Congress

The House Republican risking GOP backlash to save Obamacare subsidies

Published

10 months ago

September 15, 2025

Among all the troublemaking members House Republican leaders have to deal with, Rep. Jen Kiggans isn’t on their list of problem children. That might be changing.

A former Navy helicopter pilot, nurse practitioner and mother of four, the 54-year-old Virginian is seen in the Republican Conference as something of a model member, hailing from one of the toughest swing districts in the country. She is viewed by her peers as personable and a team player. Of all the places Mike Johnson might have gone on the eve of the 2024 elections, the speaker chose to spend time with Kiggans — a strong show of leadership support for a freshman.

But Kiggans, now in her second term, has decided to stick her neck out on what’s shaping up to be one of the most politically explosive policy fights of the fall: the battle over extending boosted Affordable Care Act insurance subsidies that are due to expire on Dec. 31. Congressional budget forecasters are predicting major premium hikes if the subsidies sunset, which would force millions of people to drop health insurance coverage.

Twelve Republicans and seven Democrats are backing legislation that would enact a one-year extension of the subsidies, which are implemented in the form of enhanced tax credits. Kiggans is the lead sponsor and the GOP face of the effort.

In an interview, she called an extension good politics — and good for her constituents.

“In six weeks or so, people will get a notice that their health care premiums are going to go up by thousands of dollars,” said Kiggans. “And at the end of the year … for people that either have this type of insurance and work in small businesses, are self-employed, you know, I worry about their access to health care.”

The latest Capitol Hill clash over preserving health care policies enacted by Democrats, however, is shaping up to be a central battle in government funding negotiations ahead of a Sept. 30 shutdown deadline — and driving a rift inside the GOP in ways that echo party infighting over scaling back Medicaid in President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.” The dispute is also now pitting centrists like Kiggans against conservatives who have fought for years to undo the Affordable Care Act. And it carries major political stakes for Republicans as they gear up for their fight to keep control of the House next year.

The Democrats’ 2010 health law first provided for tax credits to help make premiums more affordable under the new insurance plans. But the 2021 Covid relief package supercharged those credits, making them more generous for people with lower incomes but also accessible to individuals making up to $600,000 a year. It’s that “enhanced” version of the credits that will expire at the end of the 2025 without congressional action.

One senior House Republican, granted anonymity to share their private view of Kiggans’ support for the subsidies, suggested she’ll be given latitude by her colleagues and leadership to follow her instincts on the credits’ fate: “Kiggans does her homework, and she understands her base or constituency and what needs to be done.”

Still, she’s finding herself caught in the middle of warring factions that could test the positive relationships she’s built during her short time in office, while also putting her political future at risk.

She’s going up against a swath of hard-liners who in the coming days plan to ramp up their coordinated campaign against any extension, in part by arguing that the subsidies are used to cover abortions. Conservatives also say the tax credits are too expensive, and they are generally loath to support any policy tied to the Affordable Care Act.

Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), a member of the House Freedom Caucus, said in an interview Thursday it would be “awful” if Johnson capitulates to demands from moderates like Kiggans to extend the enhanced ACA credits. Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), chair of the hard-line contingent, called the subsidies “free giveaways to insurance companies.”

Mindful of the intraparty fissures around this issue, Johnson has so far been careful not to say whether he endorses an extension, and certainly isn’t tying it to a government funding package needed to avert a shutdown before Oct. 1. Republicans who support Kiggans’ crusade privately believe their best bet for victory is securing the extension in a second funding measure at the end of the year, but Democrats are making this linkage a condition of their support for the immediate stopgap spending measure.

“There’s a range of opinion on it,” Johnson said in a brief interview earlier this month. “It doesn’t expire until the end of the year, so we have time to figure it out.”

Kiggans has a track record of breaking with her party on some big issues but not tanking legislation to gain leverage. For instance, she was among the most vocal critics of the GOP megabill’s targeting of clean energy tax credits that are benefitting her district, but she still voted for the new law. She said this past week she didn’t plan to shut down the government to get her way on the ACA tax credits, either.

“I represent a big military district,” she explained, “and people who rely on those federal paychecks.”

But Democrats, who see Kiggans’ seat as a prime pick-up opportunity in 2026, accuse her of being duplicitous.

“Jen Kiggans cast a decisive vote to rip away health care from 350,000 Virginians, and just this week three health care clinics in the Commonwealth were forced to shutter as a direct result of her vote,” said Eli Cousin, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, in a statement that referred to Kiggans’ vote for the GOP megabill.

“Kiggans wants to trick voters before she is up for reelection, then sell them out right after,” Cousin added. “She is everything wrong with Washington politicians.”

Kiggans is working to thread the needle. She said she agrees with fellow Republicans that the credits are expensive and need to expire eventually. But she also made the case that her party needs to create “a longer runway” to discuss how to soften the blow of phasing out the enhanced credits completely.

“It’s time to end these tax credits, but when it comes to health care, it’s not quite as easy as letting them expire, especially when it’s something at the end of the calendar year,” Kiggans said. “And I’m not alone. There’s people on both sides of the aisle that feel the same way. And these are common-sense members of Congress that care about health care.”

Democratic co-sponsors of her bill include Reps. Jared Golden of Maine and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, the co-chairs of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition. Among the Republican supporters are Reps. David Valadao of California, Juan Ciscomani of Arizona and Mike Lawler of New York — some of the most endangered incumbents of the election cycle.

But senior House Republicans have questioned the strategy Kiggans and her group is pursuing, according to three people granted anonymity to speak candidly about private conversations. These Republicans are, in particular, critical of the rollout of her bill, which did not include any of the reforms Kiggans acknowledged are needed to the larger program.

This “clean” extension, many in the GOP feel, could put Republicans in a tough spot, including Kiggans’ fellow frontliners who have not signed onto her effort.

“Full credits with high wage earners is too far for most Republicans,” said one of the senior House GOP Republicans, referring to how Kiggans’ bill would fully extend the premium tax credit for one year rather than to put new income limits on an extension, as some Republicans have suggested doing.

Some vulnerable GOP incumbents who haven’t yet signed onto Kiggans’ bill also acknowledged an income cap and other reforms will likely be part of any compromise.

“We want to make sure that affordability is maintained as best as possible for people,” Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-Pa.) said in an interview, while adding, “I know there are some concerns that some have expressed about high-income individuals being eligible.”

Kiggans said the value of her one-year extension bill is that it would, indeed, force a discussion about how to either continue the subsidies responsibly or wind them down in a thoughtful way. She advocated for a scenario where members could come to the table and hash out a long-term solution, recalling the consensus-building exercise that took place around making changes to Medicaid as part of the megabill.

“That took a lot of meetings, a lot of late nights, a lot of discussions with people who happen to have skin in the game,” said Kiggans.

There are plenty of Republicans who believe Kiggans should stay the course and leadership should follow, warning an expiration of the premium tax credits could cost the GOP dearly in the midterms.

A July poll by veteran GOP pollster Tony Fabrizio found that Republicans have an “opportunity to overcome a current generic ballot deficit” in 2026 if they allow an extension. Letting them expire, according to that same survey, would cause an expected three-point deficit for a generic Republican to plunge to 15.

Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said that “everybody’s voice is being heard” on whether to extend the ACA subsidies.

“I think we’re having internal discussions now about, kind of, where we are as a conference and what’s feasible and what’s not feasible,” Hudson said in a brief interview last week. “I’ll wait and see how that develops before I say anything publicly.”

Kiggans insisted her party can’t afford to wait.

“Republicans need to lead on this issue,” she said. “And we can.”

Cassandra Dumay and Mia McCarthy contributed to this report.

Congress

Congressional Black Caucus blasts Slotkin over her calls for new leadership in the House

Published

19 hours ago

June 27, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The Congressional Black Caucus is emphatically declaring its support for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries — and denouncing Sen. Elissa Slotkin’s call for new leadership in Congress.

In a statement posted to social media on Friday, the entirely Democratic CBC declared that it stands united behind the nation’s first Black minority leader of the House. The caucus accused the Michigan senator of “posturing for higher office in 2028” and called attention to her votes to approve multiple members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet.

“House Democrats don’t need a lesson on reading the political moment from someone who handed Donald Trump one of the most corrupt Cabinets in American history,” the CBC said. “Voting to confirm Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, and five other Trump Cabinet secretaries is not the posture of someone who understood the moment’ after 2024.”

The CBC closed its defense of Jeffries with a sharp parting shot of remaining focused on providing for Americans rather than “engaging in distractions that only serve to divide Democrats at a moment when unity and resolve are essential.”

A spokesperson for Slotkin, who has repeatedly called for a new generation of leadership in Congress, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Congress

Key Democrats urge House to reject kids’ safety proposal

Published

22 hours ago

June 26, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The Commerce Committee’s top Democrat Maria Cantwell (Wash.) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) warned House lawmakers against advancing their chamber’s version of the Kids Online Safety Act, arguing it would face intense lobbying from tech companies in the Senate and risk unraveling years of bipartisan work.

“If it is passed by the House it will come to the Senate,” Blumenthal, the bill’s Senate cosponsor, told reporters at a Friday press briefing. The Connecticut Democrat said he is concerned senators will be influenced by the tech industry’s “armies of lawyers and lobbyists” who may “confuse and exploit” misunderstandings about a House bill with the same name as a Senate version but excludes key provisions, such as the “duty of care.” (This concept requires online companies to design social media platforms with an eye for children’s safety.)

“We’re not going to let bad legislation with a good title just get across and think somebody’s done something,” Cantwell said.

The House version of KOSA — which is included in the KIDS Act, a revised bipartisan package that the Energy and Commerce Committee advanced along party lines in March — is scheduled to be considered on the House floor next week under suspension of the rules.

“We need to stop this bill in the House, and we need to prevent the White House from forming an alliance with Big Tech on this issue,” said Blumenthal, who characterized the version of KOSA that House leadership is pushing as a “sham.”

Both Democratic lawmakers also expressed concern that Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas) could adopt the House version of KOSA in a kids’ safety package he has yet to publicly release but has pledged to markup by August recess. Cruz said “negotiations are ongoing” earlier this week when asked by Blue Light News whether he would be open to incorporating such changes put forward in the House.

Cruz’s package is expected to include KOSA as well legislation barring companies from using minors’ personal data for targeted advertising, banning kids under age 13 from social media, and providing greater oversight for how children interact with AI chatbots.

Although Blumenthal remains hopeful that Cruz will “stay true to his first vote in favor of KOSA,” which overwhelmingly passed in the Senate last Congress, the Connecticut Democrat said Friday he’s worried Cruz and others may be tempted to “take the bait” and abandon the bill’s basic principles.

Congress

Moderates beware: Mamdani coalition portends a dramatically different Democratic Party in NYC

Published

1 day ago

June 26, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

NEW YORK — A coalition powered by Mayor Zohran Mamdani expanded the left’s reach Tuesday, winning younger voters across racial and ethnic lines and once again upending conventional wisdom about elections in New York City.

A series of hotly contested congressional and state elections pit a slate of Mamdani-backed democratic socialists and progressives against establishment candidates who, in several cases, differed little on policy aside from U.S.-Israel relations.

The results were staggering.

Midterm election cycles in deep-blue New York City tend to be sleepy affairs. Both this year and in 2022, just over 500,000 people cast ballots, less than 20 percent of eligible voters. But turnout within a congressional district spanning Upper Manhattan and the Bronx increased by roughly 50 percent between 2022 and Tuesday, with more than 66,000 voters heading to the polls.

In another seat covering parts of Brooklyn and Queens, turnout more than doubled from 2022, though state and federal elections were held on different days that year and the seat was not competitive, which would have reduced the number of voters going to the polls.

Congressional candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America were able to replicate the mayor’s success by winning younger Latino voters in Brooklyn and a majority of Black voters in Harlem. Combined with the DSA’s base in relatively wealthy neighborhoods, the result charted the far left’s broadening appeal and a potential reorientation of the electorate that will influence races for years to come.

“This was a big wave for DSA and they did a good job capitalizing on it,” said Evan Roth Smith, a pollster with Slingshot Strategies. “The question now is: Was this a wave cycle that will abate, or is it the start of the takeover?”

Much of Mamdani’s base is concentrated in the so-called “commie-corridor,” a series of neighborhoods along the Brooklyn-Queens waterfront filled with young, educated and affluent voters who’ve propelled several DSA candidates into office. They went gaga over Mamdani’s candidacy and, as Tuesday’s results show, will turn out for candidates he supports.

The area was crucial to Assemblymember Claire Valdez’s crushing 56-38 defeat of Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso.

“The factor that felt most significant to me were all of these New Yorkers who got activated and politicized in the mayor’s race last year who were looking for the next fight,” said Andrew Epstein, a political adviser to Mamdani who worked on Valdez’ campaign. “Those people didn’t go away. And they want to keep going.”

Valdez also won several heavily Latino areas that were expected to break for her opponent.

Reynoso was born in Brooklyn to Dominican parents and just a few years ago was a City Council member representing Bushwick, a long-gentrifying Brooklyn neighborhood that’s home to Latino families and young hipsters. Valdez was born in Texas, moved to New York City in 2015 and served in the state Assembly for just one term before launching her Mamdani-backed bid for retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez’s seat.

She ended up winning areas of Bushwick by even greater margins than the total results — in some election districts winning upwards of 80 percent of the vote.

“You don’t win the district by 35 points if you don’t have broad advantages across age and demographic groups,” said Michael Lange, an election analyst and Mamdani supporter who has tracked several contested races with extreme granularity. “Is she blowing him out of the water with Hispanic voters under 50? I see tons of evidence that the answer is yes.”

The age advantage was the common thread across several other races.

In Upper Manhattan and the Bronx, for example, younger Black voters in Harlem were key to Darializa Avila Chevalier’s win over Rep. Adriano Espaillat, the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus who had built a small political empire in the district.

While gentrifying, the neighborhood remains a seat of Black political power and is home to younger households who tend to rent. That particular demographic is a strong indicator of why Mamdani won the area in 2025, even as he lost the Black vote overall to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whose support was concentrated among older Black homeowners in Brooklyn and Queens.

While Espaillat never healed a rift with the Black community in upper Manhattan opened during his election in 2016, which contributed to his weak performance, Avila Chevalier demonstrated Tuesday that a significant share of voters there were not just supportive of Mamdani the person, but of the broader political movement he’s now leading.

Overall, she edged out Espaillat with Black voters 48-46, according to an analysis from The New York Times, which charted demographic breakdowns for several contested races.

Three winning congressional candidates endorsed by Mamdani — including former city Comptroller Brad Lander in Brooklyn, who unseated incumbent Dan Goldman — share several similarities. They won younger, college-educated and wealthier voters by huge margins, in several cases by 30 points or more, and lost lower-income voters to incumbents or candidates affiliated with incumbents — a sign that the movement seeking to boost struggling New Yorkers has not won them over.

While the DSA was able to win three state races without the support of Mamdani — a testament to the organizing prowess of the left that was essential to reactivating the mayor’s coalition — there were limits to the city’s leftward shift.

Rep. Grace Meng won her reelection race, though she only vanquished challenger Chuck Park by 14 points, an uncomfortable margin for an incumbent of her stature. Park, who ran to Meng’s left, was boosted by a huge turnout in Woodside, Queens, a multiethnic neighborhood that went heavily for Mamdani in last year’s mayoral race.

Elsewhere in the Bronx, however, incumbents remained strong. Rep. Ritchie Torres handily won reelection with 72 percent of the vote, though it was a low-turnout affair more consistent with an uncompetitive midterm. Nevertheless, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries touted the results — even as he watched a series of his endorsed candidates fall to the DSA in Brooklyn, his home borough, in a preview of the intraparty battles to come.

“In some higher-income districts, there was an outsized focus on the Middle East. In other districts, for instance, in the South Bronx, Ritchie Torres ran against somebody who was heavily critical of his position on Israel, and he won by fifty points,” Jeffries told MS NOW on Wednesday.