Trump set to unveil 2026 agenda in address as approval ratings hit new low: Live

All eyes are on House Speaker Mike Johnson after four Republicans joined Democrats’ discharge petition to extend the Affordable Care Act’s expiring tax credits for another three years.

Four GOP lawmakers signed the petition on Wednesday, bringing it to the 218-signature threshold needed to get a vote in the House.

The extension of ACA subsidies was a key issue in the longest-ever government shutdown earlier this year. Now Republicans and Democrats alike are calling Johnson and urging him to vote on the measure “immediately.”

Florida Democratic Representative Maxwell Alejandro Frost said, “Johnson should bring this to the House floor immediately. Congress should not go on recess until we vote to protect health care for 25 million people.” said on x,

A House Republican told punchbol news:”If this isn’t an indictment of the Speaker, I don’t know what is. He has failed this institution and its members.”

New York Representative Mike Lawler, one of four Republicans to sign the petition, wrote on Twitter: “Although I am working for bipartisan agreement with reforms, the leadership’s failure to allow a vote on the floor leaves me no choice but to sign the Democrat discharge petition.”

He added: “The Speaker should immediately bring it to the House for an up-or-down vote and let the House do the work of the American people.,

Four Republicans from swing districts challenged House Speaker Mike Johnson, who sided with the Democrats, to sign a discharge petition to force a vote 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 joined a discharge petition sponsored by the House Minority Leader to expand the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance marketplace expanded tax credits.

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 who get their insurance in the marketplace are at risk of seeing their premiums double or triple.

eric garcia There is a story.

New York Republican Rep. Mike Lawler took aim at House Speaker Mike Johnson, saying he signed the Democrat’s discharge petition to force a vote on a three-year extension of expiring health care subsidies after “leadership’s failure to allow a vote in the House.”

Lawler was one of four GOP lawmakers to sign the petition, giving it the 218 signatures needed to force a vote in the House.

“This morning I signed the discharge for an explicit 3-year extension of the Enhanced Premium Tax Credit. While I am working for bipartisan agreement with reforms, the leadership’s failure to allow a vote on the floor leaves me no choice but to sign the Democrats’ discharge petition,” the New York Republican wrote on Twitter.

“The Speaker should immediately bring it to the House for an up-or-down vote and let the House do the work of the American people,” he said.

Lawler was joined by three fellow House Republicans: Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick, Rob Bresnahan and Ryan McKenzie.

The press office of New York Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul trolled President Donald Trump over his upcoming address to the nation.

He will appear Wednesday at 9 pm ET.

White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt told reporters that Trump would discuss his “accomplishments over the last 11 months.”

In response to a clip of Levitt speaking to reporters, Hochul’s office wrote: “Should have been a very short speech!”

President Donald Trump claimed Israeli-American mega-donor Miriam Adelson offered him $250 million to seek an unconstitutional third term in 2028 — an idea he has repeatedly teased.

At the White House Hanukkah reception Tuesday night, Trump spoke warmly of Adelson before bringing him on stage.

“Miriam gave $250 million indirectly and directly to my campaign, she was number one,” the Republican president told the crowd in the East Room. “When someone can give you $250 million, I think we should give them a chance to say hello.”

Adelson — who was married to billionaire Sheldon Adelson until his death in 2021 — then stood behind the podium and revealed that she had recently met Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard Law School professor who worked as a lawyer for Jeffrey Epstein.

She claimed to have talked with Dershowitz for “about four more years”, adding: “I say Alan, I agree with you, so we can do this!”

Brandon Raskies There is a story.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries announced that a discharge petition to extend the Affordable Care Act’s expiring subsidies for three years has reached the 218 signatures needed to force a vote on the House floor.

The extension of the ACA tax credits was a sticking point in the government shutdown earlier this year — the longest on record.

“Our bipartisan petition to force a vote on a direct extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credit now has 218 signatures,” Jeffries said. wrote In a social media post on Wednesday morning.

He called on House Speaker Mike Johnson to “bring the bill to the House immediately.”

Four GOP lawmakers — Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick, Mike Lawler, Rob Bresnahan and Ryan McKenzie — joined Democrats and signed the petition on Wednesday, bringing it to the 218-signature threshold.

a marist votingPublished on Wednesday, it suggests Americans are frustrated with how the president is handling the economy.

Just over a third of Americans — 36 percent — say they agree with how President Donald Trump is handling the economy, while 57 percent disagree, and 8 percent are unsure.

Meanwhile, 38 percent approve of the overall job they are doing while 54 percent disapprove.

President Donald Trump has called for a “complete and total blockade” of oil tankers sanctioned by Venezuela as tensions escalate with the South American country.

The president’s latest announcement comes as part of the Trump administration’s pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Trump has stationed hundreds of US troops and ships near Venezuela’s coastline and US forces seized an oil tanker off the country’s coast last week, an unusual move following a build-up of military forces in the region.

Ryan Lubin There is a story.

Washington Representative Dan Newhouse, one of two remaining Republicans in Congress who voted to impeach Trump after the January 6 Capitol riot, announced he will not seek re-election.

In a statement Wednesday, Newhouse said the decision comes with “no reservations or regrets, only gratitude for the tremendous opportunity to represent my home state in Congress.”

Read his full statement here:

As of last month, 50 members of Congress — 20 Democrats and 30 Republicans — were not seeking re-election in 2026, according to Hill.