A group of House Republicans in swing districts spurned House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday morning to trigger a floor vote on extending pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies favored by Democrats.
Four moderate House Republicans — Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Ryan Mackenzie and Rob Bresnahan of Pennsylvania and Mike Lawler of New York — signed a discharge petition to force a vote on a clean three-year extension of the Obamacare subsidies slated to expire at the year’s end. The petition was sponsored by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and is supported by every Democratic lawmaker.
“As I’ve stated many times before, the only policy that is worse than a clean three-year extension without any reforms, is a policy of complete expiration without any bridge,” Fitzpatrick said in a statement. “Unfortunately, it is House leadership themselves that have forced this outcome.”
A discharge petition is a legislative maneuver that allows House lawmakers to steer around leadership’s opposition and bring legislation to the floor. Members can trigger a vote on legislation if 218 lawmakers — a simple majority — sign the petition.
The group of moderate Republicans all represent swing districts and are likely to face competitive reelection contests in the midterms. They have criticized a three-year extension, but have argued that letting the subsidies lapse will result in insurance premium increases for the more than 20 million Americans enrolled in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris notably won Lawler’s and Fitzpatrick’s battleground districts in 2024.
Lawler railed against House GOP leadership Tuesday for failing to hold an up-or-down vote on extending the pandemic-era subsidies, arguing the move was “political malpractice.”
“I am pissed for the American people. This is absolute bullshit,” the New York Republican told reporters as he left a House Republican Conference meeting Tuesday. “I think it’s idiotic not to have an up-or-down vote on this issue.”
House GOP leadership widely opposes a clean extension of the enhanced ACA premium tax credits, which no Republicans voted to support when they were enacted during the Biden administration. Leadership’s concerns ranged from opposition to the cost of a clean extension — estimated to add $350 billion to the deficit over the next decade absent a pay-for — to concerns that the subsidies could fund abortion services.
The moderates’ major show of defiance comes after the group’s attempt to add an enhanced Obamacare subsidy amendment to a GOP healthcare policy bill did not prove successful.
Johnson said Tuesday that negotiations with his moderate flank were conducted “in good faith” but a compromise did not materialize.
“They’ll tell you that I worked really hard with them to try to … craft an amendment that would work. In the end, they opted not to do that,” the speaker said. “We needed to pay for — not to get too deep in the weeds — but we needed a pay-for under the rules. And for whatever reason, they decided they did not want to do that.”
The House is expected to vote on the healthcare legislation that does not include an enhanced Obamacare subsidy extension as early as Wednesday afternoon. Leadership argues their bill will lower premium costs for all Americans rather than specifically targeting the narrow slice of the population enrolled in Obamacare.
House GOP leadership also widely opposes discharge petitions, which they consider a tool for the minority to force consideration of legislation opposed by a majority of Republicans.
Proponents of a three-year extension face long odds of seeing the proposal signed into law due widespread opposition among Senate Republicans.
The Senate rejected a clean three-year extension of the enhanced subsidies put forward by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday, though four GOP senators crossed party lines to support the measure.
“Under this proposal, people making $500k+ per year would continue to be eligible for what were supposed to be temporary COVID-era subsidies,” Ryan Wrasse, communications director for Senate Majority Leader John Thune, wrote on X.
Republicans have also argued that a straight extension without reforms to eligibility and fraud prevention is a nonstarter. Individuals with false identities, invalid Social Security numbers and those who are deceased are routinely approved for taxpayer-funded Obamacare subsidies, according to a December report from the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office.
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