illegal immigrants.

Vice President JD Vance said Democrats “want to shut the government because we won’t give billions of dollars in healthcare funding for illegal aliens”.

President Trump posted on Truth Social: “The Democrats want to give your healthcare money to illegal aliens.”

Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer has called the claim a “total, absolute, effing lie”.

Democrats have been pushing for concessions from the government on health – an extension to subsidies for Obamacare health insurance and changes to Medicaid.

But illegal or undocumented immigrants are not eligible for these schemes and the Democrats have not said they want to change this.

The Republicans have pointed to Democratic proposals to reverse parts of Trump’s changes to healthcare provision in his tax and spending bill, as evidence for their claim.

Senate Democrats refused to support a Republican proposal to extend government funding and avoid the shutdown because of their concerns over health provision.

They want to extend enhancements to health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) – also known as Obamacare – which are set to expire at the end of the year.

If they expire, the average insurance premium payment for those on the scheme is set to more than double, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) health think tank.

The Democrats also want to reverse some of the cuts and changes to Medicaid in Trump’s tax and spending bill. Medicaid is the government-run scheme which provides healthcare insurance for low-income adults, children, pregnant women, elderly adults and people with disabilities.

In the coming months and years, tens of millions of Americans are set be affected by changes to these schemes.

BBC Verify asked the White House for the evidence behind its claim about the Democrats and healthcare for illegal immigrants.

It responded by sharing a post from one of its official X accounts.

It includes a screenshot from the Democrats’ continuing resolution (CR) – their plan to avoid a government shutdown.

It sets out proposals to repeal some of the health changes in Trump’s tax and spending bill, which was signed into law in July.

One key change which the Democrats want to repeal – and which the White House is highlighting in its pushback – is a Republican move to restrict federally-funded healthcare for non citizens.

The “Alien Medicaid eligibility” provision – which will come into force next October – will only allow “an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence” and a small number of other categories to get coverage.

It will mean other groups of immigrants considered “lawfully present” in the US – for example, refugees who were allowed to enter the country – will lose access to these benefits, under the Republican plan.

Leo Cuello, a Research Professor at Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, said: “the immigrants that lose coverage under those provisions are, for example lawfully present refugees, victims of trafficking, and victims of domestic violence, among other groups that are all here lawfully.”

The KFF, citing analysis from the Congressional Budget Office, says the new restrictions – in Trump’s bill – will result in about 1.4 million “lawfully present” immigrants becoming uninsured.

In repealing the restrictions, the Democrats would restore healthcare access to many of them but House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries has ruled out extending this to undocumented immigrants.

“Of course not. Federal law prohibits the use of taxpayer dollars to provide medical coverage to undocumented individuals. That’s the law. And there is nothing in anything that we have proposed that is trying to change that law,” he told CNBC.

The White House says that current Medicaid eligibility rules “serve as a magnet for illegal immigration into the United States”.

The right-wing Heritage Foundation has said that changes in Trump’s bill “stop eligibility for illegal aliens and other aliens that are here on a temporary basis. The Senate Democrats… would repeal these changes”.

According to HealthCare.gov, only US citizens, US nationals and “lawfully present immigrants” are eligible for coverage.

“Under longstanding policy, undocumented immigrants are not eligible to enrol in any federally-funded health coverage programs including Medicaid, CHIP, or Medicare, or to purchase coverage through the ACA Marketplaces”, Drishti Pillai, KFF’s Director of Immigrant Health Policy told us.

They can receive emergency Medicaid, though, under a law passed in 1986.

“Hospitals can get federal Medicaid funding to reimburse them for emergency services they are required to provide to low-income individuals, regardless of immigration status, which includes undocumented people,” Mr Cuello told us.

“Emergency Medicaid is very temporary coverage for the emergency services, often just one service on one day, not ongoing health insurance enrolment like a US citizen gets,” he added.

Illegal migrants may also be eligible for state-funded healthcare.

As of April 2025, there were 14 states plus Washington DC which provided state-funded healthcare coverage to children regardless of their immigration status, according to KFF analysis.

All but two of these states – Vermont and Utah – are run by Democrats.

New Jersey and Vermont also provide state-funded coverage to low-income pregnant women, regardless of immigration status.

Seven states, including California and New York, have also expanded state-funded healthcare coverage to some low-income adults, regardless of immigration status.