{"id":92467,"date":"2025-07-25T22:13:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T22:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/92467\/"},"modified":"2025-07-25T22:13:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T22:13:10","slug":"the-next-big-health-care-fight-thats-splitting-republicans-from-the-politics-desk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/92467\/","title":{"rendered":"The next big health care fight that’s splitting Republicans: From the Politics Desk"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk<\/a>, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team\u2019s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.<\/p>\n

Happy Friday! In today\u2019s edition, Sahil Kapur notes that a looming Obamacare deadline is dividing Republicans on Capitol Hill. Plus, Kristen Welker breaks down the political fallout thus far from the Jeffrey Epstein saga. And Scott Bland answers this week\u2019s reader question on Texas Republicans\u2019 redistricting efforts. <\/p>\n

Sign up to receive this newsletter in your inbox every weekday here.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Adam Wollner<\/p>\n

The next big health care fight that\u2019s splitting Republicans By Sahil Kapur<\/p>\n

After passing President Donald Trump\u2019s sweeping megabill that included steep cuts to Medicaid, Republicans have another big health care fight on their hands. <\/p>\n

GOP leaders are facing growing calls from their members to extend a bucket of funding for the Affordable Care Act that is set to expire at the end of this year as some look to avert insurance premium hikes and millions of Americans losing their health coverage.<\/p>\n

But the cause faces opposition from conservatives who detest Obamacare and don\u2019t want to lift a finger to protect it. Some argue it\u2019d be too expensive to continue the premium tax credits, which cost over $30 billion per year and were initially adopted as part of a Covid-19 response.<\/p>\n

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects that about 5 million Americans will lose their insurance by 2034 if the money expires.<\/p>\n

The divide: <\/strong>Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., who represents a swing district that Trump lost in 2024, said that Congress should continue those ACA tax credits in order to avoid price increases.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we gotta be doing everything to keep costs low across the board \u2014 health care, groceries, energy, all of the above. So I am currently working on addressing that as we speak,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., the chair of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, said he \u201cabsolutely\u201d wants that funding to end.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll cost hundreds of billions of dollars. Can\u2019t afford it,\u201d he said. \u201cThat was a Covid-era policy. Newsflash to America: Covid is over.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now, top Republican leaders are keeping their powder dry about whether \u2014 or how \u2014 they will take up the issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that goes to the end of the calendar year, so we\u2019ll have discussion about the issue later. But it hasn\u2019t come up yet,\u201d House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said when asked about an ACA subsidy extension. \u201cBut it\u2019s on the radar.\u201d<\/p>\n

A midterm warning:<\/strong> Veteran GOP pollsters Tony Fabrizio and Bob Ward recently released a memo<\/a> warning that extending the health care tax credits is broadly popular, even with \u201csolid majorities of Trump voters and [s]wing voters.\u201d They warned that the GOP will pay a \u201cpolitical penalty\u201d in the competitive districts in the 2026 midterm elections if the funding expires on schedule.<\/p>\n

Read more from Sahil \u2192<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Republicans brace for the political impact of the Epstein sagaAnalysis by Kristen Welker<\/p>\n

The Jeffrey Epstein saga is the political headache that won\u2019t go away for President Donald Trump, as the drip-drip of new reporting on his past relationship with the convicted sex offender and repeated attempts to deflect have only fed the story. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s the first time we\u2019ve really seen Trump\u2019s base break with him to this degree. Even though the impulse to rally around their leader remains as each new story breaks, no matter how Trump tries to change the subject, the calls for his administration to release more information from the Epstein files are only growing louder. <\/p>\n

The issue transcends politics \u2014 it\u2019s a devastating reminder of the victims of the crimes committed by Epstein and those who enabled him.<\/p>\n

As far as how it\u2019s playing out on Capitol Hill, Democrats and even some Republicans are trying to hold the Trump administration\u2019s feet to the fire. Both parties believe the GOP could pay a political price on the issue as they look to defend their congressional majorities in next year\u2019s midterms. <\/p>\n

That includes Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., one of our guests on \u201cMeet the Press\u201d this Sunday. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople will become apathetic again. They\u2019ll say, we elected President Trump. We gave him a majority in the House and the Senate, and they couldn\u2019t even release evidence of an underage sex trafficking ring. They couldn\u2019t even bring themselves to release that. I thought we were the party of family values, and I guess we\u2019re not,\u201d Massie said this week on the \u201cRedacted\u201d podcast<\/a>. <\/p>\n

And Democrats, including Rep. Ro Khanna of California<\/a> \u2014 another one of our guests this Sunday \u2014 argue the issue has salience on multiple fronts. They note it divides Trump and his base while also making a relatively popular appeal for transparency, one piece of a broader Democratic line of attack that the administration isn\u2019t being open with the American people. <\/p>\n

While it\u2019s unsurprising that Democrats overwhelmingly disapprove of how the Trump administration is handling the Epstein files, according to a recent Quinnipiac University poll<\/a>, 71% of independents disapprove, too. And Republicans are about evenly divided, with 40% approving and 36% disapproving of the administration\u2019s handling of the issue. <\/p>\n

The political cost for Republicans isn\u2019t clear yet. Will it depress the enthusiasm of voters Republicans are scrambling to motivate to turn out with Trump not on the ballot? Will it force the party onto the defense at a time where it needs to be cementing public sentiment about its landmark tax cuts and spending bill, which Democrats are already weaponizing as a key midterm issue? Could Democrats overplay their hand if it overshadows their message on the most important issue to many voters, the economy? <\/p>\n

We\u2019ll discuss this and more on this Sunday\u2019s \u201cMeet the Press.\u201d In addition to Khanna and Massie, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., will also be joining us.<\/p>\n

\u2709\ufe0f Mailbag: Even redistricting is bigger in Texas<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thanks to everyone who emailed us! This week\u2019s reader question is on Republicans\u2019 attempts to draw new congressional maps in Texas.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs it legal what Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas Republicans want to do for Trump?\u201d<\/p>\n

To answer that, we turned to senior politics editor Scott Bland<\/a>. Here\u2019s his response: <\/p>\n

Redistricting happens every decade after the decennial census, so that each state has representation in the House of Representatives reflecting its official population and each district in a state has the same number of people in it. <\/p>\n

But this isn\u2019t the first time someone has moved to change the maps mid-decade. <\/p>\n

In fact, this isn\u2019t even the first time it\u2019s happened in Texas. In 2002, Texas Republicans gained full control of the state Legislature, and they decided the following year to draw a new map to replace a court-drawn one that had been imposed for that decade \u2014 and to increase the GOP advantage in the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m the majority leader and we want more seats,\u201d Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, told reporters at the time<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What flies in Texas doesn\u2019t necessarily fly everywhere, though. Colorado Republicans also tried to redraw maps in their state in 2003, but the state Supreme Court ruled that the state Constitution forbade revisiting the maps more than once per decade<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While Democrats are eager to fight back against the GOP\u2019s effort to draw more red seats in Texas, such obstacles could stand in their way. As New York Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs told Politico this week<\/a>, \u201cI understand those in New York who are watching what\u2019s happening in Texas and Ohio want to offset their unfair advantage.\u201d <\/p>\n

But, he added, \u201cThe [state] Constitution seems pretty clear that this redistricting process should be done every 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\ud83d\uddde\ufe0f Today’s other top stories<\/p>\n