Democrats repeatedly outmaneuvered Republican leadership and stalled the GOP agenda to close out the legislative year, and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is facing heat.
Under House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democrats shifted the congressional agenda toward their priorities while exposing fractures within the GOP majority, and the centerpiece of Democratic success was a deliberate September strategy to frame the government shutdown around healthcare rather than President Donald Trump’s federal spending cuts, reported Politico.
“The party knew well that health care was a minefield for Republicans — one that many in both parties blamed for the GOP’s massive House losses in the 2018 midterms,” Politico reported.
“Ultimately, the shutdown ended after 43 days when a handful of Democratic senators decided the standoff had run its course,” the report added. “But House Democrats strategized to keep health care center stage, with Jeffries filing a discharge petition seeking a vote on a straight three-year extension of the expiring tax credits before moderate Republicans started filing their own discharge petitions.”
Although Democrats failed to secure an extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, they achieved their broader objective: forcing Republicans to debate Democratic priorities instead of their own agenda. Johnson ultimately kept the House out of session roughly one-fifth of the year to secure the shutdown deal, inadvertently fueling GOP frustration.
“I think the House as a whole has not been nearly as proactive as we should have been in recent months,” complained Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA).
Democrats weaponized discharge petitions — one of the minority’s few legislative tools — with unprecedented effectiveness. Three petitions gathered the required 218 signatures this year alone, forcing votes on releasing Epstein files, restoring federal workers’ collective bargaining rights, and extending healthcare subsidies for three years.
Jeffries noted Democrats had “won more discharge petitions in the last three weeks than have been successful in the last 30 years.”
The healthcare discharge petition proved most damaging to Johnson. When moderate Republicans sought a floor vote on compromise proposals, Johnson refused, leaving vulnerable GOP members no choice but to join Jeffries’ effort. Four Republicans, including Pennsylvania Reps. Rob Bresnahan and Ryan Mackenzie, crossed party lines — humiliating leadership.
“The completion of the discharge petition has amounted to an internal debacle for Johnson, whose members are now unhappy that GOP leaders got outplayed and will now vote on a measure that the vast majority of them loathe,” Politico reported.
Republicans did secure some wins — ending the record shutdown without costly subsidies and passing a modest healthcare package and permitting reform bill. However, these accomplishments paled against Democratic momentum heading into the 2026 midterms.
GOP leaders underestimated how far moderate Republicans would go to resist leadership, and their miscalculation left them increasingly vulnerable to further Democratic exploitation of internal divisions.
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