4 House Republicans break with Speaker Johnson to force ACA vote
by Danielle Haynes · UPIDec. 17 (UPI) -- Four House Republicans joined Democrats to sign a discharge petition to force a vote on an amendment extending enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies as part of Wednesday's planned vote on healthcare legislation.
The Republicans broke with House Speaker Mike Johnson, who said Tuesday he wouldn't call for a vote on an amendment. He said his decision rested on about a dozen Republicans in swing districts "fighting hard to make sure that they reduce costs for all of their constituents."
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York filed a discharge petition with all 214 Democrats and four Republicans in favor, NBC News reported. The four Republicans who signed on were Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Rob Bresnahan and Ryan Mackenzie, all of Pennsylvania, and Mike Lawler of New York.
A discharge petition allows lawmakers to bring a bill or amendment out of committee and onto the floor for a vote without a discharge from the committee. The legislation will likely receive a vote in the new year since members of Congress are leaving Washington, D.C., this week for winter break, CBS News reported.
Lawler reacted strongly to Johnson's decision Tuesday not to include an amendment that would extend enhanced subsidies, which was at the center of an impasse in the Senate that led to the six-week government shutdown this fall. He said he was "pissed for the American people."
"This is absolute [expletive], and it's absurd."
Lawler said Wednesday he doesn't support Democrats' proposed plan outright, but joining the petition was "the only way to protect the 28,000 people in my district from higher costs."
The subsidies, passed during the Biden administration, cap health insurance premiums for certain plans under the ACA at 8.5% of income. Failing to extend these subsidies will result in sharp increases for some premiums beginning in January.
Fitzpatrick said he tried for months to offer a solution to the issue but Republicans' refusal to compromise forced him to side with Democrats on the petition discharge.
"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," he said. "Unfortunately, it is House leadership themselves that have forced this outcome."
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