As congressional Democrats push to tie extending Affordable Care Act insurance subsidies to the government funding fight, Republican leaders say they're willing to debate the issue — but not until after a shutdown is averted.

"The Obamacare subsidies is a policy debate that has to be determined by the end of the year ... not right now, while we're simply trying to keep the government open," House Speaker Mike Johnson , R-La., said on CNN's "State of the Union."

His comments were echoed by Senate Majority Leader John Thune , R-S.D., who called the ACA, also known as Obamacare, a program "in desperate need of reform."

"We acknowledge that there's gonna have to be — hopefully there'll be some steps taken that can address the concerns that Democrats have," he said on NBC News' "Mee

See Full Page