Posted on 11/24/2025 12:46:06 PM PST by Miami Rebel
President Donald Trump is delaying a planned announcement of a proposal to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies, according to two White House officials, after congressional Republicans pushed back against the president’s sudden embrace of the expiring subsidies.
Trump was expected to unveil a plan aimed at halting ACA premium spikes on Monday, as first reported by MS NOW. But the reveal has been postponed — though not canceled — said the White House officials, who were granted anonymity to discuss the internal strategy.
Both White House officials noted that Trump’s announcement — which was never officially on the schedule — would take place soon. But they acknowledged the initial plan, which would have sought to end “surprise premium hikes” for those on Obamacare programs, was being actively reworked.
“Until President Trump makes an announcement himself, any reporting about the Administration’s healthcare positions is mere speculation,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said.
While the White House sought to downplay the seriousness of the delay, Republicans indicated they were surprised and angered by a plan that would help preserve the Affordable Care Act.
“I wasn’t expecting the proposal to be Obamacare-lite,” a conservative House Republican, who requested anonymity to discuss the yet-to-be-released plan. “Absolutely not supportive of extending ACA subsidies.”
“I’ve talked to enough [Republicans] to know that people weren’t expecting this and aren’t happy about it,” this lawmaker added. “I don’t see how a proposal like this has any chance of getting majority Republican support. We need to be focused on health care, but extending Obamacare isn’t even serious.”
Another conservative House Republican, who also requested anonymity to speak candidly about the proposal, told MS NOW that lawmakers knew the White House was working on something. “But not with a primary focus on the subsidies,” this Republican said.
‘I wasn’t expecting the proposal to be Obamacare-lite,’ said a conservative House Republican, who requested anonymity to discuss the yet-to-be-released plan. ‘Absolutely not supportive of extending ACA subsidies.’
The White House appears not to have sought significant input from Capitol Hill on the plan, with Republicans who spoke to MS NOW suggesting that most lawmakers were unaware the administration’s health care proposal would include an extension of the subsidies. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., were expected to be briefed for the first time on the plan Sunday afternoon.
The delay comes as the president — and Hill Republicans — are caught in a bind over health care. Covid-era subsidies for nearly 22 million Americans who get their health insurance through the ACA exchanges are set to lose those plans at the end of the year, a change that would cause massive price spikes in red and blue states alike.
Thune promised a vote on extending the subsidies to Democrats, who agreed to end the recent government shutdown as long as they secured a vote to extend them.
Despite the lack of an official announcement, some Republicans who were learning the broad strokes of Trump’s plan from the media were not especially happy with it.
“I would absolutely NOT be supportive of that,” Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., told MS NOW of extending the subsidies on Monday morning. “Since I last checked, Covid has been over for some time. This is definitely not the DOGE thing to do,” he added, referring to the cost-cutting agency formerly run by president adviser Elon Musk.
Other Republicans were more succinct. When MS NOW asked fellow Freedom Caucus member Greg Steube, R-Fla., if he would be supportive of the White House health-care proposal, he had a two-letter response: “No.”
Another conservative House Republican, who requested anonymity to discuss the yet-to-be-released plan, told MS NOW they were also skeptical of the idea.
“Fix health care for working Americans or don’t talk to me about subsidies,” this lawmaker said.
Trump’s proposal — whatever it may end up being, and whenever it may end up coming — would mark a significant development in the ongoing health care discussion in Washington. If Republicans suddenly relented and agreed to extend the ACA subsidies, even in a slightly modified form, that would mark a significant win for Democrats.
For weeks, Republicans have railed against extending the subsidies, arguing that Obamacare is broken and that extending the subsidies would amount to padding the coffers of insurance companies.
“I’m not putting a Band-Aid on something that’s broken,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., told reporters last week.
It's an interesting conundrum, since lots of voters will be losing coverage at the beginning of an election year if a replacement isn't dvised.
Trump is on the wrong side of this one.
There are so many reasons unconstitutional gov’t healthcare should be abolished.
Here is a sampling of reasons:
1) Gov’t takeover of healthcare is unconstitutional and, thus, illegal. Nowhere does the Constitution delegate power to the feds to meddle in healthcare.
2) See 1)
3) Gov’t healthcare puts your individual healthcare in the hands of distant, indifferent, and non-medial D.C. bureaucrats and politicians who of course as middlemen must be paid and, thus, increasing the cost of healthcare. The HHS bureaucracy has a budget of $1 trillion.
4) The highest quality, most affordable, and most available healthcare in the world is what we had in the voluntary cooperation DIRECTLY between doctor and patient before the gov’t muscled in in the 50’s and 60’s with its “helping hand” hand out and a hammer behind his back! As Ronald Reagan said, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help’”.
https://freerepublic.com/focus/news/4350455/posts?page=1
5) Gov’t hammer? What hammer? Forced vaccines, forced abortions, forced treatment all by distant politicians and bureaucrats who are not medical experts and do not know you personally.
6) Gov’t agenda vs. your own personal agenda. Who cares more about your health? You? Or some distant politician and bureaucrat who doesn’t know you from Adam and frankly couldn’t care less about you personally?
7) No one cares more about your health than you. Why in the world would you take your personal healthcare and your personal choices in the self interest of your health and wellbeing out of the hands of the DIRECT relationship between you and the doctor of your choosing who knows and cares about you, and instead put your healthcare in the hands gov’t politicians and bureaucrats who don’t know you, have the power to force you to do what they want, and who have their own agenda which includes “culling” the “overpopulation” - so gov’t has a bias toward death.
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4350451/posts
https://www.vigilantfox.com/p/the-1-killer-in-hospitals-isnt-a
8) “Healthcare” availability based on gov’t budgeting – a potential disaster. Long lines and long waiting time for procedures immediately available under free market healthcare directly between doctor and patient.
Ongoing government shutdown hinders healthcare providers during flu season
9) That is a short list. There’s more but why would anyone need more reasons? NUKE UNCONSTITUTIONAL GOV’T HEALTHCARE!!!
The cliff is a problem. It works against productivity.
Obamacare is Romneycare with a different cover page.
This is one of the fissure-points in the GOP coalition. There is the pro-working class/populist group - of which MTG is one example -- versus the traditional small/limited government wing of the GOP.
More likely Obamacare done right.
But I still don’t want it.
MS Now, formerly MSNBC.
Seriously?
What is this "GOP coalition" of which you speak??
Perhaps you mean the GOP circular firing squad?
A mess was created, that being Obama-care. As bad as it is (told ya so!), 15 years later it’s tentacles are now everywhere.
Ideally, the whole bill should be repealed. It’s so entangled Realistically, I do not see that happening.
Can Trump or others modify it to make it less expensive? I hope so. And perhaps that’s what Trump is trying to do.
Put the puck on the ice and see if some one comes up with a better response.
Shouldn’t this report say MS NOW, formerly known as MSNBC?
Too many Republican Congresscritters are getting money from Big Insurance. Therefore, they oppose the Feds not giving money to Big Insurance. Everything else is BS.
“Gov’t takeover of healthcare is unconstitutional and, thus, illegal. Nowhere does the Constitution delegate power to the feds to meddle in healthcare.”
Attorney General
Solicitor General
Surgeon General
Article I, Section 8, Clause 12:
[The Congress shall have Power . . . ] To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
“healthcare”
There’s very little care in healthcare.
The main purpose of the PPACA is to pay for patented drugs, some of which got created in Pelosi’s San Francisco, which had many people with AIDS needing expensive drugs.
Pre-existing condition <~=> taking an expensive drug regularly
There’s an article about Lilly getting a market cap of over $1 trillion.
Much of the work most doctors do is drug related, such as writing prescriptions. Why prescriptions? So pharmacists like Humbert Humphrey could stuff bottles of pills faster.
Yes, sorry. I just shortened it from the URL address.
The fact GOP congressmen were quoted gave it credibility.
And the army the Democrats in Congress are most keen to support are the black women voters that work in health care.
Some other black woman probably took over Michelle Obama’s plum job.
Very simply defined as those Republicans who voted for Trump in 2024 - quite a few of which didn't even like him.
There is a big fissure -- that gets less attention than most -- between the small government/limited spending conservatives, and the populists. In the 70's, the majority of the latter would have voted for Democrats.
“The Congress shall have power to dispose of...property belonging to the United States”
ARTICLE IV SECTION 2
Congress can take your hard-earned money and give it to a garbage man to throw in his truck, or to give to his sister.
Share of total health spending, by percentile, 2021
Top 1% of people with the highest health spending 24%
Top 5% 51%
Top 10% 67%
Bottom 50% 3%
Where is their plan? They promised a better plan more than 15 years ago, and we are still waiting for it to be unveiled.
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