Speaker Mike Johnson just took a massive political hit after failing to control a rebellion within his own party, meaning a Democratic bill to extend ObamaCare (ACA) subsidies for three years without any reforms is now likely to pass the House. This outcome is a huge frustration for Republican senators who had previously defeated this exact proposal, and now they’re right back in the political crosshairs over expiring health care funding.
You can bet that GOP senators are not happy this issue is returning to the Senate floor. One Republican senator, speaking anonymously to air frustration over the Democrats’ emerging victory in the House, said to The Hill, “It strikes me as odd the House is passing something we rejected.” This lawmaker emphasized that Johnson’s leadership lacked direction, adding, “There needs to be a plan. There should have been a plan to move forward with a result.”
The senators are trying to preserve their working relationship with Johnson, so they’re cautious about publicly blasting him. However, they aren’t hiding the fact that Johnson’s rapid loss of control over his members signals weakness, especially given the narrow House Republican majority and the looming fear that the House might flip to Democrats in the next election.
Healthcare is the most contentious issue now, creating a rift even within the GOP
Johnson had tried to take a hard-line stance against putting legislation on the floor to extend the expiring ACA subsidies. Yet, four moderate Republicans Reps. Rob Bresnahan, Brian Fitzpatrick, Mike Lawler, and Ryan Mackenzie signed onto a discharge petition led by House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. This move forces a vote on the three-year extension of the ACA tax credits.
Johnson told reporters Wednesday that he hadn’t lost control of the House, despite the setback on the discharge petition. “I have not lost control of the House, no,” he insisted. Many GOP senators believe Johnson was nervous about his standing with conservative members of the House Freedom Caucus and didn’t want to risk a fight by giving moderates a vote to extend the subsidies.
The problem is that his failure to pass a Republican-crafted health care plan means vulnerable House GOP incumbents won’t have political cover ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The House did pass a Republican health care bill on Wednesday, but it doesn’t include any subsidy extension.
Now, the Democratic proposal has enough momentum to pass the House, which means it will likely come to the Senate early next year. A second Republican senator commented that the passage of the Democratic bill will “really put a lot of pressure on here.” The lawmaker noted, “It’s going to come over here. … Then the Senate is really the bottleneck stopping any action on subsidies and premiums. It’s going to be a lot of pressure.”
The core disagreement here is policy. Johnson and Senator John Thune are opposed to extending the enhanced ACA subsidies, arguing they are a holdover from the COVID-19 pandemic that has further fueled the increase in health insurance premiums in recent years. Republicans had wanted to extend the subsidies for shorter periods of time while making necessary reforms to the program.
Published: Dec 18, 2025 12:30 pm