WASHINGTON — Republican leadership will be forced to hold a vote on extending the enhanced Obamacare subsidies after a handful of GOP lawmakers signed on to a Democratic-led petition in retaliation for their own proposals being shot down.
Four Republicans signed on to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ discharge petition to extend the tax credits for three years, a proposal that has been adamantly opposed by Republican leadership. But the support pushes the petition past the 218 signatures required to force a vote even without leadership approval — notching a major win for Democrats in the lingering health care fight.
The signatures guarantee a vote on the tax credit extensions sometime in January, which is after the Obamacare subsidies expire. But it could come in time before millions of Americans see their health care premiums surge in the new year, if Congress can pass the extension in time.
The GOP rebellion comes after a major fallout between House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and moderate Republicans due to disagreements on how to pay for the health care credits. Republican leaders initially promised centrists an amendment vote on temporarily extending the ACA credits that could be attached to their larger package reforming the health care system as a whole.
But after talks over the weekend, those plans were scrapped over disagreements on how to offset the costs of the extended subsidies, according to a source familiar with the talks.
After an intense meeting with the speaker on Tuesday — which resulted in raised voices and exchanges heard by reporters in the hallway — moderate Republicans pushed ahead with plans to force a vote on their amendment by introducing it to the powerful House Rules Committee, which sets the parameters on debate and procedure for nearly every piece of legislation that is brought to the floor.
Those amendments were shot down by Republicans on the committee, prompting the moderates to warn of retaliation.
“There will be consequences if these amendments are not made in order,” Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, the first Republican to sign the petition, said in the Rules meeting. “I think the only thing worse than a clean extension — without any income limits and any reforms, because it’s not a perfect system — the only thing worse than that would be expiration.”
The other three Republicans to sign on to the petition include Reps. Mike Lawler of New York, Rob Bresnahan of Pennsylvania, Ryan Mackenzie of Pennsylvania.
Republican leaders will likely explore ways to table the vote, although it’s likely they will hold off any action until January. The House adjourns this week for the holidays and won’t return until Jan. 6.
But leaders are pushing back against characterizations that the rebellion is a sign of Republicans “losing control” of their own members. Instead, they say they are still exploring options.
“We’re working through very complex issues, as we do here all the time, and it’s good,” Johnson said. “We’re keeping the productive conversation going.”
The three-year extension is not likely to go far, even if it manages to pass the House. The Senate voted on a similar proposal last week that failed to surpass the 60-vote threshold to advance to a final vote.
The Obamacare subsidies are scheduled to expire on Dec. 31, after which millions of Americans will be at risk of having their health care premiums skyrocket in the new year.