A surprising new Republican crossed the aisle to vote to advance a Democratic proposal to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies: Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO). But she soon came forward to clarify she made a mistake.
According to Punchbowl News' Jake Sherman, Boebert, along with Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA), added their names to an existing group of nine Republicans who joined Democrats in procedural votes in favor of the legislation, which was mandated by a Democratic discharge petition that overrode House GOP leadership.
The development took political observers aback because Boebert is a far-right lawmaker who generally backs Trump and GOP leadership on everything. One or two commenters on social media even speculated this might be revenge for Trump's veto of a water quality project in her district, which he did to punish the state of Colorado for not freeing a jailed election conspiracy theorist.
But shortly thereafter, Boebert responded to Sherman's post to X with a different explanation.
Boebert's post included a picture of herself holding an "Incorrect Vote Form," notifying House leadership that she intended to vote against the measure but voted in favor of it in error.
Her vote being removed didn't change the overall outcome of the bill, which passed in the House this afternoon.
The fight over extending subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, has raged for months and triggered a record government shutdown standoff late last year. In the Senate, bipartisan negotiators are trying to hammer out a deal independently of the House discharge petition.
