WASHINGTON — Four politically vulnerable House Republicans defied Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday by joining Democrats to push for a vote on extending the expanded Affordable Care Act subsidies, which are set to expire at year's end. This move highlights growing divisions within the Republican Party over health care policy.
Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Rob Bresnahan Jr., and Ryan Mackenzie of Pennsylvania, along with Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, signed a Democratic-led discharge petition that gathered the required 218 signatures to force a floor vote on a three-year extension of the enhanced tax credits. This action bypasses House leadership and ensures a vote as early as January 2026, after the subsidies expire under current law.
The subsidies, expanded during the pandemic, significantly reduced monthly premiums for millions of Americans buying health insurance through the ACA marketplaces. If they expire as scheduled, consumers will face steep premium hikes starting next year.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., launched the discharge petition in November after Republicans refused to include the subsidies in their healthcare package. Democrats control 214 seats, so the support of four Republicans is crucial.
Speaker Johnson, R-La., urged members of his caucus not to support the procedural maneuver and criticized it as a sidestep around regular order. GOP leadership is instead pushing a narrower health care bill focused on cost-sharing assistance that does not address the expiring subsidies.
The four Republicans who crossed party lines represent swing districts and have pressed leadership for months to allow a vote on some form of extension, including shorter-term options with eligibility limits. Those proposals were rejected, with Johnson citing concerns over how to offset the cost and whether the measure should include abortion-related restrictions sought by conservatives.
“We have worked for months to craft a two-party solution to address these expiring health care credits,” Fitzpatrick said in a statement. “Our only request was a floor vote on this compromise so the American people’s voice could be heard. That request was rejected.”
Lawler echoed that view, saying, “When leadership blocks action entirely, Congress has a responsibility to act. My priority is ensuring Hudson Valley families aren’t caught in the gridlock.”
Even if the extension gets through the House, it faces tough odds in the Senate, where Republicans blocked a similar three-year plan last week. Still, the move forces lawmakers to publicly face the coming expiration of the subsidies and the resulting premium increases, an issue Democrats have highlighted as a political vulnerability for Republicans as an election approaches.
Johnson has said the GOP may revisit health insurance affordability as part of a broader reconciliation package in early 2026, but Wednesday’s rebellion ensures the debate will arrive sooner — and in a far more politically charged context.
