House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said Tuesday that there will not be a vote in the House on extending the Obamacare subsidies, which expire at the end of the year.
Johnson said during the weekly GOP press conference that many centrist members in swing districts were pushing for a vote on the subsidies, and leadership “looked for a way to try to allow for that pressure release valve.”
“It just was not to be,” the speaker said. “We worked on it all the way through the weekend, in fact. And in the end, there was not — an agreement wasn’t made.”
HOUSE DRIVES TOWARD OBAMACARE CLIFF
He added that everyone came to the table in “good faith” to discuss a path forward and that he appreciated their opinions. He expects the entire Republican conference to “join in unity” on voting for the Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act on Wednesday.
His announcement comes after a House GOP conference meeting, in which the speaker told centrist Republicans that there would not be a vote on the subsidies, which expire on Dec. 31. Swing district Republicans had been pushing for a vote similar to a bill from Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), which would extend the subsidies for two years with fraud reforms.
But GOP leadership has been staunchly opposed to any vote on the ACA enhanced tax credits, siding with conservatives that the program is filled with “waste, fraud, and abuse” and needs significant reforms.
Meanwhile, House Democratic leadership has refused to budge and sign onto two discharge petitions, which would unlock a vote on bills to extend the subsidies. Instead, they argue that their plan for a blanket, three-year extension — which is also under a discharge petition — is the only measure they will support.
The lack of a vote on the subsidies has left some centrist lawmakers feeling frustrated. Leaving the GOP conference meeting, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) told reporters he’s “pissed” about the decision to not hold an up-and-down vote on the subsidies, calling it “idiotic” and blaming both sides.
“What you have is a situation where, frankly, neither side’s leadership wants this to pass,” Lawler said. “The Democrats want to use this as an issue in the election, and seemingly the Republican leadership is going to allow them to do it.”
“I’m pissed for the American people,” he added. “This is absolute bulls***.”
The Democrats’ petition for a three-year ACA extension only needs four Republican signatures to “ripen” and unlock the bill for a vote. Centrist GOP lawmakers have been hesitant to throw their support behind that plan, agreeing with the majority of the Republican conference that Obamacare needs reforming.
But when asked if he would support the three-year proposal on Tuesday, Lawler said, “All options are on the table.”
Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA), who has signed onto Fitzpatrick’s petition and one from Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Jen Kiggans (R-VA), told reporters he’s upset that a vote on ACA extension won’t be happening, but he plans to vote for the bill anyway.
“I tend to vote for things based upon what’s in them, as opposed to what’s out of them,” Kiley said.
He echoed Lawler by placing some of the blame on House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and other Democratic leaders, saying he thinks Jeffries has taken a “pretty rigid view — that it’s that one solution and none of these compromise measures that have bipartisan support.”
Jeffries has largely dodged questions as to why he won’t support the two discharge petitions that extend the subsidies in some capacity.
“We have a position: a straight three-year extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits,” the minority leader said Monday.
At a Democratic press conference on Tuesday, House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar (D-CA) told reporters the three year extension is the “closest path that we have in front of us” and encouraged disgruntled GOP lawmakers to work across the aisle on this issue.
“If Republicans are serious about this they can sign our discharge petition and work with us in good faith, seems like a reasonable place to land given that their own leadership won’t give them the time of day,” Aguilar said.
