OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
11:35 AM – Friday, December 12, 2025
Members of the House of Representatives are weighing a vote to extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) healthcare subsidies, also known as Obamacare subsidies, with both parties discussing next steps. This follows the Senate’s recent rejection of competing proposals.
Affordable Care Act subsidies that were enhanced during the COVID-19 pandemic under former Democrat President Joe Biden are set to expire at the end of the year. Over 20 million people receive benefits from ACA tax credits.
Republicans met on Capitol Hill in a closed-door meeting on Friday morning to hash out a strategy, The Hill reported.
As they left the meeting, party leaders said that no final decisions had been made. Still, they have reportedly considered staging a vote next week to amend the larger GOP healthcare package with an extension of the Obamacare subsidies.
“We just have a couple final pieces to work out, but we are narrowing it and getting really close,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) told reporters after the meeting.
AdvertisementWhen asked if a vote would be held on an Obamacare amendment, Scalise responded that it was “heavily discussed,” but they must still “work a few things out.”
GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson also chimed in to comment on the ongoing talks.
“We had a very productive meeting. We’re coming to the final points of the plan, and we’re excited about what we’re going to do next week,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said.
In a similar vein, House Democrats are mulling over discharge petitions to force a vote, circumventing House leadership. The petition would need signatures from the majority of the House, currently still requiring 218 votes.
Two potential bipartisan proposals are in the lineup. One is led by Representatives Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and Jen Kiggans (R-VA.), and another is led by Representatives Jared Golden (D-Maine) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Penn.) — though top Democrat leadership hasn’t officially backed either proposal.
The petitions would need Democratic leadership’s support to collect all signatures required, though neither sought approval.
“Those conversations can start now,” Golden told reporters, acknowledging that the bill doesn’t have full support yet. “Yeah, I don’t seek permission to act first.”
“You try to do things through the normal course,” Fitzpatrick said. “You try to do things through regular order. All those remedies are exhausted. Then you got to go this route, unfortunately.”
Johnson later told the Washington Examiner outlet that GOP leadership is “not in favor” of either petition.
Nonetheless, the Senate voted against two other bills on Thursday.
The Democrats’ bill, which would have extended tax credits for three years, failed by a 51-48 vote against the 60-vote filibuster. Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) joined Democrats to support it.
The bill offered by Republicans sought to replace ACA money with health savings accounts and reforms to the pharmacy benefit manager industry. It failed by the same margin as the Democrats’ bill, with Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) siding with Democrats against it.
“It delivers the benefit directly to the patient, not to the insurance company,” Thune said of the GOP bill, arguing that it “saves money” for taxpayers. “That is a win-win proposal.”
President Donald Trump said that he liked the “concept” of the GOP bill, but did not go so far as to officially endorse the measure.
President Trump has long favored directing health care funds straight to individuals rather than to insurance companies. He has repeatedly described Obamacare as a “disaster” and argued that the ultimate priority should be dismantling it in favor of alternatives that empower people to choose their own coverage.
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