Congress returned to work in Washington, and one of the first issues lawmakers addressed was government health insurance subsidies. These temporary, emergency subsidies were first enacted during the coronavirus pandemic and expired at the end of last year. On Jan. 8, 213 Democrats and 17 Republicans voted to extend the Obamacare subsidies for three years.

This was a surprising development. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) spent much of the autumn blocking Democrats from forcing a vote in the House of Representatives to extend the life of government subsidies for people who buy health insurance. Democrats, for their part, forced a lengthy government shutdown to force the speaker’s hand, which did not succeed.