Ranking Member Crockett’s Opening Statement at Joint Subcommittee Hearing on the Republican Health Care Affordability Crisis
Washington, D.C. (December 10, 2025)—Today, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Oversight, delivered opening remarks at a joint subcommittee hearing on how millions of Americans are facing skyrocketing health care costs because Republicans have decided to strip the American people of their Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits.
Below are Ranking Member Crockett’s remarks, as delivered, at today’s hearing.
WATCH subcommittee Ranking Member Crockett’s opening statement.
Ranking Member Jasmine Crockett
Subcommittee on Oversight
Hearing on “Fighting Obamacare Subsidy Fraud: Is the Administrative Procedure Act Working as Intended?”
December 10, 2025
Thank you so much, Mr. Chair.
I must tell you that as you spoke, my little pen got to going as well as a couple of other people up here, because you said something to the effect of a “slick con man calling and tricking people.” I thought that was profound, because it seems like that’s how we got into this mess. A “slick con man” has tried to convince people that health care should not be available to everyone. And that’s why right now, there are millions of Americans that have no understanding of what will happen. They don’t know if they are going to lose their health insurance or not.
And frankly, after the Big Ugly Bill was passed, we know that there’s going to be a minimum of 17 million people that will lose their coverage. But let’s talk about these subsidies, because that’s what we’re here to talk about today.
In a matter of days, Americans across the country will either begin paying thousands of dollars more per month for health insurance or losing their coverage entirely. In fact, more than 350,000 people, all of whom live in districts represented by Republicans on this committee, will lose their coverage entirely. 25,000 of Chairman Jordan’s constituents will lose coverage. 30,000 of Chairman Van Drew’s constituents will lose coverage. 20,000 of Chairman Fitzgerald’s constituents will lose coverage.
And they have the opportunity right now to sign the House Democrats’ discharge petition to force a vote to extend the Affordable Care Act tax subsidies for three years. I appreciate that the Chairman said that he doesn’t feel like it should be permanent. I appreciate that it sounds like the Chairman also did not have a fix, but what the Chairman did not say is whether or not he would sign the discharge petition, which is only asking for an extension. And considering the fact that the last time I checked, the House, the Senate and the White House are run by Republicans. Hopefully within the next three years they could actually find a plan. But nevertheless, I invite my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to do right not by my constituents, but by their own.
Instead, they’ve called this performative hearing to try to distract the American people from what is about to hit them: the fact that they have sold out their constituents because Donald Trump and their billionaire donors told them to do so, their fake concern for fraud, waste and abuse, and their talking points on lowering the cost of living—well, it’s all BS, every single bit of it.
They gave these billionaires permanent tax cuts, and they are sacrificing the average American to pay for it. They canceled grants that schools were using to improve student outcomes. They stole resources that farmers and rural communities used to expand local food systems. They took resources from preschool and early childhood education programs. They dismantled programs that helped tackle homelessness and assist seniors. They eliminated medical research grants that have helped thousands of people battling cancer and Alzheimer’s. They’ve done all that, but won’t even help their constituents see a doctor, buy food, pay rent, or pay for child care. They’re okay with corporate socialism. But if you’re a teacher or a police officer or a student or a sanitation worker, if you’re living paycheck to paycheck, if you can’t afford child care, if you can’t pay your rent, if you can’t feed your children, if you can’t afford to pay for college, if you’re struggling with medical debt, well, you’re SOL in trump’s America.
Congressional Republicans don’t believe they have the responsibility to look out for their constituents. They’ve been a reckless rubber stamp for Donald Trump, who doesn’t even believe that there is an affordability crisis. In fact, he thinks affordability is “a hoax.” While their constituents were lining up by the hundreds at food banks across the country, the President was literally mocking working class Americans at his Great Gatsby-themed Halloween party.
These people have shown us what they prioritize, and it isn’t stopping fraud, waste, or abuse. In fact, President Trump has pardoned criminals who have stolen more than $1 billion from Americans. The only thing they care about is making the rich richer at the expense of their own constituents. That’s been Donald Trump’s focus. And Congressional Republicans have gone along with it.
So, this hearing is nothing more than another Republican attempt to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. It’s performative to distract your attention away from the fact that they don’t have a health care plan, just concepts of one.
And I do want to make sure that I cover one other thing that the Chairman spoke about. He specifically said that he’s concerned about the fraud. He’s not giving us numbers, but I can give you some numbers if we’re concerned about how much money it may be costing us. Because systems are not perfect, we have no perfect systems. We have always had some level of fraud and anything that we have, because there’s no such thing as perfection walking on this Earth. But what I can tell you is that I seriously doubt whatever level of fraud it is that the Chairman is speaking of. I seriously doubt that it amounts to the over $200 million that the President is trying to line his pockets with, of taxpayer dollars, because he feels like he’s been aggrieved.
I can probably tell you that the $40 billion that he sent to Argentina, I’m sure that that $40 billion is probably an amount that also is a lot larger than the alleged fraud that is taking place. So, if we are going to talk about being fiscally responsible, if we’re going to talk about how we can keep people insured, how we can make sure that people are actually going to live to see another day…And if it’s really about a concern about the fraud, then maybe rein in the person that is wasting money or deciding that taxpayers should just line his pockets to the tune of over $200 million.
With that, I will yield.