It's a new year, and PULSE CHECK returns to look at what's ahead.

POLITICO's Adam Cancryn and Rachana Pradhan join Dan Diamond to discuss if the partial government shutdown will end soon (starts at the 1:45 mark), what's on Congress' to-do list (4:00) and how the Trump administration is putting its stamp on the states (16:45) — with a bonus conversation about the most influential Trump appointees (26:10).

REFERENCED ON THE SHOW

There’s no sign that the partial government shutdown will come to an end soon. More.

Adam and Alice Miranda Ollstein’s POLITICO Pro story on House Democrats’ new health strategy. (Behind the Pro firewall.) More.

Rachana’s story about thousands of Arkansas residents losing Medicaid coverage every month. More.

Arkansas health chief Cindy Gillespie and ex-CMS Administrator Andy Slavitt dueled on POLITICO's podcast about whether work requirements would harm Medicaid beneficiaries. More.

Atul Gawande’s October 2017 New Yorker article on whether health care should be a right. More.

Mississippi is quietly considering Medicaid expansion, POLITICO’s Paul Demko scooped. More.

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