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.