Jeffries reveals last-minute move to extend COVID-era subsidies as House shutdown vote looms

Democrats will attempt to attach a three-year extension of expiring Obamacare subsidies to spending legislation that looks poised to end the ongoing government shutdown.

Jeffries and a handful of other Democrats at a press conference on Tuesday said the last-gasp effort would be submitted as an amendment. 

“Before the Rules Committee this evening, House Democrats will give the Republicans another opportunity to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits by introducing an amendment that will extend these tax credits for a three-year period of time,” Jeffries said.

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“Republicans have created a healthcare crisis all across America. You now have an opportunity to actually take some action by working with Democrats before the Rules Committee this evening to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credit,” he continued.

Democrats have also introduced several other amendments, including a prohibition on blanket firings of federal workers until 2029, a prevention to cuts to Medicaid or Medicare, a restriction to cuts for several federal safety-net programs and more.

Those amendments are almost certain to fail.

The government entered a 42-day shutdown on Oct 1 when Democrats rejected a Republican-led short-term spending bill over unrelated healthcare demands. Democrats led by Jeffries and Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., demanded Congress first consider extending temporary, COVID-era Obamacare subsidies that lawmakers passed in 2021 as an emergency response to the pandemic.

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Now that those subsidies are set to sunset at the end of the year, Democrats have raised alarms that their expiration could leave millions of Americans paying significantly higher healthcare premiums overnight.

Republicans rejected those demands out of hand and now look poised to re-open the government without having made any concessions on the subsidies. 

The short-term spending bill before the House would extend government funding through Jan. 30, 2026 and advances three of the twelve annual spending bills. It also prohibits the Trump administration from conducting mass layoffs to its federal workforce through January 30. 

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Democrats at Tuesday’s press conference framed Democrats’ stand on the Obamacare subsidies as a longstanding prioritization of healthcare issues.

“Democrats have been fighting Republicans in a long struggle to provide healthcare to Americans. We have been fighting Republicans when we created Medicare, when we created Medicaid, when we created the Affordable Care Act, and we’re not going to give up that fight,” Rep. Teresa Fernández said. 

The House of Representatives is set to consider the spending package on Wednesday evening as lawmakers rush back to Washington, D.C. from across the country.