House Republican leaders tout affordability agenda, preview NDAA and cite GAO report alleging problems in ACA enrollment

House Republican leaders on the podium framed this week as a push to reduce costs for American families, previewed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and cited a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report they said shows weaknesses in Affordable Care Act (ACA) enrollment verification.

A House Republican lawmaker opened the briefing by blaming "Bidenomics" for recent price increases, saying, "They lit the match. They watched it burn, and then they poured gasoline on the flames," and argued the majority’s agenda will lower energy and grocery costs and expand paychecks through the Working Families Tax Cut Act.

Rep. Jen Kiggins, who identified herself as the representative for Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District, described priorities in this year’s NDAA, which she referenced orally as "over $900,000,000,000," and highlighted pay raises, shipbuilding and a $1,500,000,000 housing‑infrastructure allocation for military families. "One of the things I'm most excited about is how we prioritize our military sealift command," Kiggins said, and she noted changes such as removing certain pay caps and restoring commissary access for specific personnel.

The House Republican Whip urged continued scrutiny of what he described as fraud in federal programs and promoted deregulatory measures for small businesses, citing the Invest Act as a way to "cut bureaucratic red tape."

Speaker Mike Johnson framed the current Congress as "productive," said the NDAA "codifies 15 of president Trump's executive orders" (as stated in his remarks) and cited program‑integrity work he said will reduce waste. He referenced a GAO report during his remarks and summarized findings as presented to the briefing: GAO investigators, he said, submitted 24 intentionally fraudulent ACA subsidy applications and reported 23 were approved; he added that some fraudulent enrollments remained active as of September and that GAO data showed Social Security numbers being reused and payments made on behalf of deceased individuals. Johnson attributed a $185,000,000,000 savings figure to Congressional Budget Office (CBO) calculations he described when discussing past Medicaid program‑integrity changes.

All of those programmatic figures and the GAO findings were stated by speakers in the briefing; the remarks attributed the findings to the Government Accountability Office but the briefing did not include a GAO representative or a formal GAO document citation on the record. Several numerical items in the spoken remarks were given verbally and, in one case, were garbled in the transcript; those figures are presented here as they were stated in the briefing rather than independently verified.

Reporters asked whether pro‑life provisions would be advanced in the forthcoming health package; Speaker Johnson responded that Republicans "always stand by" longstanding restrictions on taxpayer funding for abortion and said such principles would be kept in mind as bills proceed to the floor. A reporter asked about a military video shown to the Gang of 8; Johnson said he had not attended that briefing and would be briefed by staff. Additional questions touched on electoral politics and logistics; no formal votes or amendments were taken at the briefing.

Next steps announced during the briefing: the NDAA was described as expected to reach the floor for a vote this week, and leaders said they planned to advance a set of affordability bills, including the Working Families Tax Cut, in the coming days and weeks. The briefing closed with reporters continuing to ask questions about briefings and meetings that remained to be scheduled.