House Speaker Mike Johnson reportedly drew a hard line Tuesday against extending expiring ObamaCare enhanced subsidies, announcing there will be no amendment vote attached to the House Republican health care bill — a decision that immediately sparked fury among moderate Republicans in swing districts.
At a press conference, Johnson acknowledged that roughly a dozen GOP lawmakers from competitive seats had been pressing leadership to allow an up-or-down vote on the COVID-era subsidies, which are set to expire Dec. 31. Those members, Johnson said, are “fighting hard to make sure that they reduce costs for all of their constituents.”
“Many of them did want to vote on this ObamaCare COVID-era subsidy the Democrats created,” Johnson said. “We looked for a way to try to allow for that pressure release valve, and it just was not to be.”
The announcement infuriated Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, one of the most vocal Republicans pushing for a vote on extending the subsidies. Emerging from a House Republican Conference meeting Tuesday morning, Lawler did not mince words.
“I think it’s idiotic not to have an up-or-down vote on this issue,” Lawler said, calling the move “political malpractice.” He went further, venting frustration over the impact on constituents. “I am pissed for the American people. This is absolute bulls—,” he said.
Johnson responded by striking a conciliatory tone toward Lawler, noting he had recently campaigned for the New York lawmaker and praising his advocacy. “He fights hard for New York, as every Republican in this conference does for their districts,” Johnson said.
Behind the scenes, Johnson said, leadership and moderates spent the weekend negotiating a potential amendment. “Everybody was at the table in good faith,” he said, but no agreement materialized. According to prior reporting, the talks collapsed when GOP leaders and conservatives insisted that any extension of the expensive subsidies would have to be paired with spending cuts — a condition moderates were unable or unwilling to meet.
The standoff now leaves moderates without the vote they wanted, even as they face political pressure back home. The House Rules Committee is scheduled to meet Tuesday afternoon to prepare the broader GOP health care package — the “Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act” — for floor consideration.
The bill includes funding for ObamaCare “cost-sharing reductions,” reforms to the pharmacy benefit manager industry, and an expansion of association health plans. It does not include an extension of the enhanced subsidies, which Republicans argue were a temporary pandemic-era measure pushed by Democrats and allowed to balloon in cost.
Lawler said he plans to make his case for a subsidy extension during the Rules Committee hearing, signaling the internal GOP fight is not entirely over.
Johnson, however, projected confidence that Republicans will ultimately unite around the underlying bill when it reaches the House floor Wednesday. He argued the package is designed to reduce health care costs for all Americans, not just the relatively small share who receive coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.
The episode highlights a familiar tension inside the GOP: balancing fiscal discipline and conservative principles against political realities in swing districts. For Johnson, the choice was clear — no subsidy vote without spending offsets — even if it meant angering members who wanted a recorded vote heading into a difficult election year.
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