Congress

House Republicans weigh vote on Obamacare extension

Published

11 months ago

December 12, 2025

Moderate House Republicans are talking with GOP leaders about possibly setting up an amendment vote that could add an extension of expiring Obamacare subsidies to a health care package expected to move across the floor next week, according to four people granted anonymity to describe internal conversations.

GOP leaders have been skeptical of such a move. But they’re currently working through whether it could pass muster with other Republicans, and it’s under discussion as centrist House Republicans grow desperate to hold off the expiration of the subsidies that more than 20 million Americans use, the four people said.

Those leadership conversations also include whether to include Texas Rep. August Pfluger’s bill redirecting the tax credits into health savings account contributions as part of the GOP health package next week.

Other options are under consideration as GOP leaders continue working on a plan Thursday, with Majority Leader Steve Scalise saying in a brief interview he wants to file the bills Friday.

Two of the GOP moderates, Rep. Jen Kiggans of Virginia and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, have launched discharge petitions to force an extension vote, but those are unlikely to succeed before the subsidies expire on Dec. 31.

Fitzpatrick spoke to Johnson about the push during a meeting in his office Thursday, according to another person granted anonymity to describe the meeting. Fitzpatrick and Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) also huddled with Johnson on the floor later Thursday.

But Republican leaders are still working through what have so far been intractable issues over using the subsidies to fund abortion coverage, which risks the ire of at least some GOP hard-liners. There are fears adding it as an amendment could imperil the entire package, with key conservatives on the Rules Committee opposed to an ACA extension able to block its consideration.

But many more House Republicans — even some conservatives — believe there needs to be some sort of subsidy extension as a bridge. “I think we have to have that,” one conservative granted anonymity to speak candidly about a possible amendment.

Rep. Ralph Norman (S.C.), one of the hard-liners on the Rules Committee, said he opposes the inclusion of a subsidy extension but would not say if he would move to block it from getting a vote.

“I don’t want the discharge petition where you won’t have anything,” he said. “We’ll see how it goes.”

The House wrangling over an Obamacare patch comes after four Republican senators voted Thursday to advance a Democratic proposal for a three-year subsidy extension. There are ongoing bipartisan conversations among rank-and-file senators about how to get a deal across the finish line before they leave for the holidays.

Senate Majority John Thune has left the door open to taking up a bill if it can get through the House but said in an interview Thursday evening that he was not personally encouraging House Republicans to send over a bill.

“I’ve talked to the speaker, and I think he’s trying to gauge where his members are and see what the traffic will bear over there,” he said.

Congress

Elon Musk pours another $76 million into boosting Republicans

Published

4 hours ago

October 22, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk gave another $76 million to boost Republicans in the first two weeks of October, bringing his total giving this cycle to more than $442 million.

The additional funds, which Musk gave to his super PAC, America PAC, make the group one of the biggest super PACs this cycle. America PAC has already spent tens of millions of dollars on digital advertising, mailers and text messages as it targets competitive House and Senate races across the country.

Musk — the world’s wealthiest man — is by far the biggest single donor this cycle, with his political giving this year far exceeding even the roughly $290 million he spent in 2024. There is no precedent in modern American history for any donor spending as much as he has.

While the Tesla CEO and former DOGE lead has spent significantly to help Republicans, he has not been joining GOP candidates on the campaign trail this fall like he had in the past. Republicans privately acknowledged Musk could be politically toxic after the party lost a major Wisconsin judicial race in the spring of 2025 where Musk had become both the biggest funder and a campaign issue.

Still, Musk’s money has been instrumental for Republicans this fall. His earlier giving this cycle includes $158 million for Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, which was transferred to a super PAC boosting Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is locked in a tight Senate race against Democrat James Talarico. Democrats have looked to make his money a campaign issue: Talarico recently responded to an attack from Musk on the Musk-owned X social media site by saying that there was “deeply wrong with a political system that allows one trillionaire to buy his own personal U.S. Senator.”

Musk has also given to House Republicans’ super PAC arm, President Donald Trump’s MAGA Inc. super PAC, and a group seeking to repeal Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system, along with a smattering of GOP candidates.

Congress

Senate Democrats’ campaign arm takes out $15M loan

Published

4 hours ago

October 22, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senate Democrats have taken out a $15 million loan as they hope to expand their map in the final days before the midterms.

The party’s campaign arm took out the loan earlier this month, according to a report submitted Thursday to the Federal Election Commission.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spent $32 million in the first two weeks of October, with half of those funds going toward coordinated expenditures in 10 states. That includes: $4.7 million Ohio; more than $1 million in each of Iowa, Michigan, Kansas, Alaska and Maine; and additional funds in Texas, Georgia, North Carolina and New Hampshire.

The committee reported just over $20 million cash on hand as of Oct. 14, according to its FEC report.

Its GOP counterpart, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, previously took out $20 million in loans in September, according to an FEC report filed earlier this week. The DSCC has slightly trailed the NRSC in fundraising for most of the cycle, but Democratic candidates have largely outraised GOP ones across the map — in some cases, several times over.

Democrats’ candidate fundraising advantage has helped offset the GOP’s massive super PAC cash advantage since candidates, and parties working with them, get better rates for broadcast ads.

It’s not unusual for party committees to take out loans late in an election cycle to power last-minute spending. In 2024, the DSCC took out $20 million in loans.

“In the face of being outspent by GOP megadonors, Senate Democrats remain in the best position yet to win the majority, after we strategically and effectively expanded the map and sent Republicans scrambling to play defense in red states everywhere,” DSCC spokesperson Maeve Coyle said in a statement. “We will continue to use every tool at our disposal and we will win in November.”

Congress

Kevin McCarthy predicts GOP will lose House majority

Published

10 hours ago

October 22, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy predicted Republicans will lose the House in two weeks, citing historical midterm trends while also criticizing the sitting GOP leadership for how they’ve managed the chamber.

“In the last 100 years, all off-year elections, whoever is the party in power has the White House, has lost seats, and it’s only a few seats for the majority,” McCarthy said in an interview with Bloomberg TV Thursday.

Democrats, he added, will “get a majority” in the House: “I’m not quite sure how big it is, but they will probably win the majority.”

The former speaker, who ushered in the current GOP House majority in 2022 but only led the conference for less than a year before being booted from the speakership, went on to fault his own party for giving the election away.

“It’s not that the Democrats are going to win this election,” he said. “Republicans are going to lose it.”

He pointed to the skimpy House legislative calendar as a factor. Speaker Mike Johnson and his deputies have routinely canceled scheduled session days amid member revolts that have undermined his grip on the razor-thin majority.

“You’re only given 24 months in a majority to manage it. They were in the fewest amount of days. They let the Democrats dictate,” McCarthy said. “You have to give a reason why to win. What are the three things Republicans will do if they win the majority? I can’t tell you what that is.”

Still, McCarthy cautioned that if Democrats win the House, it won’t be because they have laid out their own agenda and warned that he believes that Democrats will face their own hurdles.

“Democrats are not popular. They haven’t laid out an agenda on what they’ll do,” McCarthy said. “So they’ll have a really hard time governing in the next Congress.”