Trump boxed in as Republican health care revolt grows

The latest flashpoint is the year-end expiration of Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies that help cash-strapped families buy health insurance -- a deadline that has laid bare a widening gulf between Trump's blue-collar coalition and establishment Republicans determined to let the aid lapse.

Fiercely opposed to anything resembling support for the ACA -- a law nicknamed "Obamacare" for its architect, Democratic former president Barack Obama -- Republican leaders insist the subsidies must end on December 31.

Trump, whose handling of health care is deeply underwater in public polling, sought to project flexibility in remarks late Thursday, offering to work with Democrats on a long-term fix.

But the overture sits uneasily alongside his longstanding opposition to Obamacare and his resistance to extending subsidies -- which Republicans argue would further entrench a law they have spent more than a decade trying to dismantle.

Tensions burst into the open earlier Thursday when four Republican senators crossed party lines to back an ultimately unsuccessful Democratic bill extending the subsidies for three years.

- 'Under pressure' -

"I hope the message is, 'We need to do something here,'" Missouri Senator Josh Hawley said, according to The Hill, after voting to advance the Democratic proposal. "We're all under pressure."

If Congress fails to act in the coming days, insurance costs are expected to spike for roughly 22 million Americans receiving enhanced ACA tax credits.

KFF, a health policy research group, projects that they could see their monthly payments more than double, while overall marketplace premiums would rise by an average of 26 percent.

The anxiety is spilling into the House, where up to two dozen swing‑district Republicans are openly defying Speaker Mike Johnson by joining Democrats on so-called "discharge petitions" to force votes on reviving the government aid.

The rebellion reflects growing fear among frontline lawmakers that allowing premiums to spike on Trump's watch could hand Democrats a potent campaign weapon.

Johnson has made clear he opposes rank-and-file maneuvers to bypass leadership, but moderates warn that rigid party orthodoxy could cost them their seats -- and ultimately imperil Trump's already thin House majority.

- Open to talks -

Republican leaders, long unable to forge consensus on how America should fund treatment for its sick and infirm, released their own health care funding proposals on Friday, limited to measures they believe have broad support in the party.

Slated for a vote next week, the text excludes language extending the expiring Obamacare subsidies, though lawmakers will be allowed a vote on an amendment to keep the aid in place -- an effort party leaders expect to fail.

Democrats say they're open to talks on any initiative making health care more affordable but skeptical of Republican resolve.

For Trump, the fight carries enormous political risk. Polls show health care as his weakest issue, with his approval -- even among Republicans -- lagging as voters fault Washington for failing to rein in costs.

It is a rare policy arena in which the billionaire's grip on his party appears to be slipping.

Back an extension of a law he once vowed to repeal, or allow premiums to soar in an election year? Either path risks alienating voters, and Republicans across Capitol Hill are signaling they want clear leadership from the president.

"House Democrats remain ready, willing and able to sit down with our Republican colleagues anytime, anyplace and anywhere in order to enact a bipartisan agreement," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Friday. 

"But Republicans continue to pursue a my-way-or-the-highway approach, which has gotten them nowhere this year."

ft/des