The White House’s effort to draft an extension of Affordable Care Act premium tax credits appears to have hit a snag. CBS News confirmed that House Speaker Mike Johnson called senior Trump administration officials and told them most House Republicans have little interest in extending the subsidies once they expire at the end of the year. President Trump’s advisers had been working on a plan to continue the payments for two more years.
CBS News political reporter Hunter Woodall noted the stakes: the subsidies — expanded under President Biden and a Democratic Congress — are set to expire at year’s end and are viewed by Democrats as a major political issue. Some polling shows health care remains an important concern for many voters, and Democrats have emphasized the subsidies in their messaging.
Because Republicans control the House, the Senate and the White House, any action to extend the credits would need to come from this Republican-led Washington or result from a bipartisan deal. Woodall said that so far Republicans do not appear eager to address the credits before the deadline, and health care has been a politically fraught issue for Republicans, who over the years have struggled to overhaul the Affordable Care Act.
How the matter moves forward remains unclear: lawmakers could seek a bipartisan compromise, or pursue legislative maneuvers, but with GOP leaders signaling little interest, the future of the subsidies beyond the end of the year is uncertain.