Republican centrists choose nuclear option in fight against Mike Johnson over Obamacare
In a blow to President Mike Johnson, four Republican lawmakers agreed Wednesday to support a Democratic initiative to extend Obamacare pandemic subsidies.
These four GOP centrists — New York Reps. Mike Lawler and Pennsylvania Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Ryan Mackenzie and Rob Bresnahan — have officially opted for what they described as the nuclear option.
Now that they have signed on to Democrats’ procedural maneuver to force a floor vote on their proposed three-year extension of the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced tax credits, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has the 218 signatures needed to secure a vote under the rules of the discharge petition. This floor vote cannot, however, be forced before January, according to these same rules.
These same four centrists criticized the Democrats’ plan as flawed. But in a sign of desperation, centrists, typically aligned with leadership, chose to defy Johnson and join Democrats’ efforts rather than let the enhanced subsidies expire at the end of the year.
The House is expected to vote Wednesday on a separate, narrower health care proposal from GOP leaders that does not address the expiration of the subsidies — virtually guaranteeing that the money will go unused and that premiums for tens of millions of Americans will rise next year. A bipartisan group of senators is also working on a parallel track to reach their own health care deal.
Centrists had intentionally not ruled out joining the Democratic petition as they tried to pressure their own leaders to allow passage of a compromise measure that would extend and reform the subsidies. That effort failed Tuesday.
Fitzpatrick, the first Republican to sign on Wednesday, telegraphed his decision to a late meeting of the House Rules Committee, where he was making a final push for his separate bipartisan compromise measure.
“I think the only thing worse than a clean expansion without any revenue limits or reforms — because it’s not a perfect system — the only thing worse than that would be expiration,” Fitzpatrick said Tuesday night when asked about the Democratic push. “And I will make that decision.”
Lawler also stressed that he did not fully support the Democrats’ bill, but suggested inaction was unacceptable.
“This procedural step does not constitute an endorsement of the drafted bill. I continue to believe that any extension should be targeted, fiscally responsible, and include income eligibility limits and safeguards against fraud, similar to bipartisan discussions underway in the Senate,” he said in a statement after signing the petition.
“But when leaders completely block action, Congress has a responsibility to act. My priority is to ensure Hudson Valley families are not caught in the bind.”
Although such a bill would likely pass the House, a similar measure has already failed in the Senate.
Senate Republican Leader John Thune shrugged when asked Wednesday whether the Senate would take up such a bill if it passed the House. “We will cross this bridge if we get there,” he told reporters.
This story has been updated with additional details.
