Ossoff bets his 2026 race on protecting ACA subsidies

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Ossoff bets his 2026 race on protecting ACA subsidies
The Senate's most vulnerable Democrat refuses GOP pressure and holds firm on health care costs

By Jason Kyle Howard
Senior Ideas Editor
Published November 19, 2025 9:15AM (EST)


(Salon) In the days leading up to the Nov. 8 agreement eight moderate Senate Democrats made with Republicans to end the government shutdown after 40 days of party unity, much speculation centered on one senator in particular. According to the Wall Street Journal, Senate Republicans saw Georgia’s Jon Ossoff, who is widely acknowledged as the most vulnerable Senate Democrat up for reelection in 2026, as among the most likely to fold.

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As it turned out, Acosta and Democrats had nothing to fear. When the deal was announced to a tsunami of vitriol from the Democratic rank-and-file, who were angry that all the eight senators had extracted from Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., was a word-of-mouth promise to allow a vote on extending subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, Ossoff’s name was nowhere to be found.

In retrospect, that shouldn’t have come as a surprise. The senator had long telegraphed, even before it became Democrats’ rallying cry for the length of the shutdown, that health care subsidies were his red line. Then again, Democrats are famous for having red lines — and for allowing Republicans to breach them, time and again, with little to no consequence.

But this one was real. During the ramp-up to the passage of President Donald Trump’s beloved One Big Beautiful Bill Act this summer, Ossoff offered an amendment to extend those very ACA tax credits. “Instead of adding trillions to the debt in tax cuts for the rich while destroying Medicaid and renewable energy, I propose we help our constituents afford health insurance,” he said in remarks on the Senate floor. “If we allow Affordable Care Act benefits to expire — as this bill would — more than a million Georgians will pay more for health insurance next year… A vote against this amendment is a vote to gut the Affordable Care Act and raise health insurance premiums.” ...................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2025/11/19/jon-ossoff-stands-firm-on-affordability-in-the-face-of-gop-attacks/