In a 216-211 vote, the House passed a GOP-backed health care bill that does not include an extension of expiring tax credits that help millions of Americans pay for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. Republicans say the bill will lower health insurance premiums for 100% of Americans. The bill, however, faces an unclear future in the Senate, where it would need support from several Democrats to pass.
GOP leadership unveiled the plan, known as the Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act, less than a week ago as they faced increasing pressure from moderates in their party to hold a vote on extending the enhanced premium tax credits, which lapse on Dec. 31. The tax credits help eligible people cover premiums for their health insurance purchased through an Affordable Care Act marketplace.
The exclusion of an extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits caused a group of four moderate Republicans to break ranks, joining Democrats in a procedural move that forced the vote. Ultimately, none of them voted against the bill. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky was the sole Republican to vote against it.
Earlier in the day, Moderate Republican Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Mike Lawler, Rob Bresnahan and Ryan Mackenzie signed onto a discharge petition filed by House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, pushing the measure to the 218 signatures needed to bypass committees and reach the House floor. All 214 Democrats backed the effort. The revolt followed a late Tuesday decision by the Republican-controlled House Rules Committee to block amendments that would have extended the subsidies.
The four Republicans who joined the petition said leadership left them with no other option. Fitzpatrick said he spent months trying to negotiate changes before siding with Democrats, and shared in a statement that “House leadership then decided to reject every single one of these amendments. 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. Unfortunately, it is House leadership themselves that have forced this outcome.”
Lawler also criticized Speaker Johnson’s refusal to allow a vote on an extension, reacting angrily to the decision Tuesday. “This is absolute [expletive], and it’s absurd.” Lawler later said he does not fully support Democrats’ proposal but viewed the petition as “the only way to protect the 28,000 people in my district from higher costs.”
Johnson went on to reject claims that the episode shows he has lost control of the House. “I have not lost control of the House,” Johnson said Wednesday, adding that “we have the smallest majority in U.S. history, OK? These are not normal times. There are [processes] and procedures in the House that are less frequently used when there are larger majorities. When you have a razor-thin margin, as we do, then all the procedures in the book people think are on the table, and that’s the difference.”
Under House rules, a discharge petition requires several legislative days before a vote can occur. With lawmakers leaving Washington for a winter recess, the subsidy extension is expected to reach the floor in the new year at the earliest. Even if the House approves the measure, its future in the Senate remains uncertain. Republicans there rejected a similar three-year extension last week.
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