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four republicans House Speaker Mike Johnson sidelined by swing districts To sign a discharge petition to vote with Democrats to extend the expanded health care tax credit for the Affordable Care Act.
Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Mike Lawler of New York, Ryan McKenzie of Pennsylvania and Rob Bresnahan on Wednesday joined a discharge petition sponsored by the House Minority Leader to repeal the Affordable Care Act’s expanded tax credits for health insurance marketplaces.
It comes as the tax credit — which Joe Biden signed into law during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021 and which he extended in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act — is set to expire at the end of the month. more than 22 million people Those who get their insurance in the marketplace risk seeing their premiums double or triple If subsidy is not increased.
The House is going to be on recess this weekend. But Jeffries called on the House to stay in session to vote on the measure.
“Mike Johnson should not retire from the House of Representatives until we vote on a direct extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits,” Jefferies said. Independent“We now have a bipartisan group of members of the House of Representatives who are ready to ensure that millions of Americans do not experience dramatic increases in health insurance premiums,”
Many Republicans on the petition would face difficulty seeking re-election in the 2026 midterms. Fitzpatrick and Lawler represent two of three Republican-held districts that also voted for Kamala Harris.
“This morning I signed a discharge for a clear 3-year extension of the enhanced premium tax credit,” Lawler said in a statement. “While I am working for bipartisan agreement on reforms, the leadership’s failure to allow a vote in the House leaves me with no choice but to sign on to the Democrats.”
Fitzpatrick and other moderates Had led discharge petitions to increase subsidy With some income limits and various other reforms.
Johnson avoided questions while walking into the House.
republican Leadership in the House and Senate have strongly opposed increasing the tax credit. The final blow to moderates came when the House Rules Committee rejected several moderates’ amendments to add an expansion of subsidies to the Republican health care bill, which will be voted on Wednesday.
He said, “Our only request was for a floor vote on this agreement, so that the voice of the American people can be heard on this issue.” “That request was denied.”
Fitzpatrick, one of the only Republicans to oppose “One Big, Beautiful Bill” in the House, said he did not prefer a clean extension but that Johnson and Republican leaders forced him to.
“As I have said many times before, the only policy that is worse than an apparent three-year extension without any reforms is a policy of complete termination without any bridge,” he said. “Unfortunately, it is the House leadership itself that has forced this outcome.”
Once considered a rare tool, discharge petitions have become increasingly common in the House as a way to pass legislation that the House leadership opposes.
Recently, every Democrat and a handful of Republicans signed a discharge petition to force the Justice Department to release files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
But the discharge process triggers a timeline. Once the discharge petition receives 218 signatures, it must mature within seven legislative days. The Speaker must then call a vote within two legislative days. This will schedule voting in the House right around the Christmas holidays.
If the legislation passes, there is no guarantee the Senate will take it up, as it would need 60 votes to pass and most Republicans in the Senate oppose increasing the tax credit or want a ban on using the funds for abortion or gender-affirming care for transgender people.