NOW WHAT?: The Senate on Thursday failed to advance dueling bills tied to the soon-to-expire Affordable Care Act (ACA) enhanced subsidies, teeing up a January health care battle ahead of another potential government shutdown.
The GOP-led proposal would have converted funding for the ACA tax credits into contributions toward health savings accounts to pay for out-of-pocket costs.
The other bill that failed, championed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), proposed a three-year extension of the subsidies.
While the competing legislation went down largely along party lines, four GOP lawmakers backed the Democratic proposal: Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Dan Sullivan (Alaska) and Josh Hawley (Mo.). Collins and Sullivan are both up for reelection next year.
“I’m really an all-of-the-above-approach kind of guy. At this point, I think we need to do everything we can to bring down the cost of premiums,” Hawley told reporters Thursday.
▪ The Hill: More on the four GOP senators who broke ranks.
▪ The New York Times: Senate Deadlocks on Health Care, Leaving Subsidies to Expire.
The attention will now turn to the House, where Republican leaders are preparing a vote on another partisan health care package that does not include the ACA subsidies.
But The Hill’s Nathaniel Weixel and Mike Lillis report that rank-and-file moderates in both parties are agitating for compromise, launching a pair of discharge petitions this week designed to force votes over the opposition of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and other GOP leaders.
Still, lawmakers in both parties say there’s almost no chance that a breakthrough deal will emerge before Congress leaves Washington for the long December break.
“I would not bet on that at all. I think it's destined for January,” Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) told The Hill.
REACTIONS TO INDIANA: Trump on Thursday lashed out at Indiana state Senate Republican Leader Rodric Bray, predicting he will lose his next primary following the Legislature’s failed redistricting vote.
“I heard he was against it. He’ll probably lose his next primary whenever that is. I hope he does because he’s done a tremendous disservice,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
The Indiana effort was important for the president, who for months has pushed Republican-led states to redraw their district maps to give the GOP a boost heading into the midterms.
Trump adviser Alex Bruesewitz echoed the president’s frustrations on Thursday night.
“The spineless RINOs in Indiana, many hailing from districts where President Trump won by over 20% just last November have stabbed their own voters in the back and sold out America!” Bruesewitz wrote on the social platform X.
Speaker Johnson said that while the result was a “disappointing outcome,” he is “bullish” on next year’s elections.
"There’s about 14 states at some stage of the process now, either litigation or redistricting. So, we shall see,” he said. “I know that we are going to win because we have a great record to run on.”
▪ Fox News: Trump dealt major blow as Indiana Senate rejects new map.
▪ The New York Times: Trump Offers Symbolic Pardon for Clerk Convicted of Election Tampering.
OIL TANKER FALLOUT: A day after the U.S. seized a Venezuelan oil tanker off the country’s coast, Democrats are sounding alarm bells and saying the move could lead to increased conflict or even war in the region.
The seizure marked the latest move in Trump’s campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, whom the administration has accused of leading a drug cartel in the South American country.
Maduro has denied the allegations, but the U.S. has nonetheless amassed a significant military presence in the region in recent months. Trump has also hinted at ordering strikes on drug traffickers in Venezuela, saying in the Oval Office on Thursday night that such attacks could start on land “pretty soon.”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and some Democratic lawmakers expressed concern about the tanker seizure not long after it was revealed on Wednesday. Russia, meanwhile, has demanded that the administration explain why what Trump described as a “very large” tanker was taken.
“It is needlessly and recklessly escalating a potential conflict,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “Trump seems to be stumbling into war without any endgame or strategy.”
▪ The Hill: US seizes oil tanker near Venezuela: What to know
▪ Reuters: US issues fresh sanctions targeting Maduro's family, Venezuela-linked oil tankers
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt downplayed the concerns on Thursday, saying the president does not view the seizure as an escalation toward war. She added that Trump is not interested in “prolonged war” with Venezuela and considers Wednesday’s action as simply “effectuating the administration’s sanctions policies.”
“He wants peace. He also wants to see the end of illegal drugs being trafficked into the United States and taking the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans across the country,” Leavitt told reporters.
AU REVOIR: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was accused by Democrats of misleading House Homeland Security Committee members on Thursday when she left a congressional hearing early to attend another meeting that was canceled.
The other meeting, a gathering of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Council, was canceled because White House officials had not been fully briefed on the latest draft of a report detailing plans to reform the agency, an administration official told The Hill's Rachel Frazin.
The official said the FEMA meeting was canceled Thursday morning while Noem was testifying before Congress and it is likely she didn’t know of the cancellation at the time.
Noem’s office also told The Hill's Rebecca Beitsch that the secretary only found out about the FEMA meeting after she left the witness table.
▪ Politico: Noem defiant as Democrats decry Trump administration treatment of migrants.
▪ The Washington Post: White House officials cancel meeting set to help chart FEMA’s future.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) moved to subpoena Noem to reappear before the panel, saying she shirked her duties and may have even lied about why she departed early.
The tensions come amid reported issues between Noem and the White House, though Trump has denied such reports, saying Wednesday he is “so happy with her.”
