A group of House Republicans joined Democrats on Wednesday to force a vote on extending enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits, dealing a public setback to Speaker Mike Johnson and GOP leadership as the credits near expiration at the end of the year.
Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Mike Lawler of New York, Rob Bresnahan of Pennsylvania and Ryan Mackenzie of Pennsylvania signed a discharge petition filed by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. The move came just hours after Republican leaders rejected requests from Fitzpatrick and other moderates to allow a floor vote on a clean, three-year extension of the subsidies, which are used by more than 20 million Americans.
Speaking during a late-night House Rules Committee meeting Tuesday, Fitzpatrick warned that allowing the credits to expire would be worse than passing a straightforward extension. Lawler said that if GOP leadership continued to block a vote, a discharge petition was the only realistic option left to lawmakers who want action.
Under House rules, a discharge petition must sit for a waiting period once it has the required signatures, meaning a vote could not occur until next month. While Johnson technically has the option to bring the bill to the floor sooner, two people familiar with internal GOP leadership discussions said there are currently no plans to do so.
“We have worked for months to craft a two-party solution to address these expiring healthcare credits,” Fitzpatrick said in a statement. “Our only request was a floor vote on this compromise so the American people’s voice could be heard. That request was rejected. Unfortunately, it is House leadership themselves that have forced this outcome.”
Jeffries said the petition represents the clearest path to preventing millions of Americans from losing access to affordable health coverage if the enhanced tax credits expire. He described the effort as a necessary step to protect families who rely on the Affordable Care Act marketplace.
Even if the House ultimately passes the extension, the bill faces long odds in the Senate. Last week, four Republican senators joined Democrats to advance a similar three-year extension, but the measure failed to reach the 60 votes needed to move forward. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has shown little enthusiasm for taking up the proposal. Asked Monday whether the Senate would consider a straight extension if the House approved one, he responded flatly, “No.” When asked again Wednesday, Thune said only, “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
Still, a House vote could increase pressure on both Senate and House leaders to negotiate some form of extension when lawmakers return to Washington next month. Fitzpatrick is scheduled to host senators involved in bipartisan health-care talks at a meeting of the Problem Solvers Caucus on Wednesday, signaling continued efforts to revive negotiations despite leadership resistance.
Jordain Carney and Nicholas Wu contributed to this report.