House Democrats and Republicans are hurtling toward the New Year’s expiration of Obamacare subsidies but both have decided doing nothing is better than reaching a deal.
The House will vote this week on the GOP legislation, the Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act, which combines elements of other bills that have previously passed. But it is merely intended to display Republican willingness to act and is highly unlikely to become law before subsidies expire on Dec. 31.
The parties have fought over healthcare since Democrats put it front and center during the government shutdown. Neither supports the other’s demands, bringing Congress to an impasse.
Democratic leaders have issued a scathing rebuke of the Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act, calling it “unserious,” which signals they will not encourage their caucus to vote for the bill. Meanwhile, Republican leaders have stated they do not support Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’s (D-NY) three-year extension of the Obamacare subsidies, instead arguing that their bill will provide “clear, responsible alternatives” to lower healthcare costs.
Bipartisanship appeared to be on the horizon last week, after centrist Republicans and leadership worked out a deal to amend the legislation and extend the Obamacare subsidies for two years with some reforms. GOP leadership aides told reporters Friday that they expected a vote on an amendment to extend the Obamacare subsidies to come this week.
But that bipartisanship appears to be short-lived as the deal between leaders and GOP members led by Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) is allegedly falling apart due to leadership arguing that members would need to find healthcare offsets to pay for the extension, according to multiple reports. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) told reporters Monday that a final decision had not yet been made on whether an amendment would be allowed on renewing the subsidies.
If leadership and rank-and-file members cannot come to an agreement, the centrist lawmakers will have to find their own way to get a vote to extend the tax credits. To do so, they will have to present a version similar to Fitzpatrick’s bill to the House Rules Committee, offering it as an amendment to extend the subsidies by two years.
Given that the Rules Committee is largely a cudgel of leadership and has conservatives such as Reps. Chip Roy (R-TX) and Ralph Norman (R-SC), it is unlikely their proposal will pass.
This could push lawmakers to a crossroads. Given that 12 Republicans have signed Fitzpatrick’s discharge petition, and 11 Republicans have joined the petition led by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), there are a few options for the GOP.
Ball in Democrats’ court?
One option for Democrats is to band together and join either of the discharge petitions. Doing so would force a vote on a bill to extend the subsidies in some shape or form. Gottheimer’s extends the Obamacare subsidies for one year and sets up for a vote on a longer extension or reform process in the second year.
If all Democrats signed one of the petitions, it would be enough to reach the 218-signature threshold. But leaders have dragged their feet on wholeheartedly endorsing either petition, including the one led by their own Democratic caucus member.
Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA), the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, said in a statement Saturday that anything less than a clean three-year extension of the subsidies is a “waste of time.” On Monday, Jeffries said he reviewed the discharge petitions.
“We have a position: a straight three-year extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits,” the minority leader said.
He dodged repeated questions on whether he would explicitly tell his caucus not to sign the discharge petitions.
Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH) predicted that “anything” that extends the Affordable Care Act subsidies will “ultimately get enough support,” if it’s able to make it on the schedule or through the Rules Committee for a vote.
“For me, it is, and has always been, about the 32,000 people in my district that need us to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies,” Landsman told the Washington Examiner. “So I’m supporting any and every attempt to do that, because they come first.”
Another option for centrist Republicans is to join Jeffries’s three-year extension of the Obamacare subsidies. All Democrats have signed Jeffries’s discharge petition, so only four Republicans are needed to reach the 218 threshold.
“We are going to continue to reach our hand out and say, ‘Come join us. Four of you, who seem to now be very concerned about what is happening in their communities as they see their political numbers failing.’ …The [American people] deserve so much better than what they are getting from this Republican Party,” House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) said.
However, centrist Republicans, although they favor a smaller extension of the tax credits, are not budging on signing the three-year extension at this time and say it is up to Democratic leadership to make a move.
Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), who has signed both Fitzpatrick and Gottheimer’s petitions, said he is not supportive of a blanket, three-year extension.
“I don’t like it,” Bacon said, arguing some of the provisions of the subsidies are “very wasteful.”
“Why should somebody earning $600,000 get these tax credits, and why do we want a third of all the tax credit money, not go to individuals’ premiums? That’s what’s going on right now. … I think Hakeem Jeffries and his team should get on one of the two discharges we have, because we deal with both those issues,” Bacon added.
“So if we’re going to do an extension, it’s got to be a reform plan.”
Lawler said he thinks Democrats are wavering in their support for the petitions for political reasons.
“We have two discharges that already have more than enough Republican signatures on them, and that’s really up to the Democratic leadership, whether or not they truly want an extension or they want the issue,” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) told reporters Monday. “Based on many comments they’ve made, certainly internally, they seem to want the issue, not the actual extension.”
A three-year extension, proposed by Democrats, and a competing Republican proposal failed last week in the Senate. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said Monday that there is not enough support to have a “straight-up extension” of the tax credits without some significant reforms, essentially putting Capitol Hill at a standstill.
“So how is it an option when it can’t get through the Senate?” Lawler asked.
Wednesday’s House vote comes as a bipartisan group of senators makes a last-ditch attempt to negotiate a subsidy extension. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Bernie Moreno (R-OH), both of whom support a two-year subsidy extension with reforms, organized a Monday evening meeting with a large, ideologically diverse group of senators to discuss what a Senate deal might look like.
Leaving the meeting, senators conceded that reaching a deal before the end of the year would be difficult. Still, they described their conversations as a step in the right direction, following the Senate’s failure last week to pass a Democratic-backed extension.
“It seems like the calendar precludes getting something done this week,” said Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), the author of a competing GOP bill that lets the subsidies lapse. “But still, a commitment to work together is a lot of progress.”
Lauren Green contributed to this report.
