Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, one in every of a handful of House Republicans who gained in a district that then-Vice President Kamala Harris carried final fall, has a stark message for his get together because the deadline to increase expiring well being care subsidies and the midterm elections strategy.
“If you don’t have a better plan, then get on board with ours,” Fitzpatrick mentioned. “But doing nothing is not an option.”
In a wide-ranging interview with NCS’s Manu Raju for “Inside Politics Sunday,” Fitzpatrick leaned into areas the place he broke sharply along with his get together’s leaders, together with his need to discover a well being care compromise, staunch dedication to defending Ukraine and previous votes in opposition to advancing main items of President Donald Trump’s agenda.
The Pennsylvania lawmaker is among the many few House Republicans placing ahead laws to increase the improved Affordable Care Act subsidies because of expire on the finish of the yr.
Though he doesn’t agree with each a part of former President Barack Obama’s signature well being care legislation, Fitzpatrick made clear {that a} short-term plan to protect Americans from skyrocketing insurance coverage premiums is higher than something he’s seen from his get together.
Fitzpatrick voted in opposition to the GOP push to repeal Obamacare in 2017 as a result of he discovered the substitute “insufficient.”
Now, eight years later, he says Republicans “still have not been able to put together an articulable plan that’s going to work for everyday Americans.”
Fitzpatrick suspects House Speaker Mike Johnson believes he’s representing nearly all of his convention by vowing to advance a brand new GOP well being care bundle as an alternative of holding a vote to increase ACA tax credit.
But the swing-district Republican mentioned even a few of his extra conservative colleagues have expressed an curiosity in his effort to succeed in a compromise on the ACA subsidies.
“Affordability is such a crisis in this country right now,” he mentioned, explaining that for low- and middle-income constituents, “a significant increase in their premiums is not an option.”
Combating rising prices will likely be “the issue” of the 2026 elections, Fitzpatrick predicts. He highlighted Trump’s election to a second time period and Democrat Zohran Mamdani’s latest victory within the New York City mayoral race as examples of what occurs when voters are motivated by cost-of-living considerations.
Though the president referred to as affordability a “hoax” final week, as Democrats start to zero in on the message, Fitzpatrick disagrees: “Believe me. I hear it every day back home. It’s real.”
Pressed on whether or not the GOP has been focusing sufficient on this problem, Fitzpatrick responded, “I don’t think they have.”
“Every bill we bring to the floor should be focused on lowering the cost of living for people who need it most,” he mentioned, criticizing latest legislative efforts associated to condemning socialism and regulating compensation for school athletes.
“Why are we focusing on that? That’s not what our constituents care about,” Fitzpatrick continued.
Frustration amongst Republicans has more and more been directed at Johnson, as he fights to carry collectively his razor-thin majority and retain the help of the president.
Asked whether or not he thinks Johnson can win the gavel once more subsequent time period if Republicans maintain on to regulate of the House, Fitzpatrick answered, “I am not sure Mike wants the job next Congress, but that’s a question for him.”
Fitzpatrick and Johnson entered Congress as classmates in 2017, when Fitzpatrick remembers his colleague “led the bipartisan charge for civility.”
“I personally like him. Do I agree with every decision he makes? Absolutely not. I never agree with every decision every speaker’s made,” he mentioned, elaborating that his “personal frustration” with management comes from his need to empower rank-and-file members to higher serve their constituents.
“I think the best way to run the floor is allow every member to identify one district priority that’s paramount in their district, and give them a full floor vote on it,” he defined.
One invoice Fitzpatrick needs to see on the House flooring expeditiously is a measure imposing steep sanctions on Russia.
Fitzpatrick, who is the co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, has launched laws mirroring Sens. Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal’s broadly common bipartisan invoice to enact crippling tariffs on nations that purchase oil and fuel from Russia.
While Fitzpatrick acknowledges there are boundaries to forcing a vote on his invoice within the House, together with considerations from in any other case empathetic Democrats about Congress granting the president additional tariff authorities, Fitzpatrick warns, “I don’t want to let the perfect be the enemy of the good.”
“What I think we need to do is to make sure that we send a signal to Russia, to Ukraine, and to the world, that Congress cares about Ukraine,” he mentioned, pointing to an outpouring of help in each events for earlier payments supporting the war-torn nation.
Fitzpatrick aligns himself with different Russia hawks within the convention who need “a lot more moral clarity out of the administration,” coaching a vital eye on Trump’s relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I don’t care how brilliant of a businessperson you are, the Russians are masters of propaganda,” he mentioned. Pressed on if Trump is being performed by Putin, Fitzpatrick responded, “he’s been too deferential to him,” including, “to say someone’s ‘played’ is sort of insulting their negotiating tactics.”
As the Trump administration continues on the rocky highway to a peace deal in Ukraine, Fitzpatrick urges an aggressive strategy to Putin, whom Trump final met with in a high-stakes summit in Alaska in August.
“We just need to take a much stronger tact to him, because dictators understand one thing and one thing only,” he mentioned. “Look at what brought him to the table. It was the threat of sanctions, and it was the threat of Tomahawk missiles.”
Fitzpatrick mentioned unequivocally that he’ll run for reelection, regardless of the steep uphill climb Republicans will undertake to retain management of all levers of energy in Washington.
He’s simply one in every of solely three House Republicans who gained in a district the place Trump misplaced the 2024 election. Another a type of lawmakers, Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, has already introduced he gained’t search reelection subsequent yr.
“I’ve been through these environments before, but I’m very close with my district,” Fitzpatrick mentioned.
The fifth-term congressman recalled 2018, when he was elected to a second time period by lower than 3 proportion factors amid backlash to Trump’s first two years within the White House and after a blow to Pennsylvania Republicans’ attempts to draw more favorable maps.
“It’s natural that the pendulum always swings back and forth in politics,” he contended. “Angry people vote; happy people don’t.”
Still, Fitzpatrick dismissed the potential drag that Trump may need on his race.
“I’m a pretty independent-minded person,” he mentioned, underscoring his willingness to interrupt along with his get together on main votes, like Republican management’s push to cross Trump’s sweeping home coverage agenda forward of the president’s self-imposed July 4 deadline.
“I got a lot of heat for it, both back home and from the White House and from some of my colleagues here, but I politely reminded them that I don’t answer to any person or any party in Washington, DC. My bosses are back home,” he mentioned.
Fitzpatrick believes Trump’s megabill, which the House passed earlier this year with all however two Republican votes, is out of step with what Americans need “on multiple fronts,” together with cuts to Medicaid.
As for whether or not these cuts might price Republicans the bulk, Fitzpatrick mentioned, “everyone’s going to answer for their votes,” noting the extra common tax cuts that got here alongside the tightening of entry to Medicaid and different authorities applications.
“You’ve got to have a tough spine and thick skin, and the easiest way to navigate times like that is to never lose focus on who your bosses are,” he mentioned.