Democratic leadership in the Senate is avoiding the backlash facing House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) over his decision to rule out a one-year extension of expiring Obamacare subsidies.
On Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) refused to stake out any red lines as both parties continue to spar over a government shutdown centered on healthcare demands.
“I’m not going to negotiate in public,” Schumer told reporters. “We have to do something. We have to extend these credits.”
Schumer’s top deputy, Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), told the Washington Examiner he was “not going to rule out approaches” to reauthorize the subsidies, which expire at the end of the year, until there is a “chance to sit down and talk it through” with Republicans.
The opening offer for Democrats is a permanent extension, something GOP leadership has called a nonstarter given Republican control of Washington, but the details of an eventual compromise, should one materialize, have set House Democrats at odds and given Republicans fuel to attack Jeffries.
Jeffries rejected a one-year extension, floated by a bipartisan bloc of lawmakers, on Tuesday as “a laughable proposition” before partially walking back his statement a day later after pushback from some Democrats.
“If anything is presented to us, of course, the caucus will consider it in good faith,” Jeffries said Wednesday.
He added that any deal coming from the Senate must be “meaningful in terms of making a difference in the lives of the American people” and insists he is in “lockstep” with his Senate Democratic counterparts.
Democratic sponsors of the one-year extension have avoided criticizing their party leader, but Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY), the lead co-sponsor, chided Jeffries indirectly while urging a bipartisan solution that reopens the government.
“This bill isn’t perfect — I’d prefer a permanent extension, and I’d gladly settle for a multi-year one — but right now, our priority must be stopping the massive health insurance premium hikes set to hit mailboxes in less than a month,” Suozzi said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “We can’t afford to remain in a stalemate, each side waiting for the other to blink.”
As the shutdown dragged into its eighth day on Wednesday, it was evident that emotions were reaching a boiling point in the House.
Following a press conference with House Democratic leadership, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) confronted Jeffries with a copy of the one-year extension bill.
“Why don’t you sign on right now? You can easily extend the ACA right now,” Lawler said, pointing to the 12 Democrats who signed on to a bill from Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA) to extend the tax credits. “Are they wrong?”
“You’re making a show of this to keep yourself relevant,” Jeffries responded. “You’re embarrassing yourself right now. You’re chasing clout. You’re an embarrassment.”
The two sparred over the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Democrats argue is creating a “healthcare crisis” due to the Medicaid reforms in the legislation. Lawler and Jeffries spoke over each other for several minutes, with Jeffries at one point saying, “Why don’t you just keep your mouth shut?”
After the exchange, Lawler told reporters that Jeffries should be “called out for his hypocrisy” when asked if he thought confronting the leader accomplished anything.
“He refused to sign on to a clean, one-year extension of the Affordable Care Act subsidies,” Lawler said. “If he just held a whole press conference about how important it is, why won’t he sign on to legislation that would extend it?”
“They are so full of s***, it’s not even funny,” Lawler added.
Jeffries told reporters after the confrontation that Lawler is “not a serious person.”
“He’s engaging in stunts,” Jeffries said. “They’ve chosen to engage in theatrics because they’re not serious individuals when it comes to actually doing the business of the American people.”
Suozzi reiterated in his statement that “Republicans and Democrats both need to step up to the negotiating table.”
A spokesperson for Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), another co-sponsor, did not address Jeffries’s position but said the congressman supports a “multiverse of options.” The spokesperson also pointed to a bill Gottheimer co-sponsored that permanently extends the Obamacare tax credits.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) characterized Jeffries as living in a “dream world” for ruling out the one-year extension, though GOP leadership has not signed on to the extension and insists negotiations can only begin after a shutdown ends.
“Laying out demands like that, that are unrealistic and unserious, doesn’t help anybody,” Thune said. “It doesn’t help their cause.”
Other Senate Democrats, such as Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), have expressed their preference but advised leadership not to tip their cards to Republicans. He has said he “could settle for a couple years” on a subsidy extension.
“I think it’s a bad idea for us to get into details right away, because then we could potentially trip ourselves before we even get to that situation,” Gallego told reporters.
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Republicans are also facing their own divisions over how to extend the enhanced tax credits, which party leaders have condemned as an outdated taxpayer expense from the pandemic. But rank-and-file support from some corners of the GOP has kept Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) open to a compromise, with members floating limits to income eligibility and language to address “fraud” in the program.
Johnson has declined to stake out a position on a yearlong extension but said this week that “dramatic” changes would be necessary to extend the credits.
