Overview

• A hallway exchange on Wednesday showed Rep. Mike Lawler pressing House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to back a one-year extension, asking, “Why don’t we sign on right now?”
• Jeffries called a one-year plan a nonstarter during the encounter, labeled Lawler an embarrassment, and questioned whether Donald Trump had given him permission to approach.
• On a podcast later, Jeffries referred to Lawler as a “malignant clown” and a “complete and total fraud,” intensifying the personal tenor of the dispute.
• Lawler accused Jeffries of choosing partisanship over governance and urged a bipartisan compromise to extend ACA credits.
• The subsidies are reported to lapse at year’s end, with coverage noting roughly 20 million people could be affected, and a video of the exchange drew wide attention on social media as reporters sought comment from Lawler’s office.