WASHINGTON — On Wednesday, four chamber Republicans broke with party leadership and joined Democrats in overcoming the GOP majority and forcing a vote on extension of health care tax breaks – a defection that underscores the party's growing vulnerability on economic issues ahead of next year's midterm elections.
Health care tax breaks that played a central role in the fight that led to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history are set to expire at the end of the year unless Congress acts.
Democrats and a small but increasingly vocal group of Republicans have warned that ending the tax cuts would lead to sharp increase in insurance premiums for millions of Americans, which could be a politically dangerous outcome in competitive districts.
House Republicans, including Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), have resisted extending the tax cuts, instead advocating an alternative approach to lowering health care costs. But that stance Wednesday showed they are at odds with members who argue the issue will harm voters.
“I'm angry at the American people,” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) told reporters.
His remarks came after he joined Republican Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Robert Bresnahan and Ryan McKenzie, all of Pennsylvania, in signing a Democratic-led petition that needed 218 signatures to force a vote on a bill to extend health care subsidies for three years. Four Republicans were the final votes needed.
California Rep. Kevin Kiely (R-Rocklin), who represents a swing district, was not among the Republicans who signed the petition, but he told reporters it was important for leadership to address the issue sooner rather than later. Otherwise, he said, it would be a “failure of leadership.”
“We have members on both sides of the aisle who feel this is an urgent issue and it affects all of our members in terms of what their constituents will have to deal with at the end of the year,” Keeley said. “So what’s wrong with voting?”
Californians are bracing for monthly premiums on the Covered California exchange, the state's Obamacare insurance portal, to soar by an average of 97% for 2026. Open enrollment for next year will last until January 31.
Even if subsidies remained unchanged, premiums for plans offered by Covered California were expected to rise about 10% in 2026 due to price hikes for drugs and other health care services, experts say. But failure to address the issue of expiring loans is expected to send shock waves across the state and country. Near six out of 10 Americans who use the ACA marketplace live in Republican counties.
A vote on the House bill is expected in January, after the subsidies have already expired. Even if the House effort succeeds, its prospects remain dim in the Senate, where Republicans last week blocked a three-year extension.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) opposed the Democratic term extension, calling it “an attempt to mask the real impact of rising health care costs under Obamacare.”
On Wednesday, after the petition gained enough votes in the House of Representatives, Thune told reporters that the chamber would “cross that bridge when it comes to it.”
The House onslaught underscored Johnson's loss of control of the chamber as well as deep divisions among GOP lawmakers over how to address health care costs, which polls have consistently shown to be the biggest concern among voters.
The minor rebellion against Johnson came after tensions arose in the House over health care negotiations.
Johnson has discussed allowing more politically vulnerable GOP lawmakers to vote on bills that would temporarily extend subsidies while also adding changes such as income limits for beneficiaries.
But after days of debate, leadership sided with the more conservative wing of the party conference, which criticized the subsidies as propping up a failed market through the ACA, commonly known as Obamacare.
House Republicans on Wednesday advanced a more than 100-page health care package without subsidies, instead focusing on long-sought GOP proposals aimed at expanding coverage options for small businesses and the self-employed.
Fitzpatrick and Lawler tried to add a temporary extension of subsidies to the bill, but were rejected.
“Our only request was a vote on this compromise so that the voice of the American people could be heard on this issue. That request was denied. Then, at the request of the House leadership, I, along with my colleagues, filed several amendments and testified at length about those amendments,” Fitzpatrick said. “The House leadership then decided to reject each of these amendments.”
After four Republicans broke with him on Wednesday, Johnson rejected the idea that the episode showed he was losing influence in the House.
“I have not lost control of the House of Representatives,” Johnson said. Instead, he pointed to a “subtle difference” in the chamber that he said allows a few defectors to bypass leadership.
“These are not normal times,” he added.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
