Congress
Mike Johnson raises fresh doubts about an Obamacare compromise
Speaker Mike Johnson expressed fresh skepticism Friday that a deal to extend Affordable Care Act health insurance subsidies — a key Democratic demand amid the 10-day government shutdown — is within reach.
Speaking on a rare joint call with House Freedom Caucus members Friday, Johnson said “it will take a lot of work to build consensus” on any bipartisan deal to address the tax credits expiring Dec. 31, “if there is even any version of a reform that could find consensus and pass.”
Those doubts from Johnson reflect widespread sentiment inside the House GOP opposing to any extension of the subsidies, though there some House Republicans who want to make a deal. The speaker made clear on the call he won’t provide Democrats any assurances that the kind of agreement they’re seeking to reopen the government can ever be reached. He also reiterated that any deal on the tax credits is an “end-of-the-year policy decision,” even though some of his own GOP members want to show progress before open enrollment for ACA plans begins Nov. 1.
“There’s no way for us to project today what that final outcome would be, because we’re in a deliberative body with 535 members, and it takes a lot of time to reach a point of decision on a matter like that,” Johnson said. “The Democrats know that.”
Democrats continued insisting Friday that a deal to extend the subsidies is a firm condition for ending the shutdown. “What we said to our Republican colleagues is, we have to address the health care crisis that they’ve created decisively,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said. “That means legislatively.”
Besides health care, Johnson raised another issue on the call that could cause Democrats to dig in further: potentially clawing back more congressional approved funding. Ending so-called rescissions are another key Democratic demand for ending the shutdown. But Johnson said more could be coming imminently.
“We worked on rescissions, and there’ll be more of that, we expect, in the days ahead,” he said.
Johnson also raised the prospect of a more thorough overhaul of health care policy, saying lawmakers “need to bring down the cost of health care, accessibility, and increase the quality of care, but it’s going to take us some time to do that, because the roots of Obamacare are ingrained in so deep.”
Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), the Freedom Caucus chair, also said Friday he wanted “a more comprehensive health policy deal,” not just an extension of the expiring tax credits, while House Majority Leader Steve Scalise separately bashed the ACA.
Scalise told reporters the solution is to expand Health Savings Accounts and association health care plans — both of which were elements of ACA replacement plans that the GOP attempted and failed to pass in 2017.
Nicholas Wu contributed to this report.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he wants to clinch a bipartisan Department of Homeland Security funding agreement Thursday.
“I think the Dems are now in possession of what I think is our last and final” offer, Thune told reporters. “So let’s hope this gets it done.”
“We’re going to know soon,” he added.
The South Dakota Republican declined to discuss details of the offer but suggested it was similar to where the discussions were headed over the weekend. GOP senators then were looking at a bipartisan deal that would fund most of DHS but leave out funding for ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations.
That offer was rejected by Democrats. But two people granted anonymity to discuss the revised proposal said it, too, omitted only ERO money but included additional language to try to address some of Democrats’ concerns.
Spokespeople for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Senate is expected to vote again on the House-passed DHS bill Thursday afternoon. The House is also voting again on DHS funding Thursday and is planning to leave town Friday morning for a two-week holiday recess. Progress in the Senate could prompt House GOP leaders to stay in session in hopes of sending a bill to President Donald Trump.
Asked about the Senate vote, Thune said he hoped there would be “some finality in this real soon.”
Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins joined the House Problem Solvers Caucus lunch Thursday to talk about the stalled Homeland Security funding effort and proposals to overhaul federal immigration enforcement activities.
“I think everyone is pretty frustrated at this point,” the Maine Republican said in an interview after the bipartisan meeting.
The centrist group, which extended the invitation to Collins, talked through the pain points on finding a path out of the DHS shutdown that has stretched more than 40 days and is triggering massive air travel disruptions. The conversation comes ahead of a House vote later Thursday on funding DHS, where moderates are looking to break the impasse.
Meredith Lee Hill, Jordain Carney and Riley Rogerson contributed to this report.
As House Republicans start to dream big about another party-line bill, one key member who voted down the last GOP reconciliation bill is warning his colleagues not to count on his support.
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) referenced his vote last summer against the “big, beautiful bill” in an interview Thursday and suggested he was prepared to oppose another GOP-only bill if it, too, includes spending cuts he opposes to social programs.
“You saw what I did on the first reconciliation bill,” Fitzpatrick said. Fitzpatrick and just one more House Republican could be enough to tank a party-line package given Speaker Mike Johnson’s slim majority.
Still, many of Fitzpatrick’s colleagues are making plans for an expansive new GOP-only bill that would include more money for Homeland Security operations, Iran war funding and other cost-of-living priorities, while demanding it be fully offset with spending cuts — possibly from social programs targeted for “fraud prevention.”
“You never say ‘never’ at anything, but I’m never a fan of single-party bills,” Fitzpatrick said. “That’s just my approach to government.”
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