How Democrats helped to orchestrate a Republican revolt against Mike Johnson

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries adhered to a single principle to defeat Speaker Mike Johnson on extending Affordable Care Act tax credits: Don't give an inch to Republican moderates looking for an escape hatch.Why it matters: It worked. By following that simple strategy, Jeffries got everything he wanted: A House vote on a three-year extension of the subsidies without income caps or cost offsets.Jeffries (D-N.Y.) resisted internal pressure to throw his support behind one of several bipartisan compromise measures that already had Republican backing, sources told Axios.One of the senior lawmakers told Axios of leadership's thinking: "We're going to have to negotiate with the Senate, but you don't start from a place of weakness."Zoom out: Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) made renewing the ACA tax credits — which expire at the end of the year — their central demand for ending the six-week government shutdown this fall.Ultimately, a group of centrist Senate Democrats voted to reopen the government with only a non-binding pledge from the Senate GOP to hold an ACA vote in the upper chamber and no commitments in the House.In the aftermath of that deal, Jeffries introduced a discharge petition on a three-year extension of the credits with no strings attached.Driving the news: Jeffries' petition was signed by all 214 House Democrats, but it needed support from four Republicans to reach the 218-signature threshold that forces a House vote.The dam broke Wednesday morning, when Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), Rob Bresnahan (R-Pa.) and Ryan Mackenzie (R-Pa.) signed onto Jeffries' petition.The four battleground-district Republicans and other GOP moderates have been vocal in their concern about the health care premium price hikes that would likely accompany a failure to renew the credits.After trying and failing to get several ACA amendments attached to their party's health care bill, they revolted.Between the lines: Jeffries was pressed by several of his centrist members to throw his support behind one- and two-year extensions pushed by Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), multiple senior House Democrats said.But he held firm and Republicans came to him."Our team should've put in the compromise. Now we're voting for the worse one. It's just sort of dumb," fumed Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) of Johnson's (R-La.) strategic choices."We should put the best bill forward, now we're putting the worst bill forward. It doesn't make any sense."What they're saying: The result is a salve to Democrats who have watched their party leadership battered throughout the year by infuriated liberal grassroots voters demanding they "fight harder" and "grow a spine."Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) said Jeffries has been "validated completely" after Democrats started 2025 with "a lot of angst and people wondering if we had the mettle."Said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.): "He held his ground and he won, and he forced the Republicans to cave to use. He showed real leadership, he met the moment, and this is what the base wants."Zoom in: The liberal groups that started 2025 at odds with Democratic leadership similarly had nothing but praise for Jeffries' strategy.Said MoveOn spokesperson Britt Jacovich: "It seems like Leader Jeffries and House Democrats have been paying attention to the grassroots.""This stands in stark contrast to the approach we saw from Senate Dems which was to totally fall apart while they had the upper hand," said Andrew O'Neill, the national advocacy director for Indivisible.Yes, but: Jeffries is still being buffeted by members on both his right and left flanks.Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), noting that the three-year extension faces almost certain doom in the Senate, said he is still calling for Jeffries to instead support one of the compromise petitions."There's a good chance if anything gets done it will look something more like Fitzpatrick-Golden or Gottheimer-Kiggans," the centrist told Axios.Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) said Jeffries has further to go in appeasing his left flank, arguing the party to fight should be actively fighting for universal health care system: "The reality is we need a better system ... We need more. It's not enough."