A Democrat-led effort to revive enhanced Obamacare subsidies passed the House on Thursday, marking a high-profile setback for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and the Republicans opposed to the Biden-era benefit.
Seventeen Republicans broke ranks with the rest of their party in a House vote on whether to renew the COVID-19-era subsidies for another three years. House GOP leadership has staunchly opposed the tax credits, which expired at the end of 2025, but Democrats were able to force a vote on the House floor due to a crop of GOP members in purple districts.
The bill, which passed 230-196, came to the floor through a discharge petition led by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). Ordinarily, the minority party cannot control what legislation gets a vote, but discharge petitions can force one if a majority of House members sign on.
In this case, four Republicans — Reps. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Mike Lawler (R-NY), Rob Bresnahan (R-PA), and Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA) — put the petition over the edge before lawmakers left for the Christmas recess, representing a rare act of defiance from majority party members. All four Republicans are in competitive districts, where their support for the subsidies could be crucial to surviving the 2026 midterm elections.
On Thursday, they were joined by a larger group of Republicans who were unwilling to break with leadership but privately wanted to extend the subsidies.
House passage is not the final hurdle for the extension to be signed into law. The bill, which has previously been rejected by the Senate, now heads to the upper chamber, where it is bound to face changes, as it needs to pass the 60-vote threshold of the filibuster.
Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH), who is leading bipartisan negotiations on a compromise bill with Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), said earlier this week he wants to bring along almost three dozen Republicans and could release a framework early next week.
“I have no interest in a bill that divides our conference, so we would have to have a bill that would, at a minimum, have the majority of our conference supporting it,” Moreno told the Washington Examiner in an interview.
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In a bid to address centrist frustration, Johnson brought forward a healthcare bill last month to address the rising cost of premiums, but it excluded the subsidies and failed to ease their concerns. Some of the Republicans tried to introduce their own versions of the bill, with many wanting new income limits and guardrails for fraud, but none had the support of Democratic leadership.
The issue of extending the tax credits has for months been a point of contention on Capitol Hill and sparked a record-setting government shutdown last year.
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“It’s a huge legislative win,” Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) told the Washington Examiner ahead of the vote. “We don’t really run any of the levers of power, but we’re still able to get this monumental vote on the floor.”
“There’s still steps ahead in the Senate, and obviously getting to the president, but I’m pretty optimistic with it,” Frost added.
David Sivak contributed to this article.