GOP divisions on display as House votes to extend Obamacare subsidies
WASHINGTON – A group of more than a dozen Republicans joined with Democrats on Jan. 8 to pass a bill meant to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies that expired at the end of last year, which raised health care costs for millions of Americans.
It was one of two major signs of division within the GOP on the same day. The other came hours earlier, when five Republican senators rebuked President Donald Trump by voting to prevent further military action in Venezuela without congressional approval. Trump later took to social media to say the lawmakers from his own party, including vulnerable incumbent GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, “should never be elected to office again.”
The separate health care vote, which came down mostly along party lines, was 230-196. Seventeen Republicans joined with all Democrats to support the measure. Five lawmakers didn’t vote.