Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick has been at the center of several major efforts this year to circumvent Speaker Mike Johnson, and has fast become Democrats’ favorite Republican to work with on bipartisan legislation.
“It’s wonderful. He’s the guy on the other side of the aisle I work with most often,” Democratic Rep. Jared Golden said of the Pennsylvania lawmaker. “From Ukraine to union issues, permitting reform and now on ACA.”
On Wednesday, Fitzpatrick was the first Republican to sign a discharge petition introduced by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries that would extend Affordable Care Act subsidies for another three years. Several other moderate Republicans soon followed, and now the bill will get a vote in January. He was one of two Republicans to vote “no” on President Donald Trump’s signature reconciliation bill and the second signature on Golden’s petition to restore federal workers’ bargaining rights, which ultimately made it to the floor and passed the House.
The move to sign onto the ACA petition was a striking break with Johnson. Though centrist House Republicans have voiced concern about the expiring ACA subsidies, they have by and large fallen in line with leadership on most key votes this year. Some of the more conservative members of the party were furious with the moderates who crossed the aisle while others are concerned Fitzpatrick bucking the party’s message might put some vulnerable members in a tricky spot come 2026.
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But many of the issues that Fitzpatrick has championed alongside Democrats likely won’t be signed into law anytime soon. Though Democrats will now get a vote on their bid to extend the subsidies, Senate Majority Leader John Thune has been noncommittal about putting the measure on the floor. Similarly, the bargaining rights measure is not expected to pass the Senate.
But the Democrats who line up to work with Fitzpatrick say those efforts aren’t for naught. Golden emphasized that his work with Fitzpatrick represents what the House should be doing.
“Are you saying that people should just come here and throw up their hands and say ‘forget it?’” Golden said. “Just sit around on their ass and do nothing?”
Fitzpatrick echoed Golden, adding that it’s always his job to represent his constituents, regardless of which party he works with. His district went for former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024.
“Your district includes people who voted for you, people that voted against you and people that didn’t vote at all,” Fitzpatrick said. “That’s the only way the system works. So that’s just the way I try to approach the job.”
Johnson said he didn’t take Fitzpatrick’s moves personally. On Wednesday, the House passed a Republican health care bill that didn’t include the subsidy extension — which Fitzpatrick voted “yes” on.
“It’s not an act of defiance,” the speaker told reporters of the discharge petition. “I understand what they’re doing. I understand that every member has a different district with different dynamics and different demographics, and some of them felt like it’s a really important thing to have a vote on the floor.”
“There’s no ill will here,” he added. “This is not a challenge to the speaker’s leadership. They’re using rules.”
Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a moderate Democrat, told NOTUS that she shares many legislative priorities with Fitzpatrick. Though working with him has not yet helped Democrats win over Republican leadership on a single issue, Perez said common ground is still important and bipartisanship takes time.
“Things don’t look like they’re working till they work, right,” Gluesenkamp Perez said. “It’s just diligence. You’ve got to give yourself time.”
Rep. Tom Suozzi, a Democrat who chairs the Problem Solvers Caucus alongside Fitzpatrick, told reporters the Pennsylvania congressman is part of a real effort to change a deeply divided Congress.
“You have to change the culture of this place. And this is a sea change in helping us to accomplish that mission,” Suozzi said. “It’s not about getting 214 Democrats and four Republicans, we’ve got to start thinking about, how do we get 30 Democrats and 30 Republicans, or 40 Democrats and 40 Republicans.”
Fitzpatrick told NOTUS that he sees himself as part of the solution to Congress’ “toxic climate.” He added that he’s always willing to work with Democrats when his party does not help him represent his district, including on the tax credits.
“People back home want health care cheaper,” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s not a sufficient answer for me to give to them that, ‘Well, leadership said no.’ Their response would be, ‘Then work around leadership.’ That’s what we did.”
Rep. Josh Gottheimer, who led the Problem Solvers Caucus for six years, said that the value of Fitzpatrick’s work with Democrats was exemplified on Wednesday when Jeffries’ discharge petition on the ACA subsidies reached 218 votes.
Though Fitzpatrick might not yet have helped Democrats curry favor with Republican leadership, he helped force a vote on one of the party’s key asks. That’s more than enough, Gottheimer said.
“You see right here the product of months of good bipartisan, bicameral work,” Gottheimer said. “There’s work still left to be done, but today was a big day and there will continue to be constructive work in the coming days and weeks.”
Rep. Debbie Dingell, another member of the Problem Solvers Caucus, also said that Wednesday’s discharge petition showed why engaging in bipartisan work with Fitzpatrick is so important.
“He’s somebody who really tries to bring people together, to listen to different perspectives and solve problems,” Dingell said Wednesday. “Today was a very big day, wasn’t it? Everyone said he wouldn’t sign it and he did.”
Fitzpatrick said he would like to see more moderates who are willing to cross the aisle launch bids for Congress on both sides. That’s the way forward if parties ever hope to come to consistent agreement, he added.
“We have to do our best to try to expand [the moderate center],” Fitzpatrick said. “This institution is strongest when we have more moderates in Congress. We’re people that respect diversity of thought, and it becomes much more challenging here when the moderate center shrinks.”
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This story was produced as part of a partnership between NOTUS and Spotlight PA.
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