House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) traded pointed barbs in the halls of the Capitol on Wednesday, after the moderate Republican confronted the Democratic leader about his opposition to a short-term extension of Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies.
Lawler approached Jeffries when he emerged from the House Democratic leadership press conference and repeatedly pressed the Democrat to sign onto a proposal that would extend the Obamacare subsidies by one year, which Jeffries earlier dismissed as a “non-starter.”
“Why don’t we sign on right now? Why don’t we sign on right now?” Lawler said to Jeffries. “You can easily extend the ACA right now.”
But the exchange quickly grew personal, as Jeffries sidestepped the question entirely, calling Lawler an “embarrassment” and asking whether the GOP lawmaker got “permission from your boss” to approach Jeffries as he did.
“Did your boss, Donald Trump, give you permission?” Jeffries asked, talking over Lawler as he pressed the leader about the one-year extension.
“He’s not my boss,” Lawler shot back.
“Yes, he is,” Jeffries said.
“No, he’s not,” the Republican insisted.
Lawler pivoted to asking Jeffries why he would “vote to shut the government down,” but Jeffries did not respond. Instead, he accused the swing-district Republican of manufacturing the confrontation with Jeffries to boost his own political profile.
“You’re making a show of this to make yourself relevant,” Jeffries told Lawler, as the two men talked over each other, surrounded by media. “You’re embarrassing yourself right now.”
“It’s sad. It’s sad. You could easily sign onto this,” Lawler said about the GOP funding bill, before addressing Jeffries’s jab: “The only embarrassment here is you.”
Jeffries responded: “You’re chasing clout. You’re an embarrassment.”
The confrontation continued getting heated, and Jeffries at one point grew frustrated that Lawler continued talking over him without letting him respond to Lawler’s concerns.
“You’re not going to talk to me and talk over me because you don’t want to hear what I have to say,” Jeffries told Lawler. “Why don’t you just keep your mouth shut?”
The latest face-off between lawmakers comes amid rising tensions on Capitol Hill, as the country enters its second week of a shutdown with no signs of progress on a deal to reopen the federal government.
Both sides continue to dig in on their demands, with Democrats insisting that a permanent extension of the ACA subsidies be part of any short-term government funding legislation. GOP leaders, meanwhile, say those discussions can wait until later in the year and should be separate from funding the government.
Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.) is pushing legislation to extend enhanced ACA tax credits — which are set to expire on Jan. 1 — through the end of 2026. The proposal has bipartisan support, and some political observers view it as a launching pad for securing a deal to reopen the government. But Jeffries rejected the proposal on Tuesday, calling a one-year extension a “non-starter.”
He emphasized Trump and Republicans had adopted a permanent extension of tax cuts for the country’s wealthiest people earlier in the year. With that in mind, he’s demanding a similarly permanent extension of the enhanced ACA subsidies, which overwhelmingly help working class people.
“What world are these MAGA extremists living in right now to think that Democrats are going to go along with a one-year extension from a group of people, meaning the Republicans, who just permanently extended massive tax breaks for their billionaire donors?” Jeffries told reporters in the Capitol.
“It’s a laughable proposition. It makes no sense,” he added. “The Democratic position has been clear: Permanent extension, and let’s go from there.”
Elsewhere in the Capitol on Wednesday, tensions erupted outside Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) office, where Arizona’s Democratic senators staged a surprise press gaggle to highlight their health care demands and his delay in swearing in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.).
“The guy who works in this office right here is keeping all of his Republican colleagues and his caucus on an extended summer vacation. He will not come back to negotiate with us. We are ready,” Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) told reporters outside Johnson’s office, referring to Democrats wanting commitments on health care measures as a condition of voting to reopen the government.
Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) dug in on Johnson not swearing in Grijalva, who would be the final signature needed on a discharge petition to force a vote on a bill to release files relating to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Gallego accused the Speaker of wanting to “cover up for pedophiles on the Epstein list.”
Johnson called the gaggle “absurd” and dismissed the incident as a “publicity stunt.”
Lawler found himself involved in that confrontation, too, as he jumped in to push back on the Democratic senators. That conversation also became increasingly argumentative.
“Stop covering up for the pedophiles,” Gallego said at one point.
“Nobody’s covering up for pedophiles, so knock it the hell off,” Lawler shot back.
Lawler is one of three Republicans in Congress who are holding seats that voted for former Vice President Harris over Trump in 2024. He faces numerous challenges to his candidacy in 2026.
