U.S. Rep. Richard Neal speaks at a press conference in November 2025.
Reminder Publishing file photo
SPRINGFIELD — After months of back-and-forth, a federal government shutdown and the U.S. House of Representatives voted 230-196 to resurrect the expired Affordable Care Act tax credits for three years.
The tax credits were created as a response to the coronavirus pandemic, subsidizing the cost of healthcare bought on healthcare marketplaces. As part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that Congress passed in July 2025, the tax credits were not renewed, and beginning in January this year, many Americans saw their premiums skyrocket. Since the fall, when Congress was negotiating the federal budget, Democrats have worked to force a vote extending the credits, allowing the House and Senate time to craft new legislation. The federal shutdown that happened in October 2025 and ended nearly two months later hinged on whether the Republicans in control of the House would allow a vote to extend the tax credits.
While House Speaker Mike Johnson would not agree to bring a House vote on the issue, House Democrats, with the help of four Republicans passed a discharge petition, which allows a simple majority of the house to force a vote. On Jan. 8, 17 Republicans joined all House Democrats in the approving the extension of the subsidies. However, the issue is far from settled.
“There’s a great sense of urgency,” said U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, speaking from the Federal Courthouse in Springfield on Jan. 9. He said the issue will now go to the Senate, where Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune will decide whether to allow the vote to come to the floor. The Senate was unsuccessful in extending the tax credits in December 2025, with a vote of 51-48. Now, however, Neal thinks the math has changed.
“We think they should take this measure up,” Neal said. “There could be effort between the two chambers.” He added that he believes the tax credits would pass in the Senate. Even if it does, however, the matter would be sent to President Donald Trump’s desk, where it could face a veto. It is unlikely that the required two-thirds of both the House and Senate would vote to override the veto.
Neal also addressed the shooting of a Minnesota woman by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. ICE has alleged that the woman, Renee Nicole Good tried to intentionally hit agents with her vehicle. However, bystander video shows that when one ICE agent attempted to open her driver’s side door and reached into the vehicle, Good turned her wheels away from the agent in front of the vehicle and tried to flee.
“She was not a domestic terrorist. She was a mother of three,” Neal said, chastising Vice President JD Vance for his description of the incident. Of the deadly interaction, he said, “It was inevitable because of the escalation” of tactics by ICE. “The tactics that are being used are, again, over the top.”
While Trump originally stated that ICE agents were being deployed to arrest “the worst of the worst,” Neal said people who are in the country legally are being apprehended after voluntarily going to courthouses for routine paperwork review.
To prevent such incidents in the future, Neal said, “There needs to be some restraint on the part of ICE. There’s also been some lag in training,” amidst efforts to increase ICE’s ranks. He said the training is necessary as “crowd control” is not among ICE’s responsibilities.
Asked if Congress will take action to prevent more deaths during ICE’s interaction with the public, Neal said, “Congress is going to react to opinion and opinion right now is pretty clear” that ICE’s actions are “over the top.”
