WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie called on Democrats Thursday to unify around a bipartisan deal that would extend tax credits for Affordable Care Act recipients as the end-of-year deadline draws nearer.
Hours earlier, Mackenzie, R-Lehigh Valley, signed two discharge petitions that would force a vote in Congress on the tax credits.
Republicans are split on the issue, with many conservatives opposed to the ACA entirely while some moderates call for reforms to the existing system.
Given that divide, it will be up to Democrats to rally behind a single petition if there's going to be any chance for the tax subsidies to be preserved, Mackenzie said.
He criticized House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., for rejecting a one-year extension of the subsidies during the 43-day federal shutdown. Now, he's challenging Democrats to accept the olive branch that some Republicans are offering.
"I think it’s critically important [to extend the subsidies]. I don't want to hear political talk out of the other side. I want to see action," Mackenzie said.
In an interview Thursday, Mackenzie said he was disheartened when Republican leadership didn't present any plans to extend the ACA tax subsidies during a conference briefing Wednesday. Should the extensions expire, millions of Americans signed up on plans through the ACA Marketplace could see their premiums double in the new year.
"This is something I disagree with my conference at large or maybe, more specifically, the Speaker (Mike Johnson)," Mackenzie said.
Following the meeting, Mackenzie said, he signed the two discharge petitions. The first, legislation sponsored by U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Bucks County, would extend the tax breaks by two years.
"This is something I disagree with my conference at large or maybe, more specifically, the Speaker."U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Lehigh Valley, on the lack of Republican efforts to extend the Affordable Care Act tax subsidies.
The second, co-sponsored by Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and Jen Kiggans, R-Va.. would extend the tax credits by one year. Both bills include language adding insurance fraud reform and create new regulations on pharmacy benefit managers.
Mackenzie has not signed a third discharge petition introduced by Jeffries that would extend the credits three years and not include any reforms. His calls for bipartisan support from Democrats was criticized by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which noted the Jeffries petition has far more signatures — and potentially closer to a floor vote — than the others.
"If Mackenzie was remotely serious about preventing skyrocketing health care costs, he would join 214 of his colleagues in backing a commonsense measure to extend the ACA tax credits for three years," said DCCC spokesman Eli Cousins.
In a follow-up statement, Mackenzie made clear he wasn't interested.
"A three-year extension with no reforms perpetuates a system rife with waste and fraud and hands tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires. Our bipartisan group has come together and agrees that these common sense reforms are necessary," he said.
What is a 'discharge petition'?
Discharge petitions are something of a Hail Mary pass when more standard efforts have failed to produce results.
Normally, bills are reviewed and fine-tuned in committee. Should they pass through committee, leadership can schedule a vote for the bill on the House floor. But committee chairs and leadership have broad scheduling powers that allow them to block bills they don't favor from progressing.
Discharge petitions offer a way for these bills to cut through the red tape, but only if there's overwhelming support.
The petitions need 218 signatures — a majority of House members — to force a vote. Less than a dozen have succeeded in the last 30 years, though they've surged into the spotlight under Speaker Mike Johnson's tenure.
Petitions that forced the release of the Epstein files and would have allowed representatives with newborns to vote remotely gained the necessary 218 signatures this year. Another that would restore federal employees collective bargaining rights gained its last needed signature Wednesday.
Not a clear path
Even if one of the ACA petitions gets enough signatures, there's no guarantee it would become law.
Senators have pushed partisan bills of their own with little chance of advancing, and President Donald Trump hasn't backed any efforts to extend the tax credits. During a campaign stop at Mount Airy Casino Resort on Tuesday, Trump called the ACA "a scam" and mocked Democrats' messaging on affordability.
Mackenzie expressed concern about the state of negotiations in the Senate but said he believed Trump would sign a tax credit deal if it gained the necessary support to reach his desk.
"I don’t see him standing in the way. We’re trying to get through step one," he said.
His fears in the Senate proved accurate. Shortly after his comments, the Senate failed to pass either of the competing plans. A House-backed discharge petition may now be the last, longshot chance for a deal to emerge.
"I don’t see (President Trump) standing in the way. We’re trying to get through step one."U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Lehigh Valley
While affordability has become a buzzword in national politics in recent weeks, Mackenzie has focused his messaging on the high cost of living since entering the race for Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District in 2023.
His first package of proposed bills were tax breaks for working families, and he praised the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — Trump's signature tax law from his second term — for extending tax breaks for working families and ending earned income tax on overtime and tips.
But that doesn't make Mackenzie any less vulnerable heading into the 2026 midterm elections. His district is among the most contested in the country, and Democrats won by enormous margins in the Lehigh Valley's local elections last month. National polls show Americans are unhappy with Republicans as prices remain stubbornly high even as inflation has cooled.
Mackenzie declined to discuss whether Republican leadership is doing enough to to address affordability concerns ahead of the midterms, saying he wasn't interested in talking about the issue through a political lens.
Instead, he turned the conversation back to the work of extending the tax breaks.
"Ultimately, at the end of the day, when you go before voters, they look at your overall body of work," he said.
