December 16, 2025 11:48 AM UTC

Speaker Johnson Extinguishes Jeff Hurd's Last Hope

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• by: Colorado Pols

CNBC is reporting today that negotiations in the U.S. House to allow a vote on legislation to extend the expiring health insurance premium tax credits before the end of the year, after which millions of Americans will face potentially bankrupting premium hikes, have failed:

Key tax credits that reduce the cost of Affordable Care Act health insurance coverage for millions of Americans looked likely to expire by the end of the year after House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday that there would be no vote on extending those subsidies this week.

The House is not in session next week, meaning that Johnson was not leaving the door open for a later vote before the boosted ACA premium assistance expires.

The one sliver of hope that remains is the possibility of a discharge petition to force a vote over the objections of Speaker Mike Johnson, like the one that recently succeeded in passing legislation to release the files in the Jeffrey Epstein case:

There remains a chance that enough Republicans in Johnson’s majority caucus agree to back a Democrat-led effort to force an effective vote on extending the tax credits for Obamacare health plans.

The tactic, a discharge petition, is identical to one recently used to force a vote on a bill compelling the release by the Department of Justice of investigative files related to sex predator Jeffrey Epstein.

But as readers know, Colorado freshman GOP Rep. Jeff Hurd has ruled out a discharge petition, even as his bill to extend the tax credits languishes under leadership that won’t allow it to reach the floor where it would pass easily. It’s akin to being mugged, knowing you could easily overpower your mugger, but choosing not to because defending yourself would be impolite to muggers everywhere.

And be assured, Rep. Hurd’s constituents are being mugged:

With that deadline fast approaching, and Congress spinning its wheels on how to tackle health care costs, it’s increasingly likely that most Mesa County enrollees’ premiums will essentially double, with a 95% increase. [Pols emphasis]

Despite the grave political consequences for Republicans previewed in last month’s election, their resolve to not renew the health insurance tax credits, which would admit the mistake of failing to do so in the “We’re All Going To Die Act” budget bill passed they each played a decisive role in passing, has held firm against the increasingly distressed outcry from voters about to take the directly resulting financial hit. Among Colorado’s Republicans in Congress, the representative who should be most attuned to the pain his constituents are facing, swing-district Rep. Gabe Evans, is instead the state’s foremost apologist for cutting the subsidies Rep. Hurd wants to extend.

Politically, it makes less sense with every new poll. But even Republicans who see the peril can’t seem to change course.