The Affordable Care Act just survived another Republican extinction-level event — and this time, it was friendly fire.
In a stunning humiliation for Speaker Mike Johnson and Donald Trump’s administration, four Republicans joined Democrats to force a vote extending Obamacare subsidies, blowing up the party’s long-running crusade against the very healthcare millions of their voters rely on.
Let that sink in: Republicans are now rebelling to protect Obamacare — the law their party has spent more than a decade trying to kill.
The revolt comes as premium tax credits for ACA plans are set to expire, a move that would send insurance costs skyrocketing just months before the 2026 midterms. Faced with the prospect of explaining to constituents why their health care suddenly became unaffordable, GOP moderates blinked. Hard.
Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, the first Republican to defect, made it clear that House leadership left him no choice. After months of trying — and failing — to get GOP leaders to include a simple extension in their own bill, Fitzpatrick torched leadership for forcing a “complete expiration without any bridge.”
In other words, Republicans promised lower costs, and now they’re about to break that promise — loudly.
Fitzpatrick was soon joined by fellow Pennsylvania Republicans Robert Bresnahan and Ryan Mackenzie, along with New York Rep. Mike Lawler, pushing the discharge petition over the magic 218 signatures. That maneuver forces a vote on Democrats’ bill extending the subsidies for three years — whether GOP leadership likes it or not.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries didn’t mince words. Congress, he said, should not leave town without voting to protect Americans’ health care — because the votes are there and the consequences of failure are brutal.
Speaker Mike Johnson, meanwhile, insisted he hasn’t “lost control” of the House — a claim that landed with all the credibility of a driver yelling “everything’s fine” while the wheels come off the vehicle. “These are not normal times,” Johnson said. No kidding.
Republicans are still pushing an alternative bill filled with conservative talking points and zero relief from immediate premium hikes — while claiming, with a straight face, that Democrats “broke” healthcare.
The reality? When even Republicans are scrambling to save Obamacare from Republicans, the party’s anti-ACA crusade is officially on life support.
And voters are watching.
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