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Four Republican lawmakers have signed onto a Democratic-led discharge petition, which aims to force a vote on a bill that would restore tax credits for millions of Americans who receive health insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Those tax credits, initially instituted during the COVID-19 pandemic, allow for more people to access the program, insuring more Americans as a result. But the credits are set to expire at the end of this year, unless legislation can be passed to extend them.
Ordinarily, the speaker of the House of Representatives can block legislation from being considered. But a discharge petition, which under current rules requires 218 signatures, is a special parliamentary rule that allows lawmakers to bypass that block, to get an up-or-down vote on any bill that receives that level of support.
After Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) indicated that he and Republican leaders would not advance a bill by the end of the year to address the looming ACA tax credit’s expiration, four centrist Republicans signed onto a discharge petition to force a vote on a Democratic-sponsored bill.
The bill would extend tax credits for qualifying Americans on marketplace health exchanges for three more years.
Those four Republicans are not 100 percent supportive of the bill in question, but appear to recognize it’s a better option than doing nothing at all.
“I think the only thing worse than a clean extension without any income limits and any reforms…would be expiration,” Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pennsylvania) said on Tuesday night, prior to signing the discharge petition on Wednesday.
“I still believe a straight three-year extension is not the right policy. But I fundamentally believe doing nothing is even worse,” said Rep. Mike Lawler (R-New York), another GOP signer of the discharge petition.
Although a vote is now required under House rules, Johnson could still decide to delay the vote until next month, well after the ACA tax credits deadline passes. On the other hand, he also has the power to decide on holding a vote right away, an action he took in November when he expedited a discharge petition vote to pass a bill on releasing the Epstein files.
Johnson will have to make a decision soon — the House is set to recess for the remainder of the year, starting on Thursday. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) demanded a vote on the bill before that happens.
Under no circumstances should we leave this Capitol this week before voting on an extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credit bill.
Around 22 million Americans could be detrimentally affected if the ACA tax credits expire. On average, these individuals would see their health insurance premiums increase by 114 percent next year.
For most, this means an increase of around $1,000, though for many others, costs will be much higher than that.
Even if the bill is successfully passed in the House, it faces difficult odds of becoming law, as it would have to survive a Senate filibuster. Earlier this month, the Senate blocked competing versions of two bills that would have extended the credits. And then there’s the question of whether President Donald Trump would sign the bill into law if it reaches his desk.
But mounting political pressure could result in enough GOP lawmakers in the Senate agreeing to vote for the bill (or at least allowing it to pass without blocking it through a filibuster.) And Trump, perhaps mindful of the midterm elections that are less than a year away, may be compelled to at least consider approving the bill.
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