Moderate Republican Revolt to Force Jan. Obamacare Vote

Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) tells Balance of Power he expects Congress to be able to vote on an extension of Obamacare subsidies "at some point."

Four Republican lawmakers have signed onto House Democrats’ effort to force a vote on a three-year clean extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies, an act of defiance against GOP leaders as moderates grow frustrated over health care.

Three Pennsylvania Republicans — Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Rob Bresnahan, and Ryan Mackenzie, along with New York’s Mike Lawler, signed Democrats’ discharge petition on the three-year bill. Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) is helming the effort.

Congress has been scrambling to address a coming health insurance cliff as Covid-era enhanced subsidies expire Dec. 31. Democrat-led proposals to extend the credits and Republican proposals to address health costs in other ways have so far failed to get sufficient support in either chamber. House GOP leaders and a slew of conservatives oppose extending the subsidies.

Wednesday’s move would allow moderates to go over House Republican leaders’ heads and force a vote on a three-year ACA subsidy extension that’s longer and cleaner than what moderate Republicans originally put forth. It exhibits growing anger from moderates after leadership refused to put a shorter extension proposal with guardrails on the floor for a vote.

Shortly after Republicans put the discharge petition over 218 signatures, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) huddled at length with moderates, including Lawler and Reps. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.), David Valadao (R-Calif), and Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.) on the House floor. Gimenez confirmed the meeting was about health care and said the leaders and moderates were discussing “internal differences.”

“We just had some intense fellowship,” Johnson told reporters after the discussion on the floor. “We’re working through some very complex issues, as we do here all the time.”

The discharge petition’s success gives moderates more leverage in negotiations, even though they could decline to support the three-year clean extension if they strike a deal with leadership.

“This town acts on leverage,” said LaLota, who didn’t sign the discharge petition. “Folks who want to get something real done on health care in the short term reacted by signing the discharge petition for the three-year extension. What I hope happens is that motivates my leadership to put forth” a different extension proposed by moderate Republicans, LaLota added.

Fitzpatrick and Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.) are among the moderates who have proposed shorter-term ACA credit extensions with guardrails. LaLota offered another proposal in the House Rules Committee Tuesday night, though none of the amendments were tacked onto an unrelated health care bill.

Kiggans didn’t sign the discharge petition, though she did vote against a procedural rule that allows the House to debate and vote on the other health care bill. The rule still advanced, and the health care bill is slated for a vote Wednesday afternoon.

Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) said he will meet with House moderates Wednesday to discuss the next steps on health care. “Obviously this changes the dynamic,” he said, adding that Senate moderates could amend a House-passed ACA bill to make it into a compromise bill.

The Democrat-led petition will need to sit for seven legislative days before Johnson must schedule a floor vote. Democrats hope the speaker would be pressured to schedule a vote before the end of the year, though the chamber’s last scheduled day in session is Friday, so it’s likely to stretch into January. Jeffries said Wednesday he wants a vote on the underlying bill “today.”

Democrats’ Discharge Petition

GOP moderates only supported Jeffries’ petition after they were unsuccessful getting a vote on different subsidy-related amendments this week.

“I am signing another discharge petition to force a vote and prevent higher health care costs for families in the Hudson Valley,” Lawler wrote in a statement. “

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