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The Republican health care bill remained in shambles Thursday as House leaders threw up their hands and sent lawmakers home for a two-week recess. GOP chiefs announced a modest amendment to curb premium increases, but internal divisions still blocked their promised repeal of former President Barack Obama's law.

"This brings us closer to the final agreement that we all want to achieve," House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said of the new amendment, flanked by about two dozen GOP lawmakers at a news briefing meant to project unity.

But in a sentiment echoed by other leaders, Ryan conceded "we have more work to do" over the "days and weeks ahead." That underscored the longer timeline Republican leaders acknowledge they'll need to resolve disputes between conservatives and moderates that blew up their legislation last month, dishing a mortifying defeat to Ryan and President Donald Trump.

Ominously, lawmakers from both ends of the party who've opposed the GOP legislation said Thursday's revision wasn't enough to turn them around. They included Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., who leads the conservative House Freedom Caucus, a hotbed of opposition, and moderate GOP Rep. Leonard Lance of New Jersey.

"I favor making sure no one is denied coverage due to a pre-existing condition. So I doubt this would be enough," said Lance.

Frustration over the bill's dismal performance in Congress spilled out during a meeting Ryan and other House leaders attended late Wednesday at the White House, according to several Republicans who'd been told about the session.

White House chief of staff Reince Priebus and others expressed unhappiness that the legislation remained unfinished, and the fanfare accompanying the amendment introduced Thursday was a direct result of that meeting, the Republicans said.

"The president and the speaker had a very good, long conversation last night and they remain fully on the same page on the path ahead," Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong said. Trump and Ryan spoke after the White House meeting.

The new language was aimed at containing premiums by providing an additional $15 billion over a decade to help insurers cover the costs of seriously ill people, said Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz., a sponsor of the amendment. Such customers' expensive care can drive up premiums for all consumers.

The money would be on top of a $100 billion fund already in the GOP bill that states could use for various purposes, including high-risk insurance pools where people with medical problems can get coverage.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., emailed GOP lawmakers that if a breakthrough on the bill occurred during the recess, "We will advise members immediately and give you sufficient time to return to Washington." The prospects for that seemed remote, at best.

Two weeks ago, Ryan called off a House vote on the measure repealing much of the 2010 health care overhaul. The GOP legislation replacing it would scale back the federal role in health care, covering 24 million fewer people over time while cutting taxes for upper-income earners.

Deep differences among hardliners and moderates have impeded the Republican march. Each side blames the other, and the recess could drain more momentum from the repeal drive.

A proposal discussed between the White House and leaders of the Freedom Caucus would let states seek federal waivers of two insurance requirements the law established.

One forbids insurers from charging higher premiums on account of people's medical problems or pre-existing conditions. The other spells out categories of benefits, like hospitalization and substance abuse treatment, that all insurance plans must cover.

Conservatives who want the federal government out of health care argue that those provisions have driven up premiums and decreased choice.

Critics say eliminating those insurance requirements would raise premiums for people with serious medical problems and threaten to leave many people without coverage they need.

Associated Press writer Kevin Freking contributed to this report.

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Republican health bill in shambles, House commences two-week break - Chicago Tribune

The March 31 opinion piece, LGBT conservatives have political clout. It's time they stop using it to enable GOP bigotry, was equal parts histrionic and uninformed. Author Nico Lang breathlessly declared: Advocating for inclusion and compassion from Republican leaders is a noble goal. But it clearly isnt working.

Give me a break.

In his zeal to promote a liberal worldview of LGBTQ rights, Lang overlooks an inconvenient truth that Democrats rarely admit: The victories we have achieved as a community would not have been possible without Republican support.

Liberals such as Lang are fond of talking a big game when it comes to Democratic support for the LGBTQ community, but the last time Democrats held concurrent majorities in the U.S. Senate, the House of Representatives and the presidency, LGBTQ rights advanced very little, and what victories we did achieve happened only because of GOP involvement.

In 2010, the militarys discriminatory dont ask, dont tell policy was repealed with the votes of 22 Republicans in a lame duck Democratic Congress compelled to act only because of a lawsuit initiated by Log Cabin Republicans.

In 2011, Republicans provided the key margin of victory that legalized marriage equality in New York state. That vote was also held in a Republican-controlled Senate. When the same vote came up two years before at a time when Democrats held both chambers of the Legislature and the governorship, it failed.

In 2013, the U.S. Senate passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Longtime GOP allies of equality Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Mark Kirk (Illinois) were joined by seven of their peers, Sens. Orin Hatch (Utah), Jeff Flake (Arizona), Pat Toomey (Pennsylvania), Kelly Ayotte (New Hampshire), Dean Heller (Nevada), Rob Portman (Ohio) and John McCain (Arizona), to stand up against LGBTQ discrimination in the workplace. The bill would never even have come to the floor had it not been for their support.

And in 2015 the same year a Supreme Court justice appointed by President Reagan wrote a decision making marriage equality the law of the land in all 50 states the conservative state of Utah passed a landmark LGBTQ non-discrimination bill. Lang declares that the legislation was carried over the finish line by liberal LGBTQ activists. It wasnt. Collaboration in good faith among Republicans in the state Assembly and Senate, Utahs Republican governor, Gary Herbert, leaders from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the states dominant faith) and liberal LGBTQ activists are what led to historic protections for LGBTQ Utahans in legislation that could serve as a model for red-state America.

I dont pretend that the GOP is perfect, but the Democratic Party isnt either. Time and again, GOP support has been required to advance LGBTQ equality and it will be necessary to achieve further progress, whether Lang wants to admit it or not.

Right now Republicans have majority control of 32 state legislatures. In 25 of those states, Republicans control both legislative-chamber majorities and the governorships. Nationally, Republicans control both houses of Congress and the White House. If LGBTQ equality is going to become a reality outside the blue Northeast and the West Coast, we need to meet Republicans where they are and seek to strike balance; otherwise we are doomed as a nation to litigate an endless culture war with no viable means of resolution.

In his piece, Lang offers a dangerous bit of advice: The only way to change the Republican Party is to leave it. Nothing could be further from the truth. Quite the contrary: If you put all your faith into a single political party, your destiny is to be ignored by one and taken for granted by the other a concept Lang would do well to understand.

Gregory T. Angelo is the president of Log Cabin Republicans, a national organization representing LGBTQ conservatives and straight allies.

This piece is part of Blowback, our online forum for rebuttals to the Los Angeles Times. If you would like to write a full-length response to a recent Times article, editorial or Op-Ed and would like to participate in Blowback, here are our FAQs and submission policy.

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Without Republican support, much of the recent progress on LGBTQ rights would have been impossible - Los Angeles Times

Photo: Carolyn Kaster, STF

Michael Conaway, Texas Republican, to take over House Russia probe

WASHINGTON Texas U.S. Rep. Michael Conaway was tapped Thursday to lead the House Intelligence Committee probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election, which has been hampered by weeks of partisan discord over its chairman, Devin Nunes, who agreed to step aside.

For Conaway, a Republican from Midland and a senior member of the intelligence panel, the assignment represents a sudden leap into the center of a gripping national drama over the U.S. intelligence and diplomatic apparatus, Russian agents, and leading figures in both the Trump and Obama administrations.

"I have been a member of the House Intelligence Committee for over eight years now, and it is a responsibility I take with the utmost seriousness," Conaway said. "My profession as a CPA and auditor has taught me to be objective and methodical, and that is how I intend to help lead this investigation.

Conaway's new role was announced by House Speaker Paul Ryan, who acceded to Democratic calls for Nunes, who worked on President Donald Trump's campaign, to step aside in the face of fresh ethics complaints over his role in helping the White House parry criticism of the president's unsubstantiated claim that he was wiretapped by former President Barack Obama.

While saying that Nunes, a California Republican, continues to have his trust, Ryan said the new ethics probe would be a "distraction," and called on Conaway to take the lead on the Russia investigation. "I am confident that he will oversee a professional investigation into Russia's actions and follow the facts wherever they lead," Ryan said in a statement.

Conaway also said Nunes continues to have his full support, and emphasized that his new leadership role in the Russia probe is temporary.

Conaway has handled sensitive assignments before as a former chairman of the House Ethics Committee, which investigates allegations of wrongdoing against members of Congress, generally considered one of the most thankless jobs in Washington.

A certified public accountant by training, he also once led an audit committee that uncovered fraud in hundreds of thousands of dollars of missing funds in National Republican Congressional Committee bank accounts.

The 68-year-old lifelong Texan has deep ties to the Bush family, including doing CPA work for an oil and gas company run by former President George W. Bush.He graduated in 1966 from Permian High School in Odessa, where he was a standout player for the Permian Panthers and a member of the first Permian State Championship team in 1965. He went on to Texas A&M and served in the U.S. Army. Among his assignments is the Committee on Armed Services.

In May, acting along with nine other House committee chairmen, Conaway endorsed Trump for president.

But as the current chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, Conaway generally maintains a low profile overseeing commodity and nutrition programs that keep him far away from the national spotlight.

That is about to change, with Democrats and allied groups alleging that the House Republicans are seeking to stifle the progress of an investigation centered on potential cooperation between Trump campaign aides and Russian government and industry officials.

So far, he has only briefly flirted with controversy when he told the Dallas Morning News in January that Mexican singers and soap opera stars who appeared at Hillary Clinton campaign events influenced the election as much as Russian hackers did.

"Those are foreign actors, foreign people, influencing the vote in Nevada. You don't hear the Democrats screaming and saying one word about that," Conaway said.

The comment was widely decried by Democrats, including U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, who tweeted, "This is a pathetic and offensive attempt to try to diminish the consensus that Russia meddled in the 2016 election to boost Donald Trump."

Conaway, who has represented Texas' 11th congressional district since 2005, will take temporary control of the controversial Russia investigation with fellow Republicans Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, and Tom Rooney of Florida.

Despite the change in management, reactions from lawmakers on both sides Thursday suggested that the partisan dynamics of the Russia probe will be little changed.

House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady, a Texas Republican from The Woodlands, defended Nunes' work and said he foresees little change in direction under Conaway. "Like Devin Nunes, he's a very thoughtful member of Congress and will go to the facts and to the truth of this," Brady said.

Democrats, meanwhile, continued to press for an independent investigation.

"Putting three Republicans in charge of an investigation that has been so bungled by one is not reassuring," said U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a San Antonio Democrat. "While Mike Conaway is an amiable and thoughtful colleague whom I respect, the only way to restore public confidence is with a nonpartisan, independent, comprehensive review of the Russian attacks and any possible involvement of Trump associates."

"Instead," Doggett continued, "as with the Trump tax returns cover-up, Republicans seem much more interested in protecting Trump than learning the truth."

Nunes, meanwhile, will retain his position as chairman of the intelligence committee.

"Despite the baselessness of the charges, I believe it is in the best interests of the House Intelligence Committee and the Congress for me to have Representative Mike Conaway, with assistance from Representatives Trey Gowdy and Tom Rooney, temporarily take charge of the Committee's Russia investigation while the House Ethics Committee looks into this matter," Nunes said. "I will continue to fulfill all my other responsibilities as Committee Chairman, and I am requesting to speak to the Ethics Committee at the earliest possible opportunity in order to expedite the dismissal of these false claims."

Nunes has been under fire for his handling of information that Trump officials may have been swept up in surveillance of foreign agents. He said he briefed Trump on the information before telling other members of the committee.

The New York Times subsequently reported that White House officials were Nunes' sources on the information.

The committee's top Democrats, Adam Schiff of California, said he respected Nunes' decision to step aside.

Said Conaway: "I am confident that Ranking Member Schiff and I will be able to work together to conduct an effective, bipartisan investigation."

More:
Michael Conaway, Texas Republican, to take over House Russia - Chron.com

Unprompted, Hatch said he has a good relationship with Koskinen. It's an influential statement of support because Hatch serves as Senate president pro tem making him third in line to succeed the president. Hatch also led the Senate Finance Committee investigation of allegations the IRS targeted conservative groups for audits, and said Koskinen cooperated.

But Hatch's backing may not be enough to counter the ire against Koskinen from other Republicans, some of whom want him to step down before his five-year-term ends in November.

On Wednesday, 15 GOP members of the House Ways and Means Committee said trust in the IRS has hit rock bottom. They said that under Koskinen, the IRS destroyed evidence when Congress was investigating the tax agency for inappropriately singling out conservative groups for extra scrutiny.

"He also misled Congress in the process, intentionally degraded customer service at the agency, and has since lost the trust of the American people," the committee members wrote.

Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, pointedly said he would not be inviting Koskinen to testify about the tax filing season.

Despite the fact that Koskinen was not at the IRS during the scandal over conservative groups, he has become a favorite whipping boy of House Republicans. They complained that he was slow to comply with their requests for information, hauling him before congressional panels dozens of times sometimes just to berate him.

President Barack Obama appointed Koskinen to the aftermath of the scandal over conservative groups. Koskinen is a turnaround specialist with extensive experience in the public and private sectors.

He came in to overhaul mortgage buyer Freddie Mac after its near-collapse in the financial crisis at the end of President George W. Bush's administration. He also helped restructure the assets of the largest failed life insurance company in U.S. history, Mutual Benefit Life, and helped reorganize the Penn Central Transportation Company after it became the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.

Koskinen said he has not heard from anyone in the Trump administration about stepping down.

But in tense exchange at Thursday's hearing, Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., asked Koskinen if he intends to finish his term.

"It gives me no pleasure and some degree of sadness," Roberts said. "I have been disappointed in your record at the agency."

Koskinen replied, "I regret that you're disappointed in the performance."

Koskinen went on to defend his record. He said the IRS has implemented every recommendation from every investigation into the IRS handling of conservative groups. He said no one at the tax agency hindered any of the investigations.

Tribune staff contributed to this report

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At least 1 top Republican in Congress really likes IRS head: Orrin Hatch - Salt Lake Tribune

Tomorrow, Judge Neil Gorsuch will become a justice on the bench of the United States Supreme Court. For him, and for the Republicans, his appointment will be a victory, a time for celebration. But for many, his appointment, and the process which will have gotten him there, feels like one more notch in the dismantling of our democratic republic.

Sen. Mitch McConnell invoked the so-called nuclear option, which means that judicial nominees can be declared victorious by a simple majority instead of needing to have 60 votes. That rule was put in place to prevent or at least lessen, partisanship in the appointment of these most important public servants.

Judge Gorsuch, a staunch Conservative supported by what some call dirty money seems a nice enough person, but his judicial record caused some Democrats deep concern. Justices judges are supposed to be impartial, though history has shown that not to be the case, but there was something sacrosanct in residing in the myth of judicial objectivity. With that myth in place, there was always the hope that justice for the least of these would and could be attained.

The Democrats were determined that Gorsuch would not be the next Supreme Court justice. They were justifiably angry that Sen. McConnell would not even let President Obamas nominee, Merrick Garland, have a hearing. That seemed mean-spirited; it seemed anti-constitutional; it seemed deeply partisan and yes, it seemed racist.

But their anger was not enough to stop this train from its careening downhill. There seems to be a bitter, lingering spirit of resentment over the Obama presidency and all it stood for, accompanied by a determination to undo everything that Obama did. This nomination and the coming confirmation of Gorsuch feels like it is a part of that pot of boiling, seething resentment.

Sen. Harry Reid invoked this nuclear option in 2013. Exasperated by what he felt was unreasonable obstruction by Republicans of every appointment or nominee Obama put forth, he changed the parliamentary rules for the confirmation of judges. There is always wrangling or there had been wrangling between Congress and their respective presidents for decades, but Reid felt the wrangling during the Obama administration went over the top. He changed the rules, something that Obama said he felt would have dire consequences for the country. Its not what our founders intended, he said. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/senate-poised-to-limit-filibusters-in-party-line-vote-that-would-alter-centuries-of-precedent/2013/11/21/d065cfe8-52b6-11e3-9fe0-fd2ca728e67c_story.html?utm_term=.f53d453be447)

By now, we have all heard of some of the decisions made by Gorsuch in his work as a judge. They are not encouraging. He seems to be hand-in-glove with corporations and big money. That just does not feel good.

But neither do many of the members of this administrations cabinet. We have an Attorney General who apparently lied to the committee during his confirmation hearings, a man who has a history of being against immigration, (http://www.npr.org/2017/02/09/514365597/jeff-sessions-takes-strong-anti-immigration-views-to-justice-department) , who has a fear of Muslim immigrants, and who recently strongly encouraged American cities to forego the idea of being sanctuary cities, or face losing federal funds.

Sessions has not been a friend to those who fight racial oppression. (http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/jeff-sessions-race-civil-rights/story?id=43633501) Supporters of Sessions say he is a good man, and he probably is in the eyes of those who are not black, brown, Muslim, LGBTQ. He has not supported the fight against voter suppression. He is not a fan of affirmative action, and he thinks the complaints by blacks against police departments are overblown.

We could go on; all of the persons in this administration seem friendly enough but not to democracy as it has been practiced. The people in the administration are wealthy and largely disconnected to the masses of American people. The disregard for the lives and well-being of Americans as the GOP has sought to repeal and replace Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act, has been disheartening.

We grew up believing in the Bible and in the Constitution. The Bible taught us that we should love each other and take care of each other. The Constitution taught us that a democracy was one where the people mattered. But as the governing body becomes smaller and smaller, and more and more wealthy, the ideals of the Founding Fathers, and the tenets of the Bible seem to be slipping into obscurity.

Timothy Snyder wrote in his book, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, that the Founding Fathers constructed the American democratic republic with the express purpose of preventing tyranny from ever developing here. The three branches of government, with the promise of them providing checks and balances so that no one branch had complete control and power, was called brilliant. But the three branches of government, controlled by the GOP, are failing in their function laid out by the Constitution. Snyder writes, the good news is that we can draw upon more recent relevant examples than ancient Greece and Rome when studying political order. The bad news, he writes, is that the history of modern democracy is also one of decline and fall.

It feels like our beloved country is falling, and the lessons of the Bible are being all but forgotten. The coldness this Congress has for the poor is mind-boggling; it is hard to believe that anyone would believe that the poor dont want health care and wont take care of themselves. (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/03/08/kansas-congressman-under-fire-over-poor-dont-want-health-care-comment.html)

No government is perfect; the fight for justice and equality for the masses has always been a reality. But this was our country, with a government we held to be above all others.

It no longer feels that way. It feels like our government is in hospice. It feels like we are about to have to recite a requiem for our beloved democracy.

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Requiem for a Democracy - Huffington Post