4 Republicans defy Speaker Johnson to force House vote on extending ACA
subsidies
[December 18, 2025]
By KEVIN FREKING
WASHINGTON (AP) — Four centrist Republicans broke with Speaker Mike
Johnson on Wednesday and signed onto a Democratic-led petition that will
force a House vote on extending for three years an enhanced pandemic-era
subsidy that lowers health insurance costs for millions of Americans.
The stunning move came the same day that House Republican leaders pushed
to passage a health care bill that does not address the soaring monthly
premiums that millions of people will soon endure. Those premium hikes
will occur because the tax credits for those who buy insurance through
the Affordable Care Act expire at year’s end.
The developments set the stage for a renewed intraparty clash over
health care in January, something Republican leaders had been working
hard to avoid.
The moderate Republicans were able to force the issue by signing a
petition, led by Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, to vote
on a bill that would extend the ACA subsides for three years.
Republican Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Robert Bresnahan and Ryan Mackenzie,
all from Pennsylvania, and Mike Lawler of New York signed on Wednesday
morning, pushing it to the magic number of 218. A vote on the subsidy
bill could come as soon as January under House rules.
“Unfortunately, it is House leadership themselves that have forced this
outcome.” Fitzpatrick said in a statement.
Johnson told reporters Wednesday that “I have not lost control of the
House” and he noted that Republicans have a razor-thin majority that
allows a small number of members to employ procedures that would not
usually be successful in getting around leadership.
“These are not normal times,” said Johnson, R-La.
Origins of a Republican revolt
The revolt against GOP leadership came after days of talks centered on
the health care subsidies.
Johnson had discussed allowing more politically vulnerable GOP lawmakers
a chance to vote on bills that would temporarily extend the subsidies
while also adding changes such as income caps for beneficiaries. But
after days of discussions, the leadership sided with the more
conservative wing of the party's conference, which has assailed the
subsidies as propping up a failed ACA program, which is widely known as
“Obamacare.”
House Republicans pushed ahead Wednesday on a 100-plus-page health care
package without the subsidies. Instead, the measure focused on
long-sought GOP proposals designed to expand insurance coverage options
for small businesses and the self-employed. The bill passed on a mostly
party-line vote of 216-211. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., joined with
Democrats in voting against the measure.
Fitzpatrick and Lawler tried to add a temporary extension of the
subsidies to the bill, but were denied.
“Our only request was a floor vote on this compromise, so that the
American People’s voice could be heard on this issue. That request was
rejected. Then, at the request of House leadership I, along with my
colleagues, filed multiple amendments, and testified at length to those
amendments,” Fitzpatrick said. “House leadership then decided to reject
every single one of these amendments."
“As I’ve stated many times before, the only policy that is worse than a
clean three-year extension without any reforms, is a policy of complete
expiration without any bridge," Fitzpatrick said.
Lawler, in a social media post, similarly said that “the failure of
leadership” to permit a vote had left him with “no choice” but to sign
the petition.
“I don’t like them. It’s not the way it’s supposed to work,” Johnson
said of the discharge petitions.
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House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., speaks to reporters
following a strategy session with House Republicans, at the Capitol
in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott
Applewhite)
Jeffries, for several weeks, had called on Republicans to sign his
discharge petition. He particularly challenged Republicans in
competitive congressional districts to join the effort if they really
wanted to prevent steep premium increases for their constituents.
“Our position from the very beginning was that we are standing on the
right side of the American people who want to see the Affordable Care
Act tax credits extended, and we’re appreciative that we now have the
bipartisan coalition to get that done," Jeffries said.
The GOP holds a 220-213 majority in the House, which means defections
from just a sliver of the conference can upend leadership's plans.
Johnson has been able to negotiate that challenge largely by making
accommodations to the more conservative wing of his conference. This
time, it was the moderates who revolted.
The defectors largely represent districts that Democrats have targeted
in their bid to retake the majority, with Democrats promising to make
health insurance costs a central issue in next year's midterms.
Lawmakers turn to discharge petitions to show support for an action and
potentially force a vote on the House floor, but they are rarely
successful. This year has proven an exception. The vote requiring the
Department of Justice to release the Jeffrey Epstein files occurred
after Reps. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Massie introduced a petition to
force a vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The signature effort
was backed by all House Democrats and four Republicans.
It was a long battle to get 218 signatures, but once the magic number
was reached, lawmakers in both chambers voted overwhelmingly for the
bill.
Path ahead is uncertain
Even if the Democrats' subsidy bill were to pass the House in January,
which is far from assured, it would face an arduous climb in the
Republican-led Senate.
Republicans last week voted down a three-year extension of the subsidies
and proposed an alternative that also failed. But in an encouraging sign
for Democrats, four Republican senators crossed party lines to support
their proposal.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., argued against the Democratic
extension as “an attempt to disguise the real impact of Obamacare’s
spiraling health care costs.”
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said he viewed the House developments
Wednesday as a positive for generating a compromise that both parties
could support.
“If we're not talking, we're not making progress. This continues the
discussion,” Tillis said.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said that the 218th
signature for the Democrats' bill showed that the demand from the
American people for an extension is undeniable, but “the damage has now
been done, no matter what happens.”
“Because at this point, Republicans have made it impossible to prevent
many Americans from paying more on their monthly premiums on January
1st. And Republicans can’t even say they tried to stop it,” Schumer
said.
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Associated Press staff writer Joey Cappelletti contributed to this
report.
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