President Donald Trump has tried to introduce sweeping new policies on health care and artificial intelligence — but they are "in limbo" and keep getting delayed and shelved again and again as Republicans in Congress revolt over them, Semafor reported on Wednesday.
"The White House’s proposals to shore up expiring health care subsidies and ban state AI regulations leaked to the press; now, both proposals are suddenly in limbo. It’s not entirely clear what prompted the delays, but it’s no secret Republicans are divided over the ideas," wrote Burgess Everett and Eleanor Mueller. "The most urgent matter is the expiring enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, which have split the GOP and generally unite Democrats. Details about a Trump-backed proposal to extend them dribbled out on Sunday and Monday, but Monday and Tuesday came and went without an announcement."
Recent reporting indicated that Trump's health care plan, which offered Democrats a compromise on 2 years of Affordable Care Act subsidy extension in return for income caps and new anti-fraud rules, was scuttled by Republicans after House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) warned him the GOP wasn't on board.
Nonetheless, after the weekslong government shutdown and the prospect of skyrocketing premiums in states that voted for Trump, pressure is mounting on Republicans to do something.
"The prospect of defending spiking health care costs on the campaign trail has many moderate and blue-state Republicans scrambling for a short-term fix," noted the report. "Any health care reforms that do not involve the enhanced subsidies, like health savings accounts, are unlikely to materialize in time for midterms. Most lawmakers think it’s too late to do anything other than a clean extension of the subsidies for next year."
The AI regulations proposal also divides Republicans, with Trump reportedly standing by with an executive order if the GOP can't come to an agreement to pass it in law — but that, too is stuck in stasis for now.
