In a wide-ranging interview on Mornings with Maria, House Speaker Mike Johnson delivered a firm rebuke of efforts to extend COVID-era subsidies for the Affordable Care Act (ACA), signaling a stark divide between House Republicans and Senate Democrats as the government moves toward a new budget deadline.
Johnson made it clear: he has not promised to bring the ACA subsidy extension to the House floor. Despite a Senate deal that helped avoid a government shutdown—brokered in part by Democrats and independents—Johnson pushed back on the notion that he’s obligated to entertain what he described as “terrible policies” rooted in a failed healthcare model.
“I haven’t, and there is a lot of reasons why,” Johnson told host Maria Bartiromo. “First of all, the Unaffordable Care Act has failed the American people. It has done the opposite of what was promised.”
The COVID-era subsidies in question were enacted to expand ACA premium support during the pandemic, but they were always meant to be temporary. Johnson reminded viewers that Democrats themselves placed a December 31 expiration on the policy, acknowledging—at least implicitly—its long-term unsustainability. Now, as that expiration looms, Democrats are pushing to make those payouts permanent without the structural reforms Republicans are demanding.
And the Speaker isn’t having it.
He called the subsidies a “boondoggle,” and emphasized that any conversation about extending them would require significant guardrails: income caps, fiscal responsibility, and policy reforms that ensure taxpayer dollars aren’t funneled to high-income households or used in ways that violate Republican principles—such as funding abortions. “You need Hyde protections on things, other innovations,” Johnson noted, referring to long-standing restrictions on federal funding for abortion-related services.
The political friction intensified earlier this week when Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer faced backlash from progressives after Democrats helped pass a GOP-backed continuing resolution. That vote, which narrowly avoided a government shutdown, came after several centrist Democrats—Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, Maggie Hassan, and Angus King (an independent)—negotiated with Republicans to secure a potential vote on the ACA subsidy extension. However, Johnson’s latest remarks suggest that vote may never happen.
Johnson also threw blame back on Democrats for legislative delays, arguing that “because of their shenanigans,” precious time to negotiate healthcare reforms was lost. Yet he remained confident that Republicans would seize the moment: “We are working on it in earnest. The Republican Party will bring down healthcare costs, not the Democrats.”
As 2025 draws to a close and the ACA subsidies near their expiration, Washington is bracing for another healthcare showdown. At stake is not just policy—it’s the future direction of healthcare spending, government involvement, and the ideological battle over who should pay for what in American medicine.
