Six Primaries That May Determine The Future Of The GOP After Trump
Trump loyalists and establishment candidates battle it out
Senate tanks GOP solution to Obamacare subsidy problems
The Senate failed to pass the Republican-led health care bill as the deadline to extend Obamacare subsidies fast approaches.
The Health Care Freedom for Patients Act failed to pass in a 51-48 vote after one Republican, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, joined 47 Democrats to vote against it. 51 Republicans voted in favor of the legislation, but the bill ultimately failed due to the 60-vote threshold. Notably, Republican Sen. Steve Daines of Montana was not present for the vote.
The bill would also foster competition and broaden health care.
Certain subsidies from former President Barack Obama's landmark health care bill, known as the Affordable Care Act, are set to expire at the end of the year. Notably, these ACA subsidies are the reason Senate Democrats decided to shut down the government in October.
Despite facilitating the longest government shutdown in history, Senate Democrats have not struck a deal with Republicans to address health care.
RELATED: Democrat senator makes stunning admission about Obamacare failures
The Health Care Freedom for Patients Act, authored by Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Mike Crapo of Idaho, would have allowed these Obamacare subsidies to lapse, instead directing funds to individual health savings accounts.
While this bill ultimately failed, other Republican lawmakers have drafted their own legislation to address the impending problem.
Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida introduced the More Affordable Care Act, which would also redirect federal subsidies to HSA-style accounts called Trump Health Freedom Accounts. The bill would additionally foster competition and broaden health care options for states by establishing the Health Freedom Waiver Program.
RELATED: Republicans race to pass competing health care bill as clock ticks on Obamacare subsidies
The companion bill to Scott's legislation was also introduced in the House by Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger. At this time, no vote has been scheduled on the bill in either the House or the Senate.
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Republicans race to pass competing health care bill as clock ticks on Obamacare subsidies
With the deadline to extend Obamacare subsidies fast approaching, Republican lawmakers are leading the charge.
Former President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act has been the focal point of health care discussions on Capitol Hill as ACA subsidies are expected to expire at the end of the year. These are the same subsidies Senate Democrats cited as the basis of their record-breaking shutdown.
The Republicans' legislation blocks funds for 'gender transition procedures' and abortions.
In response, several Republicans introduced their own legislation, including the Health Care Freedom for Patients Act penned by Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Mike Crapo of Idaho.
With just weeks until these subsidies lapse, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (S.D.) will hold a vote on that key legislation on Thursday.
The Crapo-Cassidy bill would allow the Obama-era subsidies to lapse, instead boosting funds for health savings accounts. Eligible adults under the age of 50 would receive $1,000 deposited into their HSA while those between the ages 50 and 64 would get $1,500.
It would also fund cost-sharing reduction payments and provide eligible Americans the option to purchase "bronze" or "catastrophic" health care plans. Notably the Republicans' legislation blocks funds for "gender transition procedures" and abortions.
Although Republicans are expected to vote for the legislation, it is unlikely to pass due to the 60-vote filibuster threshold. Assuming all 53 Republicans vote in favor of the bill, at least seven Democrats would have to cross the aisle for the legislation to pass the Senate.
RELATED: Democrat senator makes stunning admission about Obamacare failures
Other Republicans, like Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, are also introducing alternative health care bills. Scott introduced his More Affordable Care Act alongside Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger (Texas), who spearheaded the companion bill in the House.
Scott and Pfluger's bill would create Trump Health Freedom Accounts, redirecting federal subsidies traditionally sent to insurance companies to these HSA-style accounts held by individual Americans. The bill would also establish a Health Freedom Waiver Program, allowing states to broaden their health plans and expand competition to offer fairer prices.
At this time, there is no vote scheduled for Scott's legislation.
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Senate Republicans Push Labor Reform As They Navigate Pro-Union Faction Of The MAGA Movement
Cassidy told reporters that the legislative package is not meant to 'tear up unions' or clash with the bills introduced by the Hawley, Moreno, and Marshall wing.Republican senator accuses Stanford of punishing student who refused to fund pro-abortion, pro-trans union
Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana is pushing back on Stanford University, claiming that it has punished students who don't conform to the institution's ideology.
In a letter obtained by Blaze News, Cassidy called out Stanford for allegedly threatening to fire a graduate student who refused to pay dues to a union that advocates values contrary to his own.
'Student workers should not be compelled.'
The union, known as the Stanford Graduate Workers Union, sends two-thirds of its dues to the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, which supports abortion and taxpayer-funded gender-transition procedures. The student refused to pay the dues, citing his conflicting religious beliefs, which allegedly resulted in the threat to fire the student.
"This firing would bar the student from obtaining a degree for no other reason than his objection to being a member of a union that supports political positions violating his sincerely held religious beliefs," Cassidy said in the letter.
Cassidy described the "chilling effect" that discourages students with unorthodox, and often more conservative or traditional, views to self-censor.
"Forcing student workers to fund such activities has a chilling effect on speech and, presumably, would discourage students with certain religious views from applying to or attending Stanford University," Cassidy said in the letter.
"Student workers should not be compelled to spend their hard-earned dollars funding organizations that use those same funds to advance causes that violate deeply held religious beliefs," Cassidy added.
Stanford University confirmed to Blaze News that it had received Cassidy's letter and that it will "look forward to reviewing it and discussing it with his office." The university did not comment any further.
Editor's note: This story has been edited after publication to include a statement from Stanford.
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PHOTOS of MAHA infiltrator caught with mRNA lobbyists
A deep-state actor has been attempting to remove Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from his position as director of Health and Human Services — and BlazeTV host Liz Wheeler has the receipts.
“We have an untold story about what’s happened over the course of the past week at the CDC. We all know the publicly reported stories of what happened — that Susan Monarez, who was the previous head of the CDC, was asked by HHS Secretary Bobby Kennedy to fire some people who were not in line, not in alignment with the MAHA agenda,” Wheeler begins.
Wheeler calls Monarez “a bad apple” and a “militant pro-vaxxer” who is not ideologically aligned with the MAHA movement and even defended mRNA vaccines and the COVID vaccine during her confirmation hearing.
“The question, of course, was why was she nominated in the first place as CDC director?” Wheeler asks, before calling the answer a man named Bill Cassidy, a Republican senator from Louisiana.
According to Wheeler, Cassidy is a “MAHA infiltrator."
“He doesn’t seem like someone who’s propagating evil. But let me tell you about what happened over the weekend at the CDC when then-CDC Director Susan Monarez was asked by Bobby Kennedy, HHS secretary, to fire individuals at the CDC who were opposed to Bobby’s MAHA agenda,” Wheeler explains.
“Susan Monarez said ‘no.’ She refused to do the directive of her boss,” she continues, noting that this resulted in her being asked to resign — which she also refused to do and instead hired a lawyer.
“So Bobby Kennedy called President Trump, the White House — HHS communicated with the White House, I should say, to be precise. And President Trump said, ‘Actually, the CDC director, because you’re now a Senate-confirmed official, serves at the pleasure of the president, and it is now my pleasure that you not serve as the CDC director,’” Wheeler says.
“Now, that’s what’s known. You read that,” she adds.
What’s not known is that the first phone call Monarez made after being asked to resign was to Senator Bill Cassidy, who has been instrumental in torpedoing other MAHA efforts.
This is where a lobbying group called “Alliance for mRNA Medicines” comes in, which Wheeler says is “exactly what it sounds like.”
“It is a group dedicated to lobbying, pressuring, capturing members of the federal government and advocating for mRNA vaccines. They call them medicines because they don’t want vaccines in the title,” Wheeler explains.
In a highlight reel the group posted on social media, where they bragged about “what they accomplished during their trip to Washington, D.C.,” they show a meeting with none other than a smiling Cassidy.
“This man, Senator Bill Cassidy, is in the pocket of Big Pharma … but it’s worse than that. Senator Bill Cassidy is not only in the pocket of Big Pharma, he’s in the pocket of the mRNA vaccine lobby,” Wheeler says.
In 2023-2024, Cassidy was the second-highest Republican Senate recipient of Big Pharma cash. In one year alone, he received $290,000 from Big Pharma employees and lobbying groups — which is from just the easily trackable direct donations.
“And funny how the moment he became the ranking member of the Senate Health Committee, he suddenly received an influx of donations not just from pharma employees, but from pharma executives,” she explains, noting that one of those executives is the CEO of Pfizer.
“There’s an infiltrator who’s standing in the way of the MAHA-MAGA alliance,” Wheeler continues, adding, “Senator Bill Cassidy is captured not just by Big Pharma money but by the mRNA vaccine lobby, and there’s photographs to prove it.”
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