Congressional Democrats are taking a rare gamble on government shutdown politics they've decried in the past, wagering that health care is a winning cause with Americans.

Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor in New York City, defended his politics in a Monday interview in response to President Trump repeatedly labeling him a “communist.” CNN’s Erin Burnett played a compilation of clips of Trump calling Mamdani a communist and asked Mamdani directly, “Are you?” “No. I’m a democratic socialist,” Mamdani said....

House Democrats rallied in the Capitol on Monday evening in an 11th-hour strategy session with two distinct goals: To unify the party amid the partisan budget standoff and to compel GOP leaders back to the negotiating table on legislation to prevent a government shutdown. Huddled behind closed doors in the basement of the Capitol, House...