Tensions flared on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Friday when anchor Rebecca Quick asked House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) whether he and Democratic leadership were now rooting for health care costs to go up for the sake of damaging Republicans politically.
This comes as a small handful of Republicans appear willing to negotiate on extending ACA subsidies, but Trump and GOP leadership are digging in and pushing instead for a vague plan that would involve diverting the subsidies into personal health savings accounts.
“Let’s talk about that discharge petition that you need 218 votes in the House in order to pass that,” said Quick. “You’ve got 214 members in the Democratic caucus. So you only need to have four House Republicans sign off onto it to get this passed. But the idea of saying that this is a three-year extension instead of a one- or even two-year extension has any potential Republicans saying forget it, this is dead on arrival. That’s the opinion of Representative Don Bacon, he’s a Republican from Nebraska who has been working with the idea of potentially extending for two years.”
“So if this is something that you want satiated, you want to get done, you are going to need at least some Republicans to come over, why not start with a one-year extension, or potentially even a two-year extension?” she pressed him.
“Well, Leader Schumer offered a one-year extension in the context of trying to end the Trump/Republican shutdown,” said Jeffries.
“I’m talking about what you have now,” cut in Quick. “If you want to get something done, you will need something that’s going to have bipartisan support.”
“I’m providing an answer in order to provide context,” said Jeffries. “Republicans have repeatedly refused to take yes for an answer. It was a very reasonable, multi-year extension that was offered. It was a one-year straight extension, plus a multi-year process to a bipartisan commission to more permanently resolve the Affordable Care Act issues. So having that context is absolutely important, regardless of what you may think.”
“So it’s context to make me realize that I don’t think you want a deal done,” she shot back. “I think that you’d like to see the rates go higher and allow the Republicans to hang themselves with that. Is that the answer?”
“That’s absolutely a ridiculous assertion,” said Jeffries. “And really, shame on you for saying that. Because we’re fighting — it’s not a partisan issue for us. In fact, the states that are most impacted as it relates to Affordable Care Act tax credit expiration are all Republican states. We’re talking about West Virginia, Wyoming, Alaska, Mississippi, Tennessee. Over and over and over again, we can go through the list … this is not a partisan fight for us, this is a patriotic fight!”
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