Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., is among the conservatives angry over the decision by four House Republican moderates, including Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., to join a bid to force a vote on extending Obamacare subsidies. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images; Tierney L. Cross/Getty Images)
Congress has now left D.C. until the new year with no plan in place to extend or replace those subsidies, and millions of Americans are now facing heightened healthcare costs in a matter of days.
The majority of Republican lawmakers are opposed to extending those subsidies, calling them a pandemic-era initiative that's part of an overall broken system.
But several GOP lawmakers have warned that a failure to extend the subsidies, preferably with reforms, would negatively impact people across the country — as well as Republicans headed into a tough re-election year.
Several GOP plans have emerged for another short-term extension to give Congress an off-ramp while they work on a new healthcare plan, but leaders in the House and Senate showed no appetite for taking them up.
The four House Republicans who joined Democrats' push for a three-year extension — Reps. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., Robert Bresnahan, R-Pa., and Ryan Mackenzie, R-Pa. — have argued that their own leaders left them with no choice but to tack onto a pathway they did not want to support to extend the subsidies.
"Ultimately, the failure to bring a vote left us with little choice," Lawler told reporters last week.
But it's inflamed tensions with conservatives, threatening an already-unsteady peace in the House GOP's razor-thin majority.
"For any Republican to be supportive of Obamacare is really gross and a betrayal to everything that we've ever promised voters," Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., said. "I mean, this is the Democrats' fault. They are the ones who made insurance, health insurance, unaffordable and unreliable."
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks during a press conference in Washington, Nov. 20, 2025. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
"I went to him directly and said, ‘I would like to talk to you about your comments.’ I said, ‘I need to explain to you why I voted this way.’ Here's an anecdote from my district about an individual, a small business owner, a restaurateur. For him and his family, without the premium tax credits, he goes from $3.99 a month up to $9.31 a month, and what that meant for him was that he was going to de-enroll and hope that nothing happened to his family," Mackenzie told reporters last week.
"I said, that is not a great outcome for that individual, so we're looking for some kind of relief or reform. And when ultimately we had that long conversation with the individual … we came to a much better resolution. We both were more understanding of each other."
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., did not appear as frustrated as some of his colleagues but predicted "it will die in the Senate."
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The House GOP's healthcare plan, which did not include an extension of the subsidies, passed last week with support from all Republicans, save for Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky. It got no Democratic "yes" votes.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that enacting the bill would reduce the federal deficit by $35.6 billion for a 10-year period through 2035.
If the bill became law, it would also decrease the number of people with health insurance by an average of 100,000 per year between 2027–2035 and lower gross benchmark premium costs by an average 11% through 2035, CBO said.
However, it's not immediately clear whether it will be taken up by the Senate.
Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.
Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-gop-tensions-erupt-after-moderate-republicans-obamacare-betrayal