Moderate House Republicans are bristling after Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., ruled out a vote on extending Affordable Care Act premium subsidies for three years, raising the prospect of a deal with Democrats to force action.
Johnson said Tuesday there will be no vote this week on extending the ACA subsidies, which are set to expire Dec. 31.
During his weekly media briefing, he said centrist Republicans from swing districts pushed House leadership to allow a vote, but "it just was not to be."
The House is set to vote Wednesday on what Johnson has described as a "consensus" GOP healthcare package, though an ACA subsidy extension is unlikely to be included.
The American Rescue Plan expanded the pandemic-era enhanced subsidies in 2021. A year later, the Inflation Reduction Act extended those subsidies, keeping them in place through the end of 2025.
Democrats have blamed Republicans for the expected increase in ACA premium costs when the subsidies expire.
Republican Reps. Mike Lawler of New York, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, and Kevin Kiley of California have not ruled out signing a discharge petition filed by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., that would force a vote on a clean three-year extension of the subsidies, even though the measure would likely die in the Senate.
"It's idiotic. It's political malpractice," Lawler reportedly told reporters about Johnson's refusal to allow a vote on extending the subsidies.
There are three discharge petitions seeking to force a vote on the issue. One filed by Fitzpatrick and another led by Reps. Jenn Kiggans, R-Va., and Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., have already attracted a number of Republican signatures.
The third petition, led by Jeffries, would need only four additional GOP signatures to force a vote, giving moderate Republicans significant leverage.
Kiggans has ruled out signing Jeffries' petition, a source familiar with her plans said.
Two senior House Democrats said party leaders hope holding firm on a three-year extension will prompt Republican defections to Jeffries' petition.
A House Democrat who has spoken with Republican moderates, however, was skeptical that the threats are anything more than performative, adding that the Gottheimer-led petition serves as a backstop.
Several progressive Democrats indicated they would consider supporting an extension of less than three years if it has Jeffries' backing.
"I see this as a failure of leadership on both sides," Kiley said. "I think that it's fallen upon, you know, us as members to try to navigate this process and try to use whatever leverage points and whatever levers we have to get a vote and to get a policy enacted."
In the Senate, a Democrat-backed bill addressing the subsidies received support from four Republicans last week but fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance.
Democrats secured a promise of a Senate vote this month on extending the expiring subsidies as part of negotiations to end the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history. The agreement did not include a guarantee of a House vote.
The Senate proposal failed 51-48. A related Republican bill aimed at addressing rising healthcare premiums in the new year also failed 51-48, receiving no Democrat support.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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