The House will vote this week on extending the Affordable Care Act’s expiring enhanced premium tax credits, though that’s not going to produce a law before the end of the year.
Instead, the real deadline is shifting toward when open enrollment for the Obamacare marketplaces ends on Jan. 15 — and when a swath of government funding expires on Jan. 30.
Progressives see that shutdown date as a point of leverage, and Republicans see it as the last chance for a deal with Democrats.
That “gives us at least a deadline. It feels like a pretty real deadline, too,” said Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan. “If we don’t have a bipartisan bill worked out by Jan. 30, then I think we have to consider reconciliation.”
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said recent failures could lead to “a number of opportunities to bridge a compromise.”