White House Delays Rollout of Healthcare Proposal After Getting Significant Backlash: Report

Speak to nearly any clear-thinking American in 2025, and you’ll hear the same three frustrations rise to the surface — taxes that punish work, a cost-of-living crisis driven by years of mismanagement, and a healthcare landscape warped by federal overreach.

And it’s that last issue—healthcare—that has once again taken center stage. The debate over the future of the Affordable Care Act, still widely known as Obamacare, helped fuel the historic government shutdown that Democrats forced earlier this year. Now the question facing Washington is whether the law will be reined in, reshaped, or preserved.

Republicans have long flagged Obamacare as an unsustainable federal boondoggle, while Democrats continue insisting it is untouchable. For the first time in years, however, the White House and congressional Democrats appear to be inching toward a temporary truce.

President Donald J. Trump’s administration signaled a willingness to negotiate with Democrats to keep portions of Obamacare intact — not as an endorsement of the law, but as part of a broader effort to stabilize the healthcare market while pursuing long-term reforms. Still, the political temperature around the issue remains red-hot, and the administration is learning firsthand how volatile any discussion of Obamacare can be.

“The White House expects to soon unveil a health policy framework that includes a two-year extension of Obamacare subsidies due to expire at the end of next month and new limits on eligibility,” Politico reported on Sunday evening.

According to Politico, the proposal would tighten who qualifies for subsidies by imposing new income caps and establishing minimum premium payments for enrollees.

Politico notes: “The planned eligibility cap would limit the subsidies to individuals with income up to 700 percent of the federal poverty line — aligning with what a bipartisan group of senators have been discussing separately, according to a fourth person granted anonymity to share knowledge of the negotiations.”

“Enrollees would also pay a minimum premium payment — a nod to concerns from conservatives that millions of Americans pay nothing in premiums while being unaware they are enrolled in ACA insurance plans.”

But for conservatives who have spent years fighting to unwind Obamacare, “a nod” is not cutting it. Jake Traylor, a White House correspondent for MS NOW, reported on X that internal “backlash” has already slowed the administration’s rollout of the proposal.

While the details of that “significant congressional backlash” remain mostly behind closed doors, conservative leaders and commentators have been outspoken and blunt in their criticism.

The Federalist released a stinging opinion piece headlined, “Trump’s Reported Obamacare Expansion Is Bad Policy And Worse Politics.”

“Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory,” Christopher Jacobs wrote. “After having faced down a Democrat-imposed government shutdown, the White House is reportedly preparing to give Democrats just about everything they wanted from the shutdown in the first place.”

Even lawmakers who aren’t typically aligned with the President’s inner circle are chiming in. Kentucky GOP Rep. Thomas Massie — seldom a Trump favorite — blasted the reported plan without hesitation:

“Oh boy, more 4D chess?” Massie posted. “A vote to extend Obamacare… that’s the Republican solution to health care?”

As the debate continues, conservatives are watching closely to see whether this proposal becomes a temporary compromise — or a step toward resurrecting the very healthcare structure the movement has spent a decade trying to replace.