“Political malpractice”: Johnson faces bipartisan blowback for nixing ACA subsidies vote

House Speaker Mike Johnson faced criticism from both sides of the aisle after announcing that the House will not vote on extending ACA subsidies Along with House Democrats around a dozen moderate Republican lawmakers supported extending the subsidies Johnson praised the lawmakers for fighting hard to make sure they reduce costs for all of their constituents even as he nixed the vote A large number of of them did want to vote on this Obamacare COVID-era subsidy the Democrats created Johnson declared at a press conference on Tuesday We looked for a way to try to allow for that pressure release valve and it just was not to be Related Morale has never been lower Republicans fear rough midterms Previous attempts to reach an agreement in the Senate have failed and Congress remains deadlocked on the issue with time running out Prior to Johnson s announcement Rep Brian Fitzpatrick R-Pa revealed that not holding a vote on the extensions would a huge mistake We can agree that the current construct is flawed Fitzpatrick reported of his party s leadership but that letting them expire is not acceptable Rep Mike Lawler R-N Y accused Johnson of political malpractice I think it s idiotic not to have an up-or-down vote on this issue Lawler reported reporters after a closed-door meeting with Republican legislators This is absolute bulls t Lawler took his scathing rebuke to the House floor again calling it idiotic The challenge I have every one of my colleagues is put the party crap aside and sign the damn discharge nowadays Lawler reported Start your day with essential news from Salon Sign up for our free morning newsletter Crash Discipline House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries D-N Y echoed Lawler s sentiment warning that if subsidies expire tens of millions of Americans could lose their fitness insurance House Republicans have created this healthcare situation because they don t give a damn about you Jeffries wrote on X Rep Pramila Jayapal D-Wash criticized Republican leadership for checking out ahead of the holidays They are actively choosing to go into the holiday break knowing medical care premiums are doubling tripling for millions of Americans in and doing nothing about it Jayapal wrote on X When the subsidies expire at the end of the year the median cost of ACA plans are projected to rise by nationwide Read more about this topic Candidates win when they run on affordable family care A year after Luigi Mangione s arrest healthcare is even worse The GOP is on the cusp of destroying Obamacare The post Political malpractice Johnson faces bipartisan blowback for nixing ACA subsidies vote appeared first on Salon com