House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries praised a bipartisan group of House lawmakers who presented a health care compromise proposal Monday for working “in good faith” toward an extension of key health insurance subsidies.
But Jeffries said he expected the other congressional chamber to spearhead any deal on the expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits.
“It seems to me more likely that if there’s a bipartisan agreement to emerge, it will emerge from the Senate, not the House,” Jeffries told reporters Tuesday, casting doubt on whether House GOP leaders would ever allow a compromise.
“It’s been my view from the very beginning that traditional House Republicans aren’t serious about doing anything meaningful, and they never have been,” he added.
The group of four House lawmakers — two Republicans and two Democrats — released a “statement of principles” Monday in an effort to break the logjam as the government shutdown entered a sixth week. They pitched a two-year extension of the tax credits along with new income caps for enrollees.
Democrats have made expiring health care subsidies a centerpiece of their shutdown demands. Jeffries has kept his commitments on the issue vague, ruling out a one-year extension but otherwise saying his caucus would evaluate any bipartisan compromise forged by the Senate.
