House Republicans are working to make Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City and a self-identified democratic socialist, a prominent figure in the government shutdown battle from hundreds of miles away.

Their argument is that Democratic members of Congress who have repeatedly rejected the GOP-crafted, House-passed “clean” stopgap to fund the government through Nov. 21 are afraid of the progressives in the Democratic base — exemplified by Mamdani.

Democrats have called on Republicans to negotiate with them on health care, particularly the extension of enhanced ObamaCare subsidies that expire at the end of the year, before voting for a stopgap to fund the government.

Mamdani, currently a New York state assemblymember, was the dominant topic in a Thursday press c

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