4 GOP Reps Join Discharge Petition Forcing ACA Vote

Speaker Johnson Talks To Reporters Following GOP Conference Meeting — Source: Heather Diehl / Getty

When it comes to the Republican Party, it feels like the girls are always fighting. The latest instance of Republican infighting centers on extensions to subsidies for the Affordable Care Act. After the House Rules Committee blocked an amendment to a Republican health care bill that would extend the subsidies, four moderate Republicans signed a discharge petition, bringing the extension to a vote.

According to NBC News, the four Republicans who signed the discharge petition were Pennsylvania Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Rob Bresnahan, Ryan Mackenzie, and RepMike Lawler of New York. Rep. Lawler had strong words for his colleagues on Tuesday after leaving the meeting where the House Rules Committee blocked the amendment.

“I am pissed for the American people. This is absolute bulls–t,” Lawler told CBS News after leaving a GOP conference meeting. “The Democrats want to use this as an issue in the election, and seemingly, the Republican leadership is going to allow them to do it. And it’s idiotic.”

“House leadership then decided to reject every single one of these amendments,” Fitzpatrick said in a statement. “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. Unfortunately, it is House leadership themselves that have forced this outcome.”

With the four Republicans joining all 214 House Democrats on the discharge petition, an extension for the subsidies will come to a vote. It’s unlikely the vote will occur before the House leaves this Friday for a two-week holiday recess. House rules state that seven days must pass before a bill pushed through via discharge petition is brought to the floor, meaning the subsidies will likely expire on the Dec. 31 deadline.

House Speaker Mike Johnson is currently pushing for a vote on the GOP’s “Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act,” which wouldn’t extend the ACA subsidies but would codify Association Health Plans and authorize cost-sharing reduction payments. Even if the House successfully passes an extension to the ACA subsidies, it’s unlikely to succeed in the Senate, which has already voted against an extension.

“I have not lost control of the House,” Johnson told reporters Wednesday after the four Republicans signed on to the discharge petition. “We have the smallest majority in U.S. history. These are not normal times. There are processes and procedures in the House that are less frequently used when there are larger majorities. … But when you have a razor-thin margin, as we do, then all the procedures in the book people think are on the table.”

To quote the great scholar Cam’ron, he mad. This is the second time this year Johnson’s will has been overturned by a discharge petition. While he continually tried to block a vote on releasing the Epstein files, a discharge petition ultimately brought the issue to a successful vote.

The GOP seems to find itself in a problem entirely of its own making. They’ve spent the last 15 years making Obamacare the boogieman, even though more and more of their constituents have come to rely on insurance provided by the ACA. In fact, Florida, a Republican stronghold, will be most affected by the rising premiums when the subsidies expire.

Affordability is top of mind for damn near all Americans who aren’t in the top 1% of earners. The GOP controls Congress and the presidency, with polls already showing that the majority of voters blame Republicans for rising prices.

The GOP’s razor-thin majority in the House is on the line during next year’s midterms. Between tariffs, the widespread layoffs, and now rising insurance prices, it’s going to be hard for them to argue that they’ve tangibly improved the lives of everyday Americans throughout the second Trump presidency.

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