David Dayen: The Government Has Been Shut Down Since Trump Took Office

The U.S. government appears to be headed to a shutdown at midnight Wednesday after President Trump and Democratic leaders failed to reach an agreement on a spending bill. Democrats are looking to extend subsidies for the Affordable Care Act and reverse cuts to Medicaid and other healthcare programs that were implemented by the tax and spending bill passed earlier this year.

"The president is all too happy to fund programs he likes and defund programs he doesn't like," says David Dayen, executive editor of _The American Prospect_. "That's the textbook definition of a government shutdown. And we've been in that state since the inauguration, practically, and now we're just going to admit it."