A looming government shutdown could leave hundreds of thousands of federal employees without pay and put key economic data — including the closely watched jobs report — on ice.

Congress has just four days left to agree on a stopgap bill that will keep the federal government fully funded past Tuesday. But as the clock runs out, party leaders are only growing more entrenched in their opposition.

Republicans, who hold narrow majorities in the House and Senate, want to pass a "clean" resolution to temporarily extend funding. Democrats want the stopgap to include health-care protections, including extensions of enhanced premium tax credits under the Affordable Care Act that are set to expire at the end of the year. The enhanced credits cap out-of-pocket health-care premiums for a wide

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