Sahil Kapur
@sahilkapur.bsky.social
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🚨🚨 OBAMACARE DAM BREAKSFour House Republicans rebel against their leadership, teaming up with Democrats to sign a “discharge petition” to force a 3-year extension of enhanced ACA funds to a vote.
Fitzpatrick, Lawler, Bresnahan, Mackenzie.
+ 214 Dems.
It has 218.
http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/con…
https://bsky.app/profile/sahilkapur.bsky.social/post/3ma6xsd2sbs22
Centrist Republicans revolt, signing a petition to force a vote on Obamacare funding
The enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies are still expected to expire at the end of this year, however, raising insurance premiums for millions of people.
Rebelling against their leaders, four House Republicans on Wednesday signed onto a “discharge petition,” giving Democrats the 218 signatures needed to force a vote on a three-year extension of the Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire for millions of Americans on Dec. 31.
If the enhanced premium tax credits expire, as is expected, insurance costs are projected to double, on average, for about 22 million Americans who get their coverage through Obamacare.
The discharge petition, led by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., has all 214 Democrats on board.
The four Republicans who signed on Wednesday morning and pushed it to 218 were Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., Rob Bresnahan, R-Pa., and Ryan Mackenzie, R-Pa.
All four represent competitive districts that could make or break the GOP’s narrow House majority in November. Democrats have been slamming each of them as complicit in the impending lapse of the funding, which first passed in 2021 under President Joe Biden in a bid to cap premiums for “benchmark” plans at 8.5% of income.
Fitzpatrick said his hand was forced by the refusal of Republican leadership to “compromise” after he attempted “for months” to offer ideas and amendments…
The ACA funding bill is not expected to come to the floor before the Dec. 31 deadline, meaning the subsidies will lapse for an estimated 22 million people who get their health care insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.
Under House rules, seven legislative days need to lapse before a bill, discharged by such a petition, comes to the floor. The House, however, is only scheduled to be in session until Friday, before lawmakers head home for a two-week holiday recess.
The House is set to return to Washington on Jan. 6, meaning the vote on the three-year extension will likely be held in the second week of that month — unless Johnson attempts to expedite it to the floor.
And if it does pass the House, it still faces hurdles in the Senate, where Republicans rejected the three-year funding extension on the floor just last week. Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has slammed the Covid-era ACA subsidies and said he favors a broader overhaul, not just an extension of those funds…
Wednesday’s successful discharge petition marks yet another example of Speaker Johnson — presiding over a razor-thin 220-213 majority — losing control over what happens on the House floor…
Remember…
A safe Republican District is now R+13
R+13
With that being the case, the field has widened for the Democrats, and certain Republicans understand that.
And, for those on the left, who want to disparage Jeffries for ‘giving a life preserver to the Republicans’…
Man…FOH!
If the choice is to give the GOP the chance to vote for their own self-preservation AS THEY VOTE TO PRESERVE HEALTHCARE INSURANCE ACCESS FOR 22 MILLION PEOPLE…
OR
‘stick it to the GOP’
Well, that’s why we’re Democrats.
Cause, I will go for TWENTY TWO MILLION PEOPLE KEEPING THEIR ACCESS TO THEIR HEALTH INSURANCE, EVERYDAY.
ALL DAY.
And, if my empathy for my fellow 22 million American makes me weak in your eyes..
Oh well.
@sahilkapur.bsky.social
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NEXT STEPS: ACA 3-year funding bill must be brought up within 7 legislative days. House is set to leave at the end of this week, so that won’t hit until Jan 2026 (unless Johnson seeks to expedite a vote). Then it goes to the Senate which… just rejected this bill. http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/con…
https://bsky.app/profile/sahilkapur.bsky.social/post/3ma6yxve5qk2e
Sahil Kapur
@sahilkapur.bsky.social
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ACA is a 90/10 problem for GOP. ~90% of the party wants the enhanced funds to expire (or at least won’t put their name on an extension). And ~10% wants them to continue in some form. This 10% largely represents the swing districts/states that make or break majorities. http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/con…
https://bsky.app/profile/sahilkapur.bsky.social/post/3ma6yz6m4ys2e
Sahil Kapur
@sahilkapur.bsky.social
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This is a validation of the Jeffries strategy to hold firm on clean 3-year ACA funding while Republicans fought amongst themselves. Rather than endorse a compromise plan he calculated that vulnerable Rs would see this as the only game in town and buckle.http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/con…
https://bsky.app/profile/sahilkapur.bsky.social/post/3ma7aqknlbk2t
Sahil Kapur
@sahilkapur.bsky.social
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Why Mike Johnson’s demand to “pay for” ACA funding didn’t land: These Republicans all voted for OBBBA, which slapped a $0 price tag on a $3.4 trillion tax cut. Under that same “current policy baseline” the ~$35 billion/yr in ACA funding could be extended—permanently even—on a $0 sticker price.
1:41 PM · Dec 17, 2025
https://bsky.app/profile/sahilkapur.bsky.social/post/3ma7g5xkw3s2d
Shanaka Anslem Perera ⚡
@shanaka86
THE ALGORITHM STAYED IN BEIJING
They told you TikTok was sold to America.
They lied.
December 18, 2025. The most sophisticated information operation in human history just received official U.S. blessing.
The deal structure they hope you never read:
ByteDance retains 20% direct ownership. ByteDance “affiliates” retain 30%. Combined: majority economic interest still flows to Beijing.
But here is what changes everything.
The algorithm never left China.
Per sources familiar with the agreement: ByteDance will continue to own and update the recommendation engine. American “auditors” will observe. Observe. Not control. Not own. Not modify.
You are witnessing the birth of algorithmic colonialism.
170 million Americans will wake up tomorrow believing their feeds are now “American.” They will scroll content served by code written in Beijing, optimized in Beijing, updated in Beijing.
The attention of half the U.S. population under 30 remains architecturally tethered to Chinese servers.
Oracle gets cloud hosting fees. Silver Lake gets a press release. Larry Ellison gets a photo op with the President.
China keeps the engine that shapes American reality.
This is not a divestiture. This is a licensing agreement disguised as sovereignty.
The precedent now established: Any nation can maintain psychological infrastructure inside America as long as the holding company has a Delaware address.
What was sold: A corporate shell.
What was retained: The machine that decides what 170 million people think about next.
January 22, 2026. The deal closes.
The algorithm stays exactly where it has always been.
Welcome to the age where ownership is theater and code is control.
The empire that writes the algorithm writes the future.
They did not sell TikTok.
They rebranded it.
https://x.com/shanaka86/status/2001829888429588541?s=20
Greg Sargent
@GregTSargent
As Trump’s physical and political decline worsens, the cultish flattery from top aides has proportionally grown. As
@MoiraDonegan
says on the pod, Trumpworld is now puffing him up publicly to compensate for his deterioration.
Moira is so good here:
https://x.com/GregTSargent/status/2002000882242654495?s=20
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Conversation
Suzie rizzio
@Suzierizzo1
The man that the FBI & Kash Patel considered a suspect & outed his personal information without even questioning him first is continuing to get death threats and so are his family and friends! He’s had to go into hiding all because a certain someone wanted to look like a big shot
Purity pony politics strikes again.
Sam Stein
@samstein
NEW: A milestone pediatric cancer bill years in the making made it to the Senate floor last night. It was the last hurdle before passage. Cancer victims were watching in the gallery. Sibling survivors too.
And then it failed. Because of one vote. Bernie Sanders’.
Here’s why.
https://x.com/samstein/status/2001861726539518240?s=20
Prez
@PrezLives2022
First Trump tries to pardon Tina Peters, when that failed he decided to close the Atmospheric Research center in Colorado. Now Colorado Senators have moved to block a mini-bus package that would secure funding through 2026 for the Departments of Defense, Labor, Heath and Human Services, Education, Commerce, Justice, Interior, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development.
Curious as to how this will play out.
8:35 PM · Dec 18, 2025
https://x.com/PrezLives2022/status/2001843778936828178?s=20
Kyle Griffin
@kylegriffin1
Deputy AG Blanche just said the Trump DOJ will miss the Epstein files deadline.
He says “several hundred thousand” docs will be released today, “and then over the next couple weeks, I expect several hundred thousand more.”
All files are required by law to be released today.
https://x.com/kylegriffin1/status/2002033715275497969?s=20
philip lewis
@Phil_Lewis_
The Navy quietly disciplined 18 Navy SEALs after investigators found a private group chat in which they shared racist memes targeting a Black SEAL who was also in the chat
https://x.com/Phil_Lewis_/status/2001720422316851446?s=20
2RawTooReal
@2RawTooReal
Fani Willis had no F’s to give
https://x.com/2RawTooReal/status/2002026676964716690?s=20
Acyn
@Acyn
Erika Kirk: We are building the red wall, Arizona, Nevada, New Hampshire. We are going to ensure that President Trump has congress for all four years. We are going to get my husband’s friend J.D. Vance elected for 48
https://x.com/Acyn/status/2001814972574400623?s=20
Suzie rizzio
@Suzierizzo1
In Texas armed State Troopers are now standing in front of women’s restrooms asking for their Identification! They’re being extremely critical of who they let in also! 🤬
https://x.com/Suzierizzo1/status/2001557760425509184?s=20
CALL TO ACTIVISM
@CalltoActivism
🚨BREAKING: Panic is spreading inside the Republican caucus because Speaker Mike Johnson is blocking a vote on ACA tax credits – and vulnerable Republicans are screaming they’ll LOSE THEIR SEATS without the vote.
Republicans have literally f*cked themselves. Here’s how: 👉
Mike Johnson has REFUSED to put the ACA tax credits up for a vote because Trump ordered it.
Trump doesn’t give a shit about tax credits because they don’t benefit him.
So now he’s dragging the entire Republican Party down with him – killing a wildly popular policy, blocking a recorded vote, and forcing his party to own higher premiums, lost coverage, and real harm to millions of families.
The earliest the bill can be voted on in January.
Will the Republican Party permanently own the blame when people drop insurance. Seniors lose plans. Costs explode?
This is what choosing Trump looks like.
https://x.com/CalltoActivism/status/2001811243485601825?s=20
Briana Reilly
@briana_reilly
The Trump administration is raiding reconciliation funding intended to supplement housing allowances to cover the newly announced $1,776 paychecks to troops.
The one-time payments will cost $2.6 billion, per a senior admin official. That leaves $300 million in the funding pot, which a Pentagon official said “will be utilized by the Department to support future basic allowance for housing requirements.”
@TomNovelly
reported it first.
9:42 AM · Dec 18, 2025
·
11.1K
Views
Matt Stoller
@matthewstoller
“Fourteen of the largest U.S. retail banks posted jumps in the income they generated from overdraft and bounced-check fees during the first nine months of the year…”
Jesse Lee
@JesseCharlesLee
The man directly overseeing CFPB is Russ Vought, and what he’s doing there to extract wealth from working people for the sake of corporate donors is a good microcosm for what he’s doing with the rest of government.
https://x.com/JesseCharlesLee/status/2001387443509993557?s=20
Burgess Everett
@burgessev
Thune dumps large bucket of ice water on the House Dems’ three-year ACA subsidies extension discharge petition
“A straight up extension is a waste of money”
Says one option could be a short extension that gives people option of putting money in HSAs
“I’m not ruling anything out, I guess is what I’m saying. But the 3-year extension of a failed program that’s right with fraud, waste and abuse is not happening”
9:49 AM · Dec 18, 2025
·
56.2K
Views
Brendan Duke
@Brendan_Duke
4 million people keeping health insurance is “a waste of money” while raising the amount multimillionaires can pass onto their heirs tax free from $14 to $30 million through One Big Beautiful Bill’s estate tax cut is a wise investment.
https://x.com/Brendan_Duke/status/2001696349197099094?s=20
Rep. Nadler
@RepJerryNadler
After
@SpeakerJohnson
referred to expiring ACA subsidies as a “Dec. 31 problem” for months, he is now refusing to allow the House to vote to extend them before they expire on January 1, even though the House has the votes to pass an extension.
Instead, before skipping town early, House Republicans passed a joke of a health care bill that does nothing to stop premium hikes, pushes junk insurance, and weakens protections for people with pre-existing conditions.
After breaking America’s health care system with their Big, Ugly Bill, it’s shameful that Speaker Johnson is choosing to walk away and let health insurance premiums needlessly skyrocket by hundreds, and in many cases thousands, of dollars a year for millions of Americans.
Manu Raju
@mkraju
Speaker Johnson just told us no vote on the three-year ACA extension until January — meaning the subsidies are certain to lapse. House scrapped votes Friday and leaving town on Thursday. Johnson also defended his handling of the issue.
6:09 PM · Dec 17, 2025
·
143K
Views
The Green Dragon Tavern
@greendragonhq
“When a president gives a primetime televised speech, it is typically about something of serious import: to make the case for a major new policy or to announce the beginning of a war.
President Donald Trump’s speech on Wednesday night had no grave significance. In fact, there didn’t seem to be much of a point at all,” writes senior correspondent Zack Beauchamp.
“The speech was a jumble of his usual false or even impossible claims — like a promise to reduce prescription drug costs by an impossible 400% — smashed together in no particular order. The speech began with a discussion of the cost of living, a subject he would drop and then return to as if just remembering that it was the number one reason his polls were low. Even the delivery was weird: Seemingly under network time constraints, the president read off the teleprompter angrily and quickly, speaking with the motormouth intensity of a 20-something banker who just discovered cocaine and now has a really great idea for a new restaurant.
So why am I writing about it at all?
Because the fact that it happened at all tells us something much more important: that the Trump administration is sinking, and his White House has no idea what to do about it.” The full story is linked in the comments below.
https://x.com/greendragonhq/status/2001667301813145821?s=20
Tara Copp
@TaraCopp
NEW: The U.S. Coast Guard will remove language from its new workplace harassment policy that downgraded the definition of swastikas and nooses from overt hate symbols to “potentially divisive,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem said Thursday, an abrupt turnaround after the more lenient interpretation took effect this week despite objections from Congress. w/
@marianne_levine
BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA AH HA
Amee Vanderpool
@girlsreallyrule
Federal prosecutors attempted to get a grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, to add a third felony charge to a failed indictment of NYAG Letitia James last week, while omitting earlier claims that she fraudulently converted a second home into a rental property.
It failed, again.
https://x.com/girlsreallyrule/status/2001650815648555409?s=20
Amene
@Ange_Amene
And that’s a message to ALL OF YOU
Cuz I’m Black and a woman.
My voting bloc is PERFECT. We dont have to do SHIT.
But the rest of y’all???? Work on it.
Black voters especially us Black women are SICK of doing the heavy lifting in elections.
4:06 PM · Dec 17, 2025
·
1,786
Views
Politics & Poll Tracker 📡
@PollTracker2024
Emerson poll | 12/14-12/15 RV
If the 2028 presidential election were between the following, who would you support?
🟦Progressive Democrat 43%
🟥MAGA Republican 42%
—
🟥Moderate Republican 48%
🟦Progressive Democrat 36%
—
🟦Moderate Democrat 47%
🟥MAGA Republican 38%
—
🟥Moderate Republican 44%
🟦Moderate Democrat 39%
https://x.com/PollTracker2024/status/2001633663725809934?s=20
David Frum
@davidfrum
I was wondering how Trump found his troop pay money without a congressional authorization/appropriation. He found it by taking it away from troop housing money. Always a con artist.
https://x.com/davidfrum/status/2001677507997663706?s=20
Boston Smalls
@smalls2672
😆🤣. This exactly what you voted for. You floppy dildos wanted to own the libs so bad you owned yourselves. We voted for your best interest. You voted to hurt us. See the difference? See why we fucking despise you assholes. Because you see us as not as your fellow country men. You see us as someone to hate. Someone to blame for your failures. Fuck all of you. And after watching you for years dick ride a conman that is a racist pedophile who is compromised by foreign governments, I dont think you should be allowed to vote for a generation. You clearly can’t make adult decisions, can’t tell fact from fiction, mythology from history and you base everything off your feelings.
You failed the open book test. We all knew exactly who this guys was. We told you for years who he is but you just wanted to hurt your fellow countrymen. Fuck you. https://x.com/PizzaPepe/stat/PizzaPepe/status/2001475296982110583
Leonidas K
@leoknyc777
Here’s my take away from whatever it was that Trump just did in that speech. First, Trump is a terrible reader. He’s like a first grader waiting on his turn to read a paragraph in class, who just blazes through it so he won’t embarrassed.
Second, it felt like he was demanding we believe that nonsense, spewing random statistics, it was this desperate attempt to insist things are going well.
Third, that had to be the Shortest White Supremacy/Xenophobic Speech on Record…
Fourth, the first thing he did was blame Joe Biden. Literally the first sentence out of his mouth. The fact is however Joe Biden’s economy was way stronger over the same period.
https://x.com/leoknyc777/status/2001482067863835064?s=20
Melanie Zanona
@MZanona
NEW: Dem Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex officio Kennedy board member, says she was muted, unable to voice opposition or ask questions, and not given the chance to vote on the name change.
She says Trump – who was appearing via zoom – said he was surprised to learn they were changing name.
They were also initially told the center would only include Trump’s name.. only later was it clarified it would include Kennedy’s name too
1:30 PM · Dec 18, 2025
https://x.com/MZanona/status/2001736878941516017?s=20
hris 🇺🇸 🦅 💙💙💙💙
@clalter59
They still need Congress to make a name change.
This was supposed to be an honor of Kennedy.
Somebody please tell me how Trump has done anything to deserve being recognized this way because remodeling a building isn’t it
1:47 PM · Dec 18, 2025
https://x.com/clalter59/status/2001741175628452264?s=20
Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett
@RepJasmine
We have the signatures needed to bring a vote to the floor to extend the ACA tax credits—but MAGA Mike is canceling votes for the rest of the week, once again turning his back on the American people.
On January 1, millions of Americans will see their health care premiums skyrocket because Republicans are refusing to do their job. We all deserve better.
Senator Patty Murray
@PattyMurray
ICYMI: Speaker Johnson is REFUSING to let the House vote on a bill to extend the ACA tax credits this month.
People are buying health coverage NOW—January is TOO LATE.
Republican Leaders won’t do a thing to help families keep their health care.
6:21 PM · Dec 17, 2025
·
16.6K
Views
Suzie rizzio
@Suzierizzo1
ICE has been hanging around Logan Memorial Elementary School and when Community members started blowing their whistles to warn everyone this agent got upset,but obviously wasn’t in good enough shape to run and chase anyone!
https://x.com/Suzierizzo1/status/2001548918979531200?s=20
Austin Kocher, PhD
@ackocher
A federal judge is trying to find out if deportation flights kept going after he ordered them to stop. DOJ wants that investigation blocked and the judge removed from the case.
https://x.com/ackocher/status/2001639533775872389?s=20
Jamie Dupree
@jamiedupree
Where is President Trump’s $1,776 military bonus money coming from? Congress only approved $50 million for bonuses in the Big Beautiful Bill. Instead, the Pentagon is shifting $2.6 billion of the $2.9 billion in money approved for military housing assistance.
https://x.com/jamiedupree/status/2001699047640342676?s=20
Jamie Dupree
@jamiedupree
Sen. Susan Collins R-ME – who chairs the Appropriations Committee – told us she did not know any of the details about this Pentagon money shift (housing allowance to bonuses)
https://x.com/jamiedupree/status/2001712063526350979?s=20
Kyle Griffin
@kylegriffin1
House Republicans are now canceling Friday votes. Congress will recess for the rest of the year on Thursday afternoon.
Obamacare subsidies expire Dec. 31.
6:45 PM · Dec 17, 2025
·
416.4K
Views
Karoline Leavitt
@PressSec
I have just been informed that the highly respected Board of the Kennedy Center, some of the most successful people from all parts of the world, have just voted unanimously to rename the Kennedy Center to the Trump-Kennedy Center, because of the unbelievable work President Trump has done over the last year in saving the building. Not only from the standpoint of its reconstruction, but also financially, and its reputation. Congratulations to President Donald J. Trump, and likewise, congratulations to President Kennedy, because this will be a truly great team long into the future! The building will no doubt attain new levels of success and grandeur.
12:11 PM · Dec 18, 2025
https://x.com/PressSec/status/2001717032191168839?s=20
Jake Sherman
@JakeSherman
The building is statutorily named the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Congress did not give the board the authority to change the name.
https://law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/20/76i?utm
https://x.com/JakeSherman/status/2001720093663990092?s=20
CJ Warnke
@cjwarnke
NEW from
@NavigatorSurvey
:
61% disapprove of Trump’s handling of inflation and the cost of living
There’s a 42% disconnect between Americans’ priorities and perceived government focus
14% of Trump voters now say they regret their vote, largely because of his econ handling
https://x.com/cjwarnke/status/2001658531473457245?s=20
Matthew Yglesias
@mattyglesias
Florida was closer than Texas in 2024, Democrats have been over performing in FL special elections by freakishly large margins, the COVID issue that seemed to help Republicans here has faded, Dems flipped Miami last week.
They need a senate candidate.
https://x.com/mattyglesias/status/2001642087532446060?s=20
Poster explaining why the President of Mexico ‘s refusal to approve of American Military deportation flights in Mexican airspace is such a big deal.
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8y2RHSW/
Good Morning Everyone😊😊😊