EXCLUSIVE — The Main Street Caucus, a “pragmatic” conservative bloc on Capitol Hill, released a statement on Tuesday backing President Donald Trump’s early-stage efforts to extend expiring Obamacare subsidies. The only problem is that caucus members had no idea that statement was coming.
Three sources with knowledge of the caucus’s internal discussions told the Washington Examiner that members were neither consulted nor alerted that a statement would be issued by Chairman Mike Flood (R-NE) in support of the president’s willingness to extend the Obamacare credits.
“Main Street supports President Trump’s ongoing efforts to address the ACA tax credit cliff with an extension,” Flood said in the statement released two days before the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. “Any effort to address this cliff needs to include income caps and make serious reforms to the credits, including addressing the rampant fraud and abuse in the program.”
The caucus is now facing internal pushback over this statement, with a source stating that while conversations among Main Street Caucus members are constant, it has not come to an agreement on a specific stance regarding the credits.
Flood told the Washington Examiner that Tuesday’s statement came after a “family meeting” held on Sunday evening and that it “reflects the sense of the caucus from that conversation.”
“Main Street is a diverse caucus, and our members all have specific issues and priorities, but we all agree working with the president to solve the mess Obamacare created is in the best interests of our country,” Flood said.
The caucus’s turmoil is the latest display of division among the GOP in both the White House and on Capitol Hill as to how to approach the looming healthcare issue, as the credits expire at the end of the year.
Flood said in his statement that the caucus is committed to working with Trump, House leaders, and committee chairmen of jurisdiction “to find a solution that can pass Congress before the end of the year.” The heads of those House committees would be Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO), Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-KY), and Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI).
The Main Street Caucus’s statement also comes after a confusing 24 hours, in which a rollout of Trump’s expected framework to extend the Obamacare subsidies for two years was delayed, supposedly due to congressional Republican pushback.
Then, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) reportedly cautioned the White House that there was little appetite among the Republican conference to extend the tax credits during a phone call with administration officials, per the Wall Street Journal.
The speaker’s office declined to confirm the call to the Washington Examiner. However, Johnson has said for weeks that Republicans would want to see massive reform of the Obamacare subsidies and would not commit to putting a bill on the floor to extend the tax credits in remarks to reporters during the government shutdown.
“The expiring Obamacare subsidy at the end of the year is a serious problem,” Johnson said in October. “If you look at it objectively, you know that it is subsidizing bad policy. We’re throwing good money at a bad, broken system, and so it needs real reforms.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) has also made similar comments, simply saying he would not vote to extend the tax credits.
If the Obamacare credits expire without any action from Congress, premiums would double for the average enrollee, with some paying over $1,000 more every month.
Johnson has said Scalise has been working with Guthrie, Smith, and Walberg to document “the best ideas that we’ve had for years,” referring to the Republican Study Committee framework from 2019.
Republicans are also considering addressing healthcare in a second round of reconciliation, as leaders have insisted they want to see one or even two more spending bills before the 2026 midterm elections. Johnson himself has rejected “backroom” deals on the Obamacare subsidies and instead insists the best way forward is through a comprehensive GOP overhaul.
Like leadership, the conservative Freedom Caucus is in vocal opposition to extending the credits. The caucus had said it would tank any funding deal that included an Obamacare subsidy extension, and its members have been staunch advocates against Obamacare for years.
TRUMP’S OBAMACARE SUBSIDY PLAN IN FLUX AFTER GOP OUTCRY
A House Republican, granted anonymity to discuss talks among several GOP colleagues, described the private reaction to reported details about Trump’s yet-to-be-released proposal as “not good.”
“This is what happens when policies are made in darkness,” they told the Washington Examiner.