Congress
Vulnerable House Republicans press Johnson on Obamacare subsidies
Thirteen vulnerable Republicans are urging Speaker Mike Johnson to “immediately turn our focus” to extending Obamacare subsidies after the government reopens.
The group, led by GOP Reps. Jen Kiggans of Virginia and Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey, laid out its case Tuesday in a new letter to Johnson, reminding him that millions of Americans face skyrocketing health insurance premiums as a result of the expiration of the subsidies at the end of the year.
While the moderate members acknowledge Republicans must not cede to Democratic demands that the subsidies be extended during the shutdown, they also emphasize that Johnson must help the party “chart a conservative path” forward on the credits immediately after the shutdown ends.
“Allowing these tax credits to lapse without a clear path forward would risk real harm to those we represent,” wrote the lawmakers. “Our Conference and President Trump have been clear that we will not take healthcare away from families who depend on it.”
Conversations have already started around pairing an extension of the enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits with conservative health care policy priorities. There are discussions about making changes to the structure of the tax credits themselves, for instance instituting new minimum out-of-pocket premiums for all enrollees and imposing an income cap for eligibility.
House GOP leaders are engaged in early, informal conversations with White House officials about potential changes, too. Still, many hard-liners remain dug in against any extension, which Republicans across the political spectrum caution would be a political mistake heading into the midterms.
The Republicans said in their letter that they agree with their conservative colleagues that changes are needed: “Let us be clear: significant reforms are needed to make these credits more fiscally responsible and ensure they are going to the Americans who need them most.”
But with no resolution in sight to the 21-day government funding standoff between the two parties, the letter signals mounting GOP anxiety about the issue as Nov. 1 fast approaches. That’s the date for open enrollment in plans under the Affordable Care Act, at which point it might be too late to avoid massive premium hikes.
State insurance officials have warned that an expectation that the enhanced tax credits will expire has already been baked into updated insurance rates, and it will be difficult to update those rates if Congress passes an extension in November or December.
Kiggans introduced a bill in September that would extend the subsidies for a year, which currently has the support of 28 co-sponsors, equally divided between the two parties. Twelve of the signers of the Johnson letter are supporters of the Kiggans measure.
Congress
Johnson touts ‘bipartisan’ path for FISA reauthorization, but obstacles remain
Speaker Mike Johnson is raising the possibility of a “bipartisan” path forward on extending a key spy authority after negotiations among House Republicans blew up late last week.
“We’re confident that we’ll be able to find strong bipartisan consensus that builds off of the really meaningful reforms that we included in the legislation the last time we reauthorized it,” Johnson said during a news conference Tuesday morning.
The emergency short-term reauthorization Congress cleared last week expires April 30, putting pressure on lawmakers to reach a deal quickly.
Among the options GOP leaders are discussing: If the Senate can advance a three-year extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, with policy changes, the House could then pass it with a majority of Republicans and some Democrats, according to three people granted anonymity to share direct knowledge of ongoing conversations.
It’s also possible Johnson could put that measure on the House floor under an expedited procedure that does not require prior adoption of a party-line rule, but would need a two-thirds majority voting in the affirmative to secure passage. House GOP leaders still need to appease hard-liners who have very specific demands for new guardrails on warrentless surveillance practices as part of any reauthorization measure.
House Democratic leaders, meanwhile, aren’t promising cooperation — and they’re skeptical Johnson is as close to a deal as he might suggest.
“His confidence meter was always pretty high, and then he put a bill on the floor that had zero consensus among his caucus, and looked like the disaster that it was after midnight,” House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar of California told reporters Tuesday.
He added that he has not had “any discussions” yet with Republican counterparts on next steps for Section 702, and “absent those conversations, it’s going to be hard to find bipartisan consensus.” Aguilar also said that Democrats would follow the leads of House Intelligence Chair Jim Himes of Connecticut and Jamie Raskin of Maryland.
Johnson is planning to meet Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Darin LaHood of Illinois later Tuesday as the pair of Republicans works with Democrats on a bipartisan FISA extension plan, according to two people granted anonymity to share private scheduling.
Congress
Graham releases blueprint for GOP immigration enforcement funding plan
Senate Budget Chair Lindsey Graham unveiled a fiscal blueprint Tuesday paving the way for the GOP’s party-line immigration enforcement plan.
The budget resolution is the first step in Republicans’ two-step plan to deliver a bill funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Border Patrol and other agencies to President Donald Trump’s desk by his self-imposed June 1 deadline.
Senate Republicans are aiming to adopt the budget resolution this week. Senate Majority Leader John Thune can lose as many as three GOP members so long as Vice President JD Vance is available to break ties.
“Republicans are doing something that must be done quickly, and that our Democrat colleagues are trying to prevent us from doing. That something is simple: fully fund Border Patrol and ICE at a time of great threat to the United States,” Graham (R-S.C.) said in a statement.
The budget resolution tasks the Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee with drafting the subsequent immigration enforcement bill.
The resolution gives the committees until May 15 to hand over text. It sets a ceiling of $70 billion for the Judiciary Committee’s portion and $70 billion for the Homeland Security panel’s portion. While the language would allow for a larger bill, a Graham aide said Tuesday that Republicans are aiming to keep the measure to about $70 billion.
Senate Republicans are expected to take an initial vote on the budget resolution as soon as Tuesday afternoon. After that they’ll need to complete a marathon session known as a vote-a-rama before they can approve the fiscal blueprint and send it to the House.
Democrats are expected to force several amendments related to cost-of-living concerns. Senate conservatives could also try to expand the scope of the bill, though GOP leaders hope to avoid making any changes to Graham’s text.
House Republicans could take their own vote next week. They are also waiting to grant approval of a Senate-passed deal to fund the rest of the Department of Homeland Security. Speaker Mike Johnson has delayed action on the measure amid hard-right demands that the Senate move on the immigration enforcement funding bill first.
Some House conservatives want the Senate to complete the entire reconciliation process, which allows ICE funding to bypass a Democratic filibuster, before they take up the larger DHS deal. That could drag the agency’s shutdown deep into May.
Senate Republicans are aiming to put the final immigration enforcement bill on the floor the week of May 11.
Congress
‘Many families are struggling’
Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan offered a rare acknowledgment from a GOP leader Tuesday that the U.S. economy might not be in tip-top condition. McClain, the Republican Conference chair, said at a news conference that “even with bigger [tax] refunds, many families are struggling right now, and I get it.”
That’s a departure from the message President Donald Trump sent at a event in Las Vegas last week, where he said “everything’s doing really well” and played down the impact of higher energy prices since he ordered military strikes on Iran.
“But we also owe it to the American people to be honest about how we got here, to make sure we don’t ever go back again,” McClain, the No. 4 party leader added, saying Americans are “digging out of a hole” from former President Joe Biden’s administration.
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