House rebels against Mike Johnson on health care but gains lead in Senate

KANIKA SINGH RATHORE,

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heyOn Wednesday morning, a handful of frontline Republicans stunned Washington when they crossed the aisle and signed a discharge petition to force the House of Representatives to vote. To vote on extension of the expanded health care tax credit.,

This was a completely self-inflicted wound by House Speaker Mike Johnson, who had weakened Republicans from swing districts.

The decision by New York Representative Mike Lawler, as well as Pennsylvania Republicans Brian Fitzpatrick, Rob Bresnahan and Ryan McKenzie, came after the House Rules Committee. Rejected amendments to a usurpation bill of unrelated health care policies This will include extension of subsidies.

These Republicans, who all represent swing districts, had no choice but to cross the aisle to save their re-election chances. Because at least 22 million Americans are at risk of seeing their premiums riseThere will now be a vote on the Affordable Care Act’s expanded COVID-era tax credits for the health insurance marketplace, Given the growing frustration with Johnson, expect a jailbreak where other Republicans join in for self-protection,

But even if it passes, any expansion of the tax credit would hit a brick wall in the United States Senate, and there appears to be no appetite among the Republican leadership to get it done.

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) are among the Republicans who would need to craft a bill to prevent premiums from rising at the end of the year.

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) are among the Republicans who would need to craft a bill to prevent premiums from rising at the end of the year. ,getty images,

“I mean, I think we need to hear from our leadership about what they will and will not put in the House,” said Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.). IndependentThe Missouri senator is one of a few Republicans who want the subsidies expanded, though with some restrictions to ensure the money doesn’t go to pay for abortions,

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Any legislation would need to overcome the filibuster and therefore earn 60 votes.

last week, Senate rejects explicit expansion of tax creditsThat likely makes the legislation a non-starter from the House, no matter how big the vote. Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters that any legislation would need to raise substantial revenue.

“I don’t know if that will happen, but we’ll see,” Thune said.

As voting began on Wednesday, two moderates at the Republican conference, Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, exchanged pleasantries. Collins and some other Senate dealmakers gathered on the floor.

“It’s not unreasonable that he would want to see what we’re going to do before taking a position,” Collins said. Independent“The general outline of the proposal that all of us in our group are working on is there, but he would obviously like to see specifics,”

Murkowski, who angered many Democratic senators with her vote for the One Big, Beautiful bill, said she hoped the discharge petition could be a sparkplug for action in the Senate.

A handful of swing district Republicans openly challenged Johnson to sign a Democratic discharge petition to force the House to vote to extend the expanded health care tax credit.

A handful of swing district Republicans openly challenged Johnson to sign a Democratic discharge petition to force the House to vote to extend the expanded health care tax credit. ,getty,

“We’re going to work out how we avoid this cliff and get something more than just messaging signed into law,” he said. Independent,

But Collins and Murkowski, both of whom opposed repealing the Affordable Care Act in 2017, are in the minority. Despite the fact that Republicans have never really figured out what they want the health care bill to look like, or formulated a response to Obamacare, most Republicans still don’t want their fingerprints on anything that looks like defunding the bill.

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“We have already voted against that same provision in the Senate,” said Mike Crapo, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. Independent,

There’s also the fact that while all the moderates in the race need to protect themselves are the majority of Republican senators representing deep red states.

While Fitzpatrick and Lawler represent seats that voted for Kamala Harris, and Bresnahan and McKenzie defeated incumbent Democrats last year, Collins is the state’s only Republican senator who voted for Harris and faces a tough re-election.

But Republicans may not have much choice in the matter.

“So I think Democrats have to be hopeful that there might be some change here, but the fact that we will have a vehicle that we can potentially respond to, I think, is promising,” Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina told CNN. Independent“I, for one, think we have to come up with a solution,”

Tillis rode in the elevator with Republican Representative Nicole Malliotakis of New York, who could face a tough race in the Republican-opposed midterms.

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