Four swing-district House Republicans went rogue on GOP leadership on Wednesday and backed a bid by Democrats to force a vote on extending the enhanced Obamacare subsidies after key amendments to the party’s alternative healthcare bill were shot down.
Following the defection, the GOP-led House passed the Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act in a near-party-line 216 to 210 vote. Libertarian-leaning Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), the sole Republican defector, was the only crossover vote.
The measure takes steps to lower costs for Obamacare enrollees, expand association health plans and enact reforms aimed at lowering drug costs. But it did not include any sort of extension for the enhanced Obamacare subsidies.
That’s why the four GOPers signed onto House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ (D-NY) discharge petition to bypass Johnson (R-La.) and vote on a three-year extension to the enhanced subsidies that are set to expire on Dec. 31.
“I have not lost control,” Johnson shot back to reporters after the discharge petition garnered enough votes.
“Look, we have the smallest majority in US history, these are not normal times. There are processes and procedures in the House that are less frequently used when there are larger majorities.”
The measure was the fourth discharge petition this year to reach 218 signatures, the magic number needed to force a vote. Historically, discharge petitions rarely suceed, but has changed in recent years.
The four defectors include: Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Mike Lawler (R-NY), Rob Bresnahan (R-Pa.) and Ryan Mackenzie (R-Pa.), who signed on with a solid bloc of 214 Democrats. The 214th Dem signature from New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill, who resigned last month, is still considered valid.
House rules allow at least seven legislative days before the signatories can notice the issue, once that happens, GOP leadership will have to bring it up for a vote within two legislative days.
With the House out for the holidays after this week, a vote won’t likely happen until January, though Johnson could speed up that timeline.
“Our bipartisan petition to force a vote on a straightforward extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits now has 218 signatures. Mike Johnson should bring the bill to the floor immediately,” Jeffries declared on X.
Should the extension succeed in the House, it could face an uphill battle in the Senate, which rejected a three-year extension last week in a 51-48, far short of the needed 60-vote threshold. But with millions of Americans facing health insurance rate hikes in the new year, a successful vote in the House could put more pressure on GOP leadership in the Senate to act.
Other GOP alternatives to an outright extension of the enhanced Obamacare subsidies have also gone up in flames in the Senate.
Republicans have been agonizing for months over how to tackle the expiration of the enhanced Obamacare subsidies.
Traditional Obamacare credits will remain in place regardless of whether the enhanced subsidies expire. The enhanced credits were part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act and cost roughly $30 billion annually, per the Congressional Budget Office.
Over 20 million Americans are estimated to benefit from the enhanced subsidies and without them, an estimated 3.8 million more Americans will become uninsured between 2026 and 2034.
Moderate Republicans had been waiting on negotiations for an alternative to extending the enhanced Obamacare subsidies, but ultimately defected after those talks stalled.
“While I have been working for a bipartisan compromise with reforms, the failure of leadership to allow a vote on the floor left me with no choice but to sign the Democrats discharge petition,” Lawler explained about his support for the discharge petition.
Lawler and his allies sought to compromise on extending the enhanced credits and make reforms to Obamacare.
Fitzpatrick, who co-chairs the bipartisan Problem Solvers’ Caucus, railed against GOP leadership for rejecting the alternative proposals he and his colleagues negotiated.
“We’ve worked for months with both parties, in both chambers, and with the White House, all in good faith,” Fitzpatrick stressed. “Our only request was a floor vote on this compromise, so that the American People’s voice could be heard on this issue. That request was rejected.”
“Unfortunately, it is House leadership themselves that have forced this outcome.
Democrats demanded Republicans extend the enhanced Obamacare subsidies during the record-breaking 43-day government shutdown, but failed to win any concessions.
President Trump has called for converting the enhanced subsidies into payments to low-income Americans that can be used to offset their healthcare costs rather than sending that money to insurance companies.
