The House on Thursday advanced a three-year extension of Obamacare subsidies, sending the bill to the Senate where it faces an uphill climb.
Seventeen Republicans joined all Democrats voting in favor of the legislation, which passed 230-196.
The enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits were a key factor in the longest-ever government shutdown last fall. Their expiration at the end of 2025 led to premiums rising for millions of Americans who get their health insurance on ACA marketplaces.
The Senate in December voted down a similar three-year extension of the enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits and lawmakers predict a similar fate if the proposal comes back to the floor. Instead, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is negotiating a compromise deal on ACA tax credits.
Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, speaks during a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee confirmation hearing in Dirksen building on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
“What the House is going to pass tomorrow will not pass in the United States Senate,” Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, part of the Senate group, told reporters on Wednesday. “It probably wouldn’t be put on the floor, because why waste floor time on something we’ve already considered?”
In a gaggle on the Hill, Moreno said the House bill is useful in the sense that it can serve as a vehicle for the Senate working group to amend. Members of that group, including Moreno and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, have said they are closing in on a deal that would extend the tax credits for two years, though several key sticking points remain.
Among them is the Hyde Amendment, a decades old policy that prohibits the use of federal funds for most abortions, which many Republicans want to strengthen. President Donald Trump earlier this week told Republicans to be “flexible” on Hyde, prompting some pushback from within the GOP ranks.
“We don’t do federal funding for abortions,” Moreno said. “That’s a long-standing tradition, nobody’s looking to change that.”
CNN reported on Thursday that some GOP Senators were privately open to leaving the Hyde Amendment as is.
The Thursday vote on the House floor came after four moderate Republicans broke ranks at the end of last year and signed on to a Democrat-led discharge petition to force a vote on the ACA subsidies.
A discharge petition is a procedural tool that allows members of the House to circumvent leadership and force a vote on the floor if a majority of lawmakers sign on.
The discharge petition, introduced by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., cleared a procedural hurdle Wednesday, with nine Republicans joining all Democrats voting in favor of the measure, despite opposition from Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. Eleven Republican voted with Democrats on a second procedural vote earlier Thursday.
“What we do here today will not be the end of the effort that is necessary, but we can begin the effort that is necessary and extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits,” Jeffries said on the House floor ahead of the final vote.
