House Democrats Won’t Back GOP Spending Bill Without ACA Tax Credits: Jeffries

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said on Monday that House Democrats will continue opposing a Republican spending bill that doesn’t include an extension of Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits.

“We will sit down with any Republicans anytime, anyplace, anywhere, in order to find a bipartisan path forward,” he said at the Capitol. “We’re not going to support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues to gut the healthcare of the American people.”

He said that the push to extend the tax credits, which are set to expire at the end of the year, will continue even if the Senate proceeds with the current package, which gained momentum over the weekend.

Jeffries said that, without action on the ACA tax credits, “tens of millions of Americans are about to experience dramatically increased healthcare costs.”

Republicans have said the negotiation on healthcare subsidies should continue after the government reopens.

The multi-part deal being negotiated in the Senate also includes a promise from Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to take up a vote on extending Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies later this year.

On Nov. 9, the Senate voted 60–40 to advance legislation to end the government shutdown, with seven Democrats and independent Angus King of Maine, who caucuses with them, joining 52 Republicans to reach the threshold. The Senate is continuing consideration of the measure this week.

Asked about those senators, Jeffries said, “I don’t have much to say about those individuals, and they’re going to have to explain themselves to their constituents and to the American people,” while praising “the overwhelming majority of Senate Democrats” for opposing the bill.

On the GOP side, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Monday that the House needed to take action “as quickly as possible” to fund the government, indicating he would quickly bring the bill up to a vote in the House once the legislation passes the Senate.

Johnson also urged lawmakers to start returning to Washington and would issue an official notice to return once the Senate passes the legislation.

Jeffries said House Democrats will review any bill that arrives from the Senate once the text is available. “We’ll have to evaluate the legislative language,” he said, noting that Democrats would discuss it in caucus. He reiterated that his caucus’s position “has been crystal clear” throughout the shutdown, which is to extend the ACA tax credits and “lower the high cost of living.”

Pressed on what the public gains if the shutdown ends without a health policy change, Jeffries said Democrats will keep at it. “Our fight in the House of Representatives will continue to address the Republican healthcare crisis,” he said. “We’re going to continue to lean into the fight… until we actually get an outcome that makes life better for working class Americans.”

Jeffries closed by saying that the push was nonpartisan in its impact. He said the failure to extend the credits would hit states across the country and affect voters of all affiliations. “This is not a partisan fight for us,” he said. “It’s a patriotic fight.”

Jackson Richman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.