(The Center Square) – One of Wisconsin’s Republican congressmen said he voted to extend the COVID-era health care subsidies because the country needs an off-ramp.
Western Wisconsin Republican Derrick Van Orden voted for a House plan that would extend the Biden-era enhanced subsidies for three years.
“We have to have a bridging mechanism,” Van Orden said. “You can’t just turn the spigot off.”
Van Orden voted against the subsidy extension just a day earlier. But he said on Thursday that Republicans have to do something other than say no.
“This is an absolute Democrat problem, and the Republicans are going to ride a horse in, and fix this,” he added. “But we have to have a bridging mechanism.”
Republican leaders in the Senate have said the extension plan from the House is dead on arrival, so it remains to be seen just what that “bridging mechanism” will be.
The COVID subsidies have become a major issue in Van Orden’s race for Congress. A liberal group earlier this week announced a seven-figure ad buy to target Van Orden for his opposition to continuing the enhanced subsidies.
Late Thursday night, one of Van Orden’s Democratic opponents blasted Van Orden for his vote.
“The House did the right thing [by] passing a 3-year extension of the ACA tax credits. But it shouldn’t have taken this long,” Democrat Rebecca Cooke said on X. “And let’s be clear:@derrickvanorden spent months attacking these tax credits and has repeatedly called for repealing the ACA. His vote today shows he’s scared of losing – and he should be.”
A number of Republican voters criticized Van Orden on X on Thursday, including one who said Van Orden’s vote cost him a vote.
Van Orden responded.
“Today I voted to give us enough time to fix what the democrats broke,” Van Orden wrote. “We need an off-road. We are already working on real policy change.”
