GOP grows uneasy over voters' health care premiums amid shutdown standoff

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Source: CNN Politics

PUBLISHED Oct 26, 2025, 8:00 AM ET


Anxiety is rising among congressional Republicans that their party has no plan to address a critical health care deadline this fall that will result in spiking costs for millions of Americans – the issue at the heart of the deepening government shutdown crisis.

And some of those GOP members are offering a stark warning to their own leaders: Doing nothing could cost them their full control of Congress in next November’s midterms, calling for a plan that would address expiring enhanced Obamacare tax credits to be swiftly advanced once the government eventually reopens.

“I think the reality is, if costs go up under our control, it could have an impact on us,” Rep. David Valadao, a vulnerable GOP lawmaker from California, told CNN about the political effects of the health care fight. “I get that there’s some in leadership who don’t like hearing it but there’s no denying it.” “Just watching rates go up and pointing fingers is not what we should be doing in our position,” he said.

Valadao is among dozens of rank-and-file House and Senate members who have begun drafting their own ideas about how to deal with the expiring enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, which help millions of Americans afford insurance. Many of those GOP members — predominantly from battleground seats — are also directly urging their leadership and the White House to do something to make sure the tax credits keep flowing at year’s end.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/26/politics/health-care-premiums-obamacare-republicans-shutdown