Name: Why four Republicans broke rank to force vote on ACA subsidies
Uploaded: 2025-12-18T00:49:19.428Z
Duration: 3 min 9 s
Description: The House will vote early in January on a three-year extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies after four Republican lawmakers joined Democrats in signing a discharge petition.

The House will vote early in January on a three-year extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies after four Republican lawmakers joined Democrats in signing a discharge petition.

Washington

The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on a three-year extension of Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies, which are scheduled to expire on December 31. If the subsidies lapse, millions of Americans could face higher insurance premiums. Four Republican lawmakers joined Democrats in signing a discharge petition to force the vote, citing frustration with stalled bipartisan negotiations and failed amendment efforts.

The timing of the vote remains uncertain due to procedural requirements and the congressional recess, with some leaders urging an expedited process. In related developments, Special Counsel Jack Smith testified behind closed doors to the House Judiciary Committee, defending his investigations into former President Trump, though few details were released.

Why four Republicans broke rank to force vote on ACA subsidies

In a new twist, the House will vote early next month on a three-year extension to Affordable Care Act subsidies. Those subsidies expire on December 31st, and when they do, millions of Americans will face higher insurance premiums. Republican leaders have resisted a vote on extending the subsidies and instead tried offering their own proposal. However, four GOP lawmakers broke ranks and have now joined Democrats to sign what's known as a discharge petition to force a vote on the House floor. CBS News Congressional Correspondent Nicole Killian joins us now. Nicole, why did these four Republicans sign that petition? Well, the short answer is frustration. You know, if you've been following this debate here on Capitol Hill, it's something that has been going on for some time now, in fact, was a key factor in the shutdown, the longest shutdown in U.S. history, I might add, that ended last month. This issue of health care and extending these expiring tax subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. And so there are some moderates who feel that some extension is warranted. And so they have put forth some bipartisan proposals and frameworks. None of that was really garnering traction. They tried to get an amendment vote to this broader Republican package that's being voted on tonight. Ultimately, that was not successful. So they did what they felt was best in this moment, which was to join this Democratic discharge petition, because they argue with the subsidies set to expire with this cliff looming that something needs to be done. Now, obviously, that may not happen before that December 31st deadline for two reasons. One, Congress is about to recess for the holiday. But two, with respect to these discharge petitions, they usually have to wait for a period of seven legislative days before they can be brought to a vote on the floor. The big question is whether or not Speaker Johnson may jump the gun, hold it sooner rather than later. That's something Leader Jeffries is certainly calling for, certainly something that Senate Democrats are calling for as well. But again, unclear if that's going to happen in the next 24 to 36 hours. Special counsel Jack Smith was on Capitol Hill today giving closed door testimony to the House Judiciary Committee. What did he say? Yeah, that's right. Well, obviously, he defended those two investigations into President Trump that were ultimately dropped, obviously, one of them being the president's handling of classified documents after he left office from his first term, and then, of course, the election subversion case stemming from the 2020 election. So obviously, because this was behind closed doors, not a whole lot emerged coming out of this hearing. Republicans continue to feel that Jack Smith used these investigations to weaponize the Justice Department against the president. That certainly has been a concern they have had about the many investigations into the president over the years, whereas Democrats wanted to try to get more information about these probes, where they left off before Jack Smith had to abandon them. Nicole Killian, thank you.

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