Nine House Republicans broke rank to vote with Democrats on forcing a full vote on a bill to extend ACA subsides for three years. The vote count was 221-205 on the procedural hurdle, which will set up the full vote for sometime on Thursday.
Those nine Republicans included Reps. Mike Lawler and Nick LaLota of New York, Rob Bresnahan, Ryan Mackenzie and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Maria Salazar of Florida, David Valadao of California, Thomas Kean of New Jersey, and Max Miller of Ohio.
Minority leader Hakeem Jeffries introduced the discharge petition in November after Mike Johnson refused to bring a vote to the House on extending subsides before their expiration. In December, four moderate Republicans signed the petition.
The measure is expected to pass the House, but will likely fail the Senate test. However, a bipartisan group is working on a compromise, even with input from the Chief Executive, as Democrats are pushing affordability and health care as midterm campaign issues.
Ohio MAGA Senator Bernie Moreno said the House bill would fail in the Senate, but that they were “in the red zone” to compromise on an amendment.
Issues outlined by Thune included $0 premiums, and creating a “bridge” to greater Health Savings Account access.
The biggest sticking point, however, seems to be the Hyde Amendment that prohibits use of federal funds to pay for abortions, which Republicans want to strengthen.
Trump has told Republicans to be “flexible” on the Hyde Amendment, angering pro-life groups.