Donald Trump’s inner circle fears voters will ultimately blame the GOP if healthcare subsidies expire—a central issue surrounding the government shutdown—and that the backlash could severely damage the party in the 2026 midterms, according to a report.
Administration officials told The Wall Street Journal that the president’s bravado in blaming Democrats for the shutdown may not hold up next November, when potentially millions of people, facing rising healthcare costs, could point the finger solely at the ruling party
The 79-year-old’s advisers are also panicking as voters struggle with rising inflation and a dire job market.
They fear the public will see Trump as bringing further financial hardship by allowing subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, to lapse.
The White House is so wary of the fallout that Trump aides are discussing proposals to extend Obamacare subsidies, even though the president has long vowed to repeal the healthcare program, put in place by Barack Obama and hated by Republicans.
“It has the potential to be a significant issue,” Republican strategist Whit Ayres told The Journal. “Whether it becomes one or not depends upon the course of the election.”
Republicans and Democrats remain deadlocked in their efforts to end the government shutdown, now in its third day. The GOP wants Democrats to agree to a continuing resolution, which would temporarily fund the government and reopen it while both sides negotiate a longer-term solution.
Democrats said they will only come to the table if Republicans guarantee that subsidies for low-income health insurance will not expire, and that Trump’s proposed Medicaid cuts outlined in his “big beautiful” spending bill are removed. The GOP has said it will not negotiate until the government reopens.
The GOP can ill-afford any reason for voters not to back them in the 2026 midterms.
Historically, the ruling party suffers substantial losses in the midterms, and with Republicans holding only a razor-thin majority in the House, they already face a significant risk of losing their trifecta control for the final two years of Trump’s presidency.
If healthcare subsidies expire at the end of the year, more than 22 million people could see their Obamacare premiums more than double from $888 a year to $1,904, according to analysis by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF).
Data suggests Republican voters will be hit hardest if subsidies are not renewed. Of the 75 congressional districts where at least 10 percent of the population is enrolled in the ACA, 62 are in Florida, Georgia, and Texas, all states that voted for Trump in the 2024 election, the KFF found.
“Even though none of us were supportive of the ACA to begin with, we can’t walk away from the people that have had no place else to go to get their healthcare coverage,” Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota told the Journal.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.is reopened
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