Government shutdown updates: Leavitt says Trump exploring cutting aid to Portland

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on Wednesday blasted the federal government shutdown, warning it will cause serious harm to his state and its residents.

Moore, who was joined by half of the state's congressional delegation during the news conference, warned that Maryland will be among the states hardest hit by the shutdown.

Maryland is home to over 60 federal facilities, 260,000 federal workers, and 200,000 federal contractors.

"There is not a single state in this country that is prepared to fill this enormous gap that is being created by this federal administration," Moore said.

"A prerequisite to keeping the government open, should not be cutting people off of health care, a prerequisite for keeping the government open should not be forcing people to have their premiums jump," he added.

"On behalf of the six and a half million Marylanders, my message to President Trump is clear, stop this shutdown," Moore said.

-ABC News' Beatrice Peterson

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said President Donald Trump and Republicans have "shut the government down because they don't want to provide health care to working-class Americans."

He said Democrats are trying to "negotiate a bipartisan agreement that actually brings the two parties together and funds the government that improves the quality of life of the American people."

The minority leader also denied that Democrats are trying to fund health care for undocumented immigrants, as "federal law prohibits" the ability to provide health insurance to undocumented individuals through Medicare, Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program or the Affordable Care Act.

"Period, full stop. That's the law. Democrats aren't trying to change that," Jeffries said on Wednesday.

Jeffries added that Republicans "could care less about the medical and health care crisis that they have caused.

Speaker Mike Johnson spoke on "Good Morning America" about the government shutdown, which took effect at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, saying that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer "wants to play games."

"We're pretty angry about it," Johnson said on Wednesday.

He said that Democrats want to "give health care to illegal aliens instead of keeping critical services provided for the American citizens."

The Democratic-backed spending bill that would have extended heath care subsidies under the Affordable Care Act and reversed cuts to Medicaid failed on Tuesday, along with the GOP-backed stopgap funding measure that would have kept the government funded for seven weeks.

Johnson also said that President Donald Trump gave Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries "unlimited time" during their meeting earlier in the week to avoid the shutdown.

Johnson emphasized that the shutdown will create "real harm that the American people are going to feel."

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations blamed President Donald Trump for the nascent government shutdown in a Wednesday statement.

"The federal government is shutting down right now because President Trump and his administration chose chaos and pain over responsible governing," AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said.

"Now, countless jobs, the essential government services we all rely on and the economy powered by our workforce are in jeopardy -- all because the administration wants to take one more swing at wrecking the Affordable Care Act and throwing working people off our health care," she added.

"The labor movement's message to the administration is clear: Get to work. Fund the government. Fix the health care crisis. Put working people first," Shuler wrote.

-ABC News' Beatrice Peterson