The US government shutdown widened on Wednesday as President Donald Trump’s administration froze $26 billion in funding for Democratic-leaning states.

The freeze included $18 billion for transit projects in New York, home to Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and $8 billion for green-energy programs in 16 Democratic-run states such as California and Illinois.

Schumer was even more blunt: “He is using the American people as pawns, threatening pain on the country as blackmail.”

Democrats remain dug in on demands to extend healthcare subsidies before agreeing to a short-term spending measure. They also want assurances that Trump will not ignore provisions of spending bills he signs into law, a practice they accuse him of repeating since his

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