Congress

Republican lawmakers face internal rift over abortion

Published

9 months ago

September 24, 2025

Republican leaders on Capitol Hill were already looking at a messy political battle over the looming expiration of billions of dollars in Obamacare subsidies. Then the anti-abortion advocates showed up.

With a possible government shutdown less than a week away, Democrats’ big ask is that Republicans agree to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies, which were expanded by Congress in 2021 and are set to sunset at the end of the year.

Insurance premiums are likely to skyrocket this fall without an extension, and some Republicans are open to cutting a deal, mindful that a failure to act could have dire consequences in the midterms.

But now prominent anti-abortion groups are wading into the debate, pounding the halls of Congress to make their case that the enhanced tax credits for ACA insurance premiums function as an indirect subsidy for services designed to end pregnancies. The argument could make conservative Republicans who already loathed the policy dig in further against greenlighting an extension.

It’s setting the stage for a major internal GOP power struggle that could pit hard-liners against moderates in more competitive districts, while also complicating the ability of Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune to allow a bipartisan deal to go through.

“It should be a huge factor for every Republican member,” said House Freedom Caucus member Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) of the pushback from anti-abortion groups. “Republicans have never voted for Obamacare, which is why it would be ridiculous for us to extend it.”

The lobbying campaign by anti-abortion advocates is exposing an internal GOP rift over health care that’s become a hallmark of President Donald Trump’s second term and could influence whether Republicans keep control of Washington. Over the summer, a conservative push to peel back Medicaid became a major flashpoint inside the GOP. Now similar camps are gearing up for battle over Obamacare subsidies and abortion, with Trump’s silence on the issue again proving to be a critical wildcard.

Yet Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, which mobilizes its large grassroots network to elect anti-abortion candidates, is plowing ahead, most recently making its case during a briefing last week with staffers for members of the conservative House Republican Study Committee.

Representatives from the organization are talking to the relevant congressional committees, lawmaker offices and party leaders “who are most engaged with finding a solution,” according to a spokesperson for the group. Marilyn Musgrave, the organization’s vice president of government affairs and a former Republican congresswoman from Colorado, has been meeting directly with lawmakers.

The in-person lobbying follows a letter to lawmakers in early September from nearly 90 anti-abortion groups, including Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, that called on Congress to “ensure that any extension of ACA subsidies is protected by the Hyde amendment,” adding, “the pro-life Congress must not be a party to the Obama policy of taxpayer funding for abortion.”

The Hyde amendment, named for the late Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), bars the use of federal funds to pay for abortion except in cases of rape or incest or when the mother’s life is at risk.

Democrats argue the ACA already has guardrails to ensure that the law complies with the Hyde amendment. They say the health law requires that insurance plans segregate premiums for abortion and non-abortion services into different accounts.

But opponents of abortion call that firewall a gimmick, arguing the tax credits effectively subsidize plans that cover abortion regardless of how the premiums are divvied up.

In a memo circulated by the office of Sen. Steve Daines this week, the Montana Republican similarly argued that “taxpayer funds are fungible” and that the enhanced credits make it easier for plans to offer abortion services.

“If Senate Democrats do not believe there are meaningful differences between the status quo and the Hyde Amendment, they should have no issues with codifying Hyde into law,” the memo reads.

Autumn Christensen, senior policy advisor at Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said her organization was prepared to punish Republicans who vote for an extension without addressing this perceived discrepancy.

“Republicans have consistently stood against taxpayer-funded abortion in Obamacare, and we are confident they will continue to do so,” she said in a statement. “Extending subsidies without Hyde is a clear vote to expand abortion on demand, and every such vote will be scored by SBA Pro-Life America.”

Christensen and her colleague, federal affairs director Jamie Dangers, also distributed a memo at the Republican Study Committee briefing last week warning that extending the ACA subsidies “would be a betrayal of this summer’s victory” — a nod to Republicans’ sweeping tax and spending law that defunded Planned Parenthood.

Some Republicans are amenable to negotiation. For example, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who has said the credits should be extended before the midterms, suggested this wouldn’t be difficult to address. Cornyn is facing an intense Republican primary against Texas attorney general and Trump ally Ken Paxton.

“The Hyde amendment has been the rule since the mid-’70s or so, and so that will be something important for us to negotiate,” Cornyn said in an interview.

Thune, whose spokesperson did not return a request for comment, has left the door open to a possible deal while arguing that Democrats “created this problem” and should be the ones to initiate a proposal to address the subsidy cliff.

A group of Senate Republicans has been meeting to discuss legislation to extend the credits with new restrictions. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), one of the members of the working group, said last week that Hyde protections were part of that discussion.

Johnson’s spokesperson also did not respond to a request for comment. But the speaker, who is firmly anti-abortion, has indicated his belief that Congress can easily wait until later this year to address the subsidies.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), who wants to secure an extension, doesn’t want to delay. He’s facilitating conversations with the leaders of the House Ways and Means Committee and trying to broker a bipartisan compromise with centrists in the Problem Solvers Caucus toward that end.

“I’m worried that there’s not enough focus being paid to it. We’re up against a real deadline. The rates are going to kick in probably Nov. 1, so we have October to get it done,” Fitzpatrick, a co-chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus, said in an interview.

Behind the scenes, however, Johnson’s leadership circle is aware of the dilemma and is increasingly viewing the abortion issue as deeply problematic for the prospects of a deal, according to three Republicans granted anonymity to describe private conversations.

Senior Republicans believe that leaders won’t be able to extend the subsidies without Democratic votes, and Democrats won’t support an extension that puts new restrictions on abortion coverage.

“You’re not going to be able to make progress on lowering Americans’ premiums if you start handing out right-wing trophies,” Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement. That panel, like Ways and Means, has jurisdiction over the tax credits.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), who authored the legislation that created the enhanced credits, also intimated that bringing abortion into the debate would be a nonstarter for Democrats.

“We have to focus on good-faith solutions that can earn bipartisan support,” she said, adding that she has “always supported full access to women’s reproductive health services.”

Restrictions on abortion access won’t sit well either with all of the dozen House Republicans who have signed onto legislation that would extend the subsidies for one year, no strings attached. Many are moderates facing tough reelection fights next year, and any accolades they earn by extending the subsidies could be offset by the backlash from restricting reproductive health services.

Some of the Republican co-sponsors of the measure — including Fitzpatrick, Rep. Jen Kiggans of Virginia and Mike Lawler of New York — are also among the members who just wrapped up a fight with hard-liners over abortion and health care coverage in the GOP megabill that Trump signed into law in July.

And then there are those Republicans who don’t want any deal, for any reason, viewing the premium tax credits as bad policy regardless of the abortion issue. According to a Congressional Budget Office analysis published earlier this month, extending the credits for 10 years would cost around $350 billion and increase the number of people with health insurance by 3.8 million.

House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) said the subsidies were “fiscally reckless” and “bad policy.”

“I don’t see a way to modify it,” he added. “It’s like putting lipstick on a pig.”

Congress

Johnson says he will send housing bill to Trump on Monday

Published

15 hours ago

June 28, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

House Speaker Mike Johsnon said he plans to send President Donald Trump a bipartisan housing bill Monday, just days after the president abruptly canceled a signing ceremony for the legislation after Congress failed to pass his elections security act.

Speaking with Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” Johnson said the 21st Century ROAD To Housing Act is a Republican priority for lowering costs for Americans.

“I’m going to send the bill over to him on Monday, and it will become law,” the Louisiana Republican told host Maria Bartiromo. “I certainly want him to take the biggest, boldest marker that he has and do that big Trump signature proudly on that legislation because we’re delivering for the people, and that’s what he wants to do.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Johnson’s remarks.

The bill is the product of almost a year of back-and-forth between all four congressional corners and aims to increase affordability by boosting housing supply and home ownership. It passed both chambers of Congress with wide bipartisan support.

Trump was scheduled to sign the bill into law last week but canceled the ceremony “until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency.”

Trump’s SAVE America Act would require voters to present a photo ID at the ballot box and effectively end mail-in voting. Trump has also said he would like the bill to include prohibitions on transgender athletes competing. But Republican leaders have repeatedly indicated the legislation does not have enough votes to pass.

Congressional leaders appeared taken aback by Trump’s signing cancellation, but Johnson on Sunday said he and the president have since met in the Oval Office to discuss the housing bill “in great detail.”

“We made a lot of promises to the voters, and we’re fulfilling those every single day of this Congress,” Johnson said. “This is a big part of that because this will increase the availability, the access to more housing, bring down cost, cut regulations, do the things we know are very important for that market. The president and I talked about that at length. Of course he wants to do those things.”

But if Trump does not sign the housing bill into law within the next few days, it would still become law unless he were to veto it. Congress also has the power to override a presidential veto.

Congress

Sen. Thom Tillis rails against Trump’s fixation on voting legislation

Published

15 hours ago

June 28, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Sen. Thom Tillis on Sunday expressed frustration with President Donald Trump’s continued fixation on passing the SAVE America Act.

In an interview with BLN’s “Face the Nation,” the retiring North Carolina Republican lamented “the impossible task” of implementing the requirements of the legislation ahead of November’s crucial midterms.

“Why are we doing more things to undermine our confidence in elections, rather than getting the strong message out that will win for Republicans this year?” Tillis said.

Rather than promoting the bill — which would require voters to present a photo ID at the ballot box and effectively end widespread mail-in voting — Tillis said Republicans should tell voters about “the rise of the Democratic Socialists of America” while accepting the current voting laws.

“Win by the good results that Republicans have produced and stop undermining the confidence in the elections,” said Tillis. “This is a bedrock of our 250-year history of success as the democracy that changed the world. Let’s not mess with that between now and November.”

Trump has said the SAVE America Act is his “No. 1 priority” ahead of midterms, going so far as to abruptly cancel a bill signing for major bipartisan legislation on housing affordability until Congress passes his elections bill. But many Democrats are staunchly against the bill, arguing it could disenfranchise millions of voters, and Republican leaders in Congress have repeatedly indicated it does not have the votes to pass.

Tillis co-sponsored the original SAVE America Act but has objected to Trump’s version of the legislation, which would also bar transgender athletes from women’s sports.

It’s not the first time Tillis has clashed with Trump.

Earlier this year, Tillis blocked Trump’s Fed chair nominee, Kevin Warsh, until the Justice Department dropped an investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. He has also spoken out against the Justice Department’s $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” calling it a “payout for punks.” And he has emerged as a fierce critic of Bill Pulte, Trump’s interim director of national intelligence.

“Let’s try and figure out a way to completely and finally end these distractions so that we can focus on the damage Democrats could do if they take the House, if they beat incumbent Republicans in the Senate. That’s what Republicans need to be talking about between now and November,” Tillis said Sunday.

Congress

Sen. Bill Cassidy on Trump: ‘Sometimes he acts as if Congress is merely an appendage’

Published

16 hours ago

June 28, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Sen. Bill Cassidy appeared to question President Donald Trump’s view of Congress, saying in an interview that he is not sure Trump grasps that Congress “is a separate body, separate from the presidency.”

“Sometimes he acts as if Congress is merely an appendage, and, frankly, sometimes Congress acts like it’s an appendage,” the Louisiana Republican said in a pre-taped interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation” that aired Sunday.

The latest criticism in a public clash between the two leaders, Cassidy also told host Margaret Brennan that he would be focused on affordability, including the cost of health care and groceries, if he were president.

“If I were president, I would be focused on those people that they have, my people, our people, us at the kitchen table. How do you make their life better? And that’s what I think the president should be focused on,” Cassidy said.

The relationship between Cassidy and Trump has been rocky for some time. Cassidy was one of only a handful of Republican leaders who voted to convict Trump for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

Trump and Cassidy recently clashed in a closed-door meeting between GOP leaders, with Cassidy admitting he raised his voice to “match” the president’s.

“The president said something negative about me. I received it as attempting to bully me from asking a question that I think the American people need to know, and I’m not going to be bullied,” Cassidy said at the time.

However, after receiving a special briefing from Vice President JD Vance and special envoy Steve Witkoff, Cassidy changed his vote on a resolution designed to rein in Trump’s power to wage war against Iran.

“They said right now the negotiations are delicate, and they could collapse if they’re not nursed along in the appropriate way. I can accept that,” Cassidy said.

“That’s the reason they said for their kind of lack of being forthcoming. I can accept that, but my goal was to be briefed, to have the truth in order to make a decision for the benefit of my country, and that was satisfied.”

Still, Cassidy’s stance against Trump has cost him: After serving more than a decade in the Senate, Cassidy lost his campaign for renomination after Trump endorsed against him. Rep. Julia Letlow will be the Louisiana Republican Senate candidate this fall.