Axios Hill Leaders

December 05, 2025
Happy Friday! 881 words, 3.5 minutes.
- β‘οΈ GOP's health care mess
- π¨ Republicans turn on legal immigrants
1 big thing: β‘οΈ GOP's health care mess
Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson are both considering votes on GOP health care priorities next week β if they can figure out what those priorities are.
Why it matters: Democrats are unified in their demand for a three-year extension of the Affordable Care Act's enhanced subsidies, which expire Dec. 31. Republicans are still divided and debating their counteroffers.
- Johnson hopes to reveal a House GOP health care package early next week, though some sources are skeptical that will happen.
- Thune has promised Democrats a vote on their health care bill next week. But his conference is still in the idea stage on their counters, which are more likely to come as amendment or unanimous consent votes rather than a single broader GOP package.
Between the lines: Don't expect any health care package to pass next week.
- The real question is whether the voting exercise in the Senate and maybe the House fuels ongoing bipartisan dealmaking β or hampers it.
Zoom in: Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) is circulating a plan that would extend the expiring subsidies β but with a $200,000 income cap and no zero-dollar premium packages, Semafor's Burgess Everett reports.
- Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) told us he hopes a GOP package will include moving the expiring subsidies into health care savings accounts and adding his bipartisan bill requiring more price transparency.
- Republicans are also again eyeing changes known as cost-sharing reductions, aimed at lowering premiums, but that could cut subsidies for some enrollees.
- Multiple senators described the conversations as broad and fluid, with no real consensus this week on any single GOP package. And Hyde protections continue to be a sore spot, with some Republicans demanding increased assurances that subsidies aren't used for abortions.
In the House, Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) has been holding "listening sessions" with committee leaders and rank-and-file Republicans for weeks to find a consensus GOP plan.
- A bipartisan group of 35 centrist lawmakers, led by Reps. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.) and Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) unveiled a two-year extension of the ACA subsidies yesterday, but it doesn't have buy-in from leadership.
- "We're going to come up with something that I think even people like Jen would support," Scalise said yesterday.
- House GOP leaders have also discussed proposals that would not extend the enhanced subsidies but instead expand association health plans, in which employers band together to purchase health coverage for workers.
House Democrats, meanwhile, filed a discharge petition for a clean three-year extension β the same approach Senate Democrats say they'll put on the floor next week. No Republicans have signed on, and few seem willing to do so.
- Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) is also floating a plan that mirrors a White House proposal that was postponed after conservative pushback.
Reality check: A sizable bloc of Republicans in both chambers remains ideologically opposed to extending the subsidies in any form.
- Getting a plan with only GOP buy-in through the House looks nearly impossible β if Johnson omits an extension of the ACA subsidies, he'd lose vulnerable Republicans who are fighting to extend them.
- And even if House GOP leadership opted to bring up a bipartisan bill under suspension, they'd still need to find 80 willing Republicans.
- It will also take time for leadership to familiarize members with the proposal.
The bottom line: With only 10 session days to go, it looks increasingly likely the health care fight will continue into next year.
β Stef Kight, Kate Santaliz and Hans Nichols
2. π¨ Republicans turn on legal immigrants
In Congress, the GOP's immigration crackdown increasingly includes more scrutiny of people who have already navigated the lengthy legal process.
The big picture: After two National Guard personnel were shot last week in D.C., the Trump administration has paused asylum, vowed to expand its travel bans to more than 30 countries and called for a review of green card holders from 19 countries.
- The suspected assailant arrived in the U.S. from Afghanistan under a Biden-era parole program and was granted asylum this year.
- Another Afghan national was arrested this week on suspicion of making a bomb threat online.
Driving the news: Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) introduced legislation on Monday banning dual citizenship β forcing immigrants to choose just one citizenship.
- Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) announced a new bill on Wednesday that, among other restrictions, would allow the Homeland Security secretary to strip citizenship from immigrants if they join riots or violent protests.
- Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) has been pushing his "PAUSE Act," which would freeze all legal immigration and end automatic birthright citizenship.
Zoom out: Online, MAGA influencers and candidates have been promoting their own aggressive anti-immigration wish lists β from shutting down the refugee program to mass denaturalization, as Axios' Tal Axelrod reported.
- President Trump on Sunday said he would "absolutely" denaturalize certain Americans if he could.
- Multiple Senate Republicans were not ready to weigh in on such an idea, citing unfamiliarity with the legal arguments.
What's next: The Supreme Court announced today it will take up a case on Trump's executive order to end birthright citizenship. If the justices agree with the president, the court could overrule a constitutional right it has previously upheld, Axios' April Rubin reports.
βΒ Stef Kight
This newsletter was edited by Justin Green and copy edited by Kathie Bozanich.
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