Congress flees town as health care premiums set to explode for millions of Americans in January

Congress makes no headway on ACA subsidies deal as January shutdown looms Fox News chief congressional correspondent Chad Pergram reports on the blame game being played over an impasse on healthcare subsidies on ‘Fox News Live.’ Lawmakers left town. Last Thursday was the final day Congress met until early January. And despite health care dominating the conversation on Capitol Hill since late summer and through the autumn, Congress failed to execute a legislative fix for soaring health care premiums set to spike in January. It was a Congressional jailbreak around 3 pm et Thursday as the House called its last vote and lawmakers sprinted for the exits, piling into cars on the Capitol plaza. "Don't send us home without a vote," implored House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., on the House steps earlier in the day. "Our message to (House Speaker) Mike Johnson, R-La., is clear," said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. "You can run. But you cannot hide." SANDERS BLASTED AFTER BLOCKING BIPARTISAN KIDS' CANCER RESEARCH BILL: 'GRINCH,' 'SELFISH' Lawmakers packed up for December, practically channeling partisans of the (once) hapless Chicago Cubs, declaring "Wait til next year." "I'm optimistic that we still have a chance to do better in 2026," forecast Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio. "I think before the end of January, we really do want to do something," said Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D. There’s a reason why 2026 is fundamentally different from 2025. "It's an election year ," observed Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo. "I think that Members of Congress are going to start hearing from their constituents." The U.S .Capitol Christmas Tree seen on the building's West Lawn in Washington D.C., Dec. 3, 2025. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images) Freshman Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Pa., beat former Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pa., by one point in 2024, flipping the district from blue to red. Last week, Mackenzie became one of four House Republicans who rebelled against top Republican leaders - and aligning with Democrats - to renew Obamacare subsidies. The "Fed Up 4" signed what’s called a " discharge petition ." This is a maneuver to go around the Speaker and put a bill on the floor - if the Speaker won’t. Democrats pushed a discharge petition to re-up the expiring subsidies for three years. But they needed four Republicans to join them in their parliamentary guerilla tactic to take this out of the hands of the Speaker. CROCKETT FIRES BACK AT JD VANCE'S 'STREET GIRL' COMMENTS, SAYS IT'S A RACIST TROPE "There is no silver bullet. If there was, either party would have done it," said Mackenze. When asked about the politics of this in his battleground district, Mackenzie replied that "we have a long way to go before the midterms." Discharge petitions don’t ripen for a vote immediately. The House must wait seven legislative days before consideration. The House is out until January 6, 2027. After two days to trigger the discharge petition, the House may consider this maneuver around January 8 or 9. But even...

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