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Democrats in the House of Representatives say they will seek a discharge petition to restore expired tax credits for people on the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) insurance exchanges after the measure was excluded from the bill to fund the federal government that passed earlier this week.
President Donald Trump signed the continuing resolution bill into law on Wednesday evening, shortly after it was passed by the House that same day. The bill was previously passed in the Senate, following the capitulation of eight senators (seven Democrats and one independent) who opted to end the 43-day shutdown without any deal with Republicans to restore federal health care funding or tax subsidies for those on ACA exchanges.
The short-term funding law will keep the government open until January 30. Trump celebrated the signing of the bill, calling it a “big victory” for Republicans. He also addressed voters directly during the signing, saying they should blame Democrats for the lengthy shutdown.
“I just want to tell the American people, you should not forget this. When we come up to midterms and other things, don’t forget what they’ve done to our country,” Trump said.
However, polling consistently showed that more Americans sided with Democrats than Republicans on the shutdown, supporting Democrats’ objective of blocking the continuing resolution bill in order to force negotiations on restoring health insurance credits. Failure to restore the credits would detrimentally affect tens of millions of Americans, potentially doubling their premiums (or raising them by even more).
Democrats in the Senate capitulated on the issue last week. Although Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer voted against the measure, the eight Democratic senators who voted to end the shutdown reportedly had his tacit support. Schumer also called potential Democratic presidential contenders for 2028 after news of the capitulation occurred, asking them not to criticize the deal in public.
Schumer now faces calls to resign from his leadership position for allowing the bill to move forward. Some are also suggesting he should be primaried for his Senate seat next year.
While they failed to get tax credits included in the final bill, Democrats are hoping to use some of their political momentum from the shutdown to force a vote on the matter. During a meeting of House Democrats on Wednesday, House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Massachusetts) told her colleagues they would pursue a discharge petition, requiring Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) to hold a vote on the tax credits regardless of his opposition to the idea. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) is reportedly leading the effort.
Democrats hope to pressure enough Republicans in swing districts to sign the petition — with 214 Democrats in the House, at least four Republican members would have to sign the petition in order to force the vote.
The idea may be achievable — indeed, in September, a Republican proposal was introduced to extend the credits for a year, through 2026, indicating that the petition has enough bipartisan support to move forward. Democrats could possibly push that idea, or introduce their own proposal, which could extend the credits much further than a single year and possibly increase eligibility for the credits.
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