Hold onto your wallets, folks—Obamacare’s enhanced subsidies are teetering on the edge of a cliff, and some House Republicans are ready to throw verbal punches at their own party leaders for letting it happen.
As the clock ticks toward the year-end expiration of these subsidies, moderate GOP lawmakers like Rep. Mike Lawler of New York are locked in a bitter feud with congressional leadership on both sides over a failure to secure a vote on extending the benefits.
Over the weekend, negotiations between GOP moderates and party brass fizzled out when leadership demanded that any extension—projected to cost a whopping $350 billion over a decade—come with matching spending cuts.
On Tuesday, Speaker Mike Johnson dropped the hammer, announcing there’d be no vote on extending the subsidies, leaving moderates like Lawler fuming at the inaction.
Lawler didn’t hold back, blasting both Republican and Democratic leaders for playing political games while constituents face the threat of skyrocketing insurance premiums.
“I am pissed for the American people. This is absolute bullshit,” Lawler declared, capturing the raw frustration of those in swing districts who fear a voter backlash if costs spike.
Alongside Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Lawler warns that letting these subsidies lapse could hammer middle-class families in competitive districts with higher insurance bills.
Critics of Obamacare, however, argue the program’s structure was never meant to include these temporary boosts, enacted without GOP support in 2021, and note that insurer profits have ballooned while premiums outpace employer-based plans.
Johnson defended the decision, claiming negotiations were conducted in “good faith” but failed to produce a workable solution for a dozen swing-district Republicans pushing for a vote.
Undeterred, moderates took action on Wednesday, with Fitzpatrick and Democratic Rep. Jared Golden of Maine filing a discharge petition to force a House vote on a two-year extension, gaining support from about a dozen Republicans including Lawler.
Yet, the petition needs 218 signatures to succeed, and it’s nowhere near that magic number, while House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries pushes a separate three-year extension plan most GOP members reject.
Lawler accused Democrats of weaponizing the issue for political gain, pointing fingers at Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer for tabling a doomed three-year proposal earlier this month.
“The Democratic leader will not release his members to sign those two discharge petitions. Why? Because he doesn’t want to actually solve the problem,” Lawler charged, calling out what he sees as cynical maneuvering.
Meanwhile, GOP leadership is forging ahead with a Wednesday vote on the Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act, a bill focusing on transparency and cost-sharing reforms but ignoring the expiring subsidies altogether.
As the deadlock drags on, Lawler hasn’t ruled out joining the Democratic-led petition for a longer extension, hinting that every option remains under consideration in this messy Capitol Hill showdown.
