Johnson Warns White House Against Extending Obamacare Subsidies

House Speaker Mike Johnson has warned the Trump administration that House Republicans aren’t gonna go for an extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies - a plan which was leaked to the media before the White House backed off from announcing it yesterday.

According to the WSJ, Johnson held a Monday call with administration officials as Trump advisers were drafting a healthcare plan that would include an enhanced ACA extension for two years. Several Republicans objected to the taxpayer-funded subsidies continuing to fund healthcare plans that include abortions - a red line for many GOP lawmakers, according to the report. 

The emerging White House plan would extend the subsidies temporarily, while imposing income caps for ACA enrollees to qualify, as well as measures to crack down on healthcare fraud, according to people familiar with the matter. Several Republicans want to pair the subsidy wind-down with the creation of health savings accounts, an approach Trump has praised. -WSJ

White House officials say the proposal hasn’t been finalized and did not have Trump’s final signoff.

“What we have said is, if there was going to be an extension of that, it would need massive reforms,” which would need to include income caps and other changes, Johnson told Fox News earlier this month. 

Keep in mind that the extensions – passed by Democrats in 2021 – were always meant to be temporary relief during the pandemic. (and that COVID-19 kills less than 1% of those who get it, thus we never needed economy-killing lockdowns in the first place).

Johnson’s warning highlights hurdles facing the deal in coming weeks – with a mid-December deadline for a healthcare vote which was promised to Democrats in exchange for reopening the government earlier this month. The enhanced subsidies are set to expire at the end of the year, which will affect over 20 million people who have acclimated to lower healthcare costs amid soaring inflation. Oh and then there’s the 38 million student loans that kicked back in during Q4 2023 - with over 6 million borrowers at risk of having their wages garnished six months ago. 

And while we certainly aren’t advocating for or against ACA extensions, which were always supposed to be temporary, we – and several banks, and WSJ, and FT, have been noticing that consumers aren’t doing so great. 

• A Tale Of Two Consumer Worlds – Captured In A Survey
• A Tale Of Two Consumer Worlds – Captured In A Single Chart
• Early Warning Indicator Signals Sharp Sentiment Deterioration Among Low-Income Consumers, Gen Z
• “Worst Consumer Sentiment In Decades”: Goldman Goes Defcon 1 On Imploding US Consumer

To that end, recent polling from KFF shows that nearly 75% of Americans support extending the ACA tax credit, including 50% of Republicans. 

Another factor that could possibly be influencing House Republicans is yesterday’s report by Punchbowl News that several House Republicans say the Trump admin is treating them ‘like garbage,’ and a few may follow in MTG’s footsteps to retire. 

That said, centrist House Democrats may provide necessary votes on the two-year plan.

“If the reports are true and the president is considering coming to the table in good faith, I believe we can find a path forward that can earn broad bipartisan support in Congress,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH). 

Let’s not forget why we’re here in the first place…

Let’s not forget how badly John McCain hurt our country, by publicly reneging on his promise to repeal the ACA. All due to his emotional tantrum just to spite Trump: pic.twitter.com/kk5cbk8PKb

— Erich Hartmann (@erichhartmann) November 21, 2025