SUBSIDIES DEADLINE: With the chances of renewing the health care subsidies before the end of December appearing increasingly dim, lawmakers are now contending with the increasing possibility of another government shutdown in January.
Some hope remains for a bipartisan deal to extend the enhanced tax credits under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) before they expire at the end of the year. Members of both parties are feeling the pressure as premiums are set to spike for more than 20 million Americans if they aren’t extended.
But the way forward isn’t clear, especially after competing Democratic and Republican proposals to address the issue both failed in the Senate late last week. Although the subsidies deadline isn’t until the end of the month, Congress is only in session for one more week before holiday recess.
That could make Jan. 30 the next key date in the ongoing health care debate. It’s the day that government funding is set to run out if the appropriations bills — or another continuing resolution — aren’t passed.
Some Democrats have previously suggested they would consider voting against another government funding bill if no progress has been made on health care by the end of next month.
The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports that senators in both parties are now bracing for another shutdown after the GOP blocked the Democratic proposal to extend the subsidies, the same issue that caused the record-long, 43-day shutdown in October and November.
In the House, Democrats are looking to their leaders for a greenlight to get behind a bipartisan effort to extend the subsidies. Two discharge petitions have been introduced to extend them by one year and two years, respectively, with some policy reforms.
If either petition receives 218 signatures, that would force a vote on the House floor despite opposition from GOP leadership.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) hasn’t weighed in on the petitions, pushing for his plan to extend the subsidies by three years and opting to let Republicans fight amongst each other.
But The Hill’s Mike Lillis reports rank-and-file Democrats expect that to change if it becomes clear that none of the partisan plans have the votes to move to the Senate.
The Hill’s Al Weaver and Nathaniel Weixel report the five things to watch following the failed health care votes last week.
▪ The Hill: Republicans facing health care dilemma.
▪ The Hill: GOP senator says deal could be made by end of the year.
▪ The Hill: Florida is ground zero for health care storm.
GOP INFIGHTING: The Republican Party is facing internal divisions and signs of Trump’s grip on its members loosening somewhat as it tries to gear up for the critical midterm election year.
The most recent example came last week, when more than 20 Republican Indiana state senators bucked their party to help vote down a proposed new congressional map that would have likely ousted the two Democrats currently representing the state in the House.
That has spurred Trump to vow that he will back primary challenges against those Republicans, a common threat he’s made against members of his own party who go against him. But The Hill’s Caroline Vakil reports some Republicans worry that could distract the party’s focus and cause a split at a time when they must work to keep their congressional majority next year.
“They’d be a lot better advised, I think, to spend time trying to deliver results on things that are troubling the American people as opposed to shooting allies in the back,” said former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R), who opposed the redistricting effort.
The White House had put intense pressure on Indiana Republicans to redistrict, sending Vice President Vance to the state twice and hosting them in Washington, D.C. Trump also flung rhetoric at them, threatening them with primary challenges if they didn’t cave.
But those tactics seem to have backfired, emboldening those who were skeptical of the new map proposal.
This is only the latest sign that Trump, who has been the most dominant figure in the GOP for the past decade, is not holding on to his party quite as tightly as he had before, The Hill’s Niall Stanage reports.
Another recent instance occurred when a few Republicans joined with Democrats to force a vote on releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files, which Trump had intensely opposed until the legislation was close to reaching his desk. Twenty House Republicans also voted last week with Democrats to overrule a Trump executive order that took away many federal workers’ collective bargaining rights.
All of this has come as Trump has faced a drooping approval rating falling into the low 40s and in some polls the upper 30s.
Trump has signaled he’s about to step up his time on the campaign trail in the new year to boost support for Republicans and better sell the GOP’s message, particularly on affordability, ahead of the midterms. Vance is visiting Pennsylvania this week to talk about affordability, following up on Trump’s trip last week.
But The Hill’s Brett Samuels reports Trump’s time campaigning poses both potential risks and rewards for the GOP.
▪ The Hill: Poll finds interest in third party rising across the spectrum.
▪ The Hill: Republicans floating second, smaller bill on affordability.
TRUMP’S REALITY CHECK: The president got hit with a dose of reality over the past week as two of his handpicked U.S. attorneys resigned from their offices over the challenges their appointments faced, The Hill’s Ella Lee reports.
Julianne Murray, the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Delaware, stepped down from her role Friday, just days after her New Jersey counterpart Alina Habba did the same in the Garden State prosecutor’s office. Both blamed a long-standing Senate practice that made their confirmations to become permanent officeholders unlikely.
Habba resigned after a federal appeals court panel upheld her disqualification, ruling against a maneuver the Trump administration used to attempt to make her the acting U.S. attorney after her 120-day term as interim U.S. attorney expired. The administration has used this strategy in a few other states such as California and New York.
Murray, who previously served as chair of the Delaware Republican Party, didn’t face a legal challenge, but the clock on her tenure ran out, and a judge declined to extend it.
The developments have spurred tension between the White House and Senate GOP over the blue-slip tradition, which holds that home-state senators can veto presidential nominees to district courts and U.S. attorney offices. Trump has called for the practice to end, but Senate Republicans so far haven’t yielded to that.
