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Republicans backed off a plan to vote this week on legislation rolling back much of President Obamas signature healthcare law, the Affordable Care Act. But Democrats dont think this is the end of Trumpcare.

Its far from over. McConnell said hes going to come back to it soon, Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois said in an interview at the Capitol. Were not taking anything for granted.

Senate Republicans Put Off Health-Care Vote

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced on Tuesday afternoon that the Senate would not be on the bill this week, as Republican Senators continue discussions within our conference on the differences that we have. But he added that were still working toward getting at least 50 people in a comfortable place. McConnell only needs 50 Republican senators to pass the legislationassuming Vice President Pence breaks a tie because Republicans are using a process known as budget reconciliation to evade a Democratic filibuster.

A number of Republican senators, however, have balked at the bill. Some conservative have argued it does not go far enough in repealing Obamacare, while moderates have expressed concern that it would too far in cutting Medicaid, the program that provides health insurance for low-income Americans. The Congressional Budget Office concluded on Monday that the Senate bill would leave 22 million Americans without insurance over the course of a decade.

With little control over the levers of power in Congress, Democrats have attempted to draw attention to what they say will be the harmful impacts of the Senate GOP health care legislation.

Senate Democrats convened a flurry of press conferences this week to denounce the bill, while Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who is technically not a Democrat, but is nevertheless part of Senate Democratic leadership, held rallies in Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania to rally opposition against the bill.

Now the message from Democrats is that the fight isnt over.

They werent able to pass their cruelest, and most hurtful version of the bill, but that doesnt mean theyre not going to come back with a bill that is still cruel, and hurtful, Democratic Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts said. I do not believe that we are going to be able to preserve Obamacare unless we work every day, 24-hours a day, until the Republicans finally give up, he added. We have to keep our energy level high Thats the only way we are going to win.

Senate Democrats may be particularly wary of declaring victory too early after watching House GOP legislation to dismantle the Affordable Care Act stall out, only to be revived weeks later and passed.

The challenge now for opponents of the healthcare bill will be to keep the pressure on Republican senators during the July 4th recess, where they will return to their districts.

If we survive this week with the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid intact, the lesson anyone who cares about health care has to learn is that its dangerous to take your eye of the ball even for a day, Ben Wikler of the progressive advocacy group MoveOn.org said in an interview before McConnells Tuesday announcement. If Trumpcare isnt passed, isnt defeated, but is merely delayed this week, it is absolutely vital for anyone who cares about the healthcare system to dial up their pressure over the fourth of July recess.

Of course, Republicans will be making their case for the bills passage too.

The schedule may have changed a little but, but one thing hasnt changed and that is that Obamacare is collapsing, Republican Senator John Thune said on Tuesday during a press conference. It is a failed system that needs to be replaced, and we believe the legislation that were trying to get up on the Senate floor and consider there will take America in a better direction.

But even for their apparent reluctance to declare victory, some Senate Democrats evidently believe the road to passage for Republicans will be more difficult now that McConnell has delayed its vote.

This bill is like a stinking fish, its just going to get worse, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut said in an interview. Were going to bring this to every state across the country. This is what we wanted. We wanted to be able to bring this debate out of Washington and back to our states. I think thats going to be the death knell for this bill.

Democrats also hope the delay will create an opportunity for constituents opposed to the bill to convey their objections directly to Republican senators.

I think its going to be a very tough two weeks for the Republicans to be hearing from their constituents at home who have now been educated as to what the impact of these cuts will be on the services their families receive, Markey said. I think its only going to complicate dramatically the complexity of their political dilemma.

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Democrats Don't Think Trumpcare Is Dead - The Atlantic

As every publication and individual person who has been following this story also simultaneously noted/realized, GOP House leaders famously canceled a planned health care vote earlier this year before passing a slightly modified version of their bill about a month later. So this does not mean that the Obamacare replacement effort is dead. It does, however, seemingly mean that the objections that many Republican senators raised to their chamber's billespecially after its CBO score was released Mondaywere not just empty posturing. (As Nate Silver notes, a GOP health bill was going to always be more difficult to pass in the Senate than in the House because the party holds a smaller majority in the upper chamber.)

For the bill's opponents, the delay means a chance to exert more pressure on vulnerable Republican moderates, who will (presumably) be returning to their states to march in parades and whatnot over the Fourth of July holiday. On the other hand, as Politico reported, Monday's CBO score also indicated that the bill would be $188 billion cheaper than Republicans had planned forwhich in practice means that the party's leaders now have $188 billion to give out to placate wavering members.

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Republican Senate Leaders Will Delay Vote on Health Care Bill That Everyone Hates - Slate Magazine (blog)

East Room

4:08 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I thought I'd ask you folks to come say hello, and we'll discuss healthcare. We have really no choice but to solve this situation. Obamacare is a total disaster.

It's melting down as we speak. Rates are going up. In fact, it's very interesting, Lisa, that you're sitting next to me because, in Alaska, it was 206 percent -- a 206 percent increase in Alaska. And I used to use Arizona as the standard; that was 116 percent. So it's really meltdown, and we're going to try and solve the problem.

So I invited all of you, and I think we have either 52 out of 52, or 50 out of 52. And John, either one is pretty good, I think, as a percentage.

So we're going to talk and we're going to see what we can do. We're getting very close. But for the country, we have to have healthcare. And it can't be Obamacare, which is melting down. The other side is saying all sorts of things before they even knew what the bill was. This will be great if we get it done. And if we don't get it done, it's just going to be something that we're not going to like. And that's okay, and I understand that very well.

But I think we have a chance to do something very, very important for the public -- very, very important for the people of our country that we love.

So I'll ask the press to leave. I greatly appreciate you folks being here. We love you very much. You're very kind and very understanding. (Laughter.) But we will now ask you to leave. Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.

Q Mr. President, what do you think of the Senate bill?

THE PRESIDENT: I think the Senate bill is going to be great. Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Such an understanding lot.

END 4:10 P.M. EDT

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Remarks by President Trump at a Meeting with Republican Senators - The White House (blog)

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he had picked an employment lawyer who has represented companies and business groups for a vacancy on the National Labor Relations Board.

The selection of William Emanuel, 75, to fill one of the two vacancies at the agency brings it closer to having a Republican majority, which is expected to undo a series of recent decisions seen as favoring unions.

The five-member NLRB oversees union elections and disputes between workers, unions, and employers.

Emanuel, a Los Angeles-based partner at law firm Littler Mendelson, has worked with Republicans in Congress and major trade groups from an array of industries, and has for decades defended employers in cases before the board.

He is a member of the conservative Federalist Society, an influential group of lawyers credited with pushing Trump to nominate U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch to the high court.

Emanuel said in a statement that it is an honor to be nominated.

Industry groups such as the National Retail Federation and the National Restaurant Association hailed Emanuel's nomination, saying he would help repair damage done to businesses by rulings from the NLRB during the Barack Obama administration.

Trump last week said he intended to nominate fellow Republican Marvin Kaplan, a lawyer with the federal Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, to another vacancy on the board. The positions require confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

The NLRB has been controlled by Democrats for nearly a decade and they currently have a 2-1 majority.

When it has no vacancies, the board typically includes three members from the president's party and two from the opposing party. Under Trump, lawyers and business groups expect the board to roll back a series of policy changes adopted during the administration of former President Barack Obama.

They include rules designed to speed the union election process and a 2015 decision that made it easier for companies to be held liable for legal violations by contractors, staffing agencies, and franchisees.

It was not clear when the Senate could vote on Trump's nominees but several lawyers and other experts said the process could stretch into the fall.

Kaplan previously worked for Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives crafting employment-related legislation.

(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Bill Trott)

WASHINGTON Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta, on Tuesday appeared before the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, which has begun interviewing witnesses in its probe of how Russia may have influenced the 2016 election.

BEIJING Newly appointed U.S. Ambassador to China Terry Branstad said on Wednesday the United States would like to see Nobel Peace Prize-winning activist Liu Xiaobo treated elsewhere for cancer, and that the two countries must work together on human rights.

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Trump pushes US labor board toward Republican control - Reuters

House Republicans emerged from a closed-door meeting Tuesday signaling that they will miss another self-imposed target to vote on a budget this week, as long-running disputes between conservative budget hawks and powerful committee chairmen leave the party politically crippled.

Defense hawks are demanding tens of billions of dollars more for the Pentagon, and other top lawmakers are protecting their turf. That leaves budget writers struggling to deliver enough cash to meet all those needs while finding enough room to cut the top number.

Budget Committee Chairwoman Diane Black, Tennessee Republican, said she sees a path to writing a 2018 spending plan but added that it will take more time.

My goal is to get a budget this year, and we are working hard at it and we are very close, she said. We have a majority here. We need to pass a budget.

Some had hoped her committee would hold votes on a budget this week. Republicans already have broken the April 15 deadline set in law for passing a budget.

Instead, the spending committees have begun to work on the annual appropriations bills without a budget.

Mrs. Black is looking at a basic division that would give domestic programs $511 billion in discretionary spending and reserve $621 billion for defense. Many lawmakers appear comfortable with those numbers.

But House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry, Texas Republican, said the Pentagon will need at least $640 billion higher than Mrs. Blacks figure and far more than President Trumps request of $603 billion.

Mr. Thornberry and other defense hawks say the Defense Department has been crippled by years of belt-tightening and needs the infusion to stay ahead of enemies.

I would like to see [a] $640 billion top line for base budget, Rep. Trent Franks, Arizona Republican, told The Washington Times. I believe thats whats needed.

Im not sure everybodys with me on that, he said.

Even Mr. Trumps $603 billion figure would blow through a $549 billion defense spending cap that lawmakers agreed to as part of a 2011 law that triggers automatic across-the-board cuts, or sequesters, if the caps are breached.

Congress has voted to raise the caps in the past, but doing so requires at least 60 votes in the Senate to avert a filibuster. Democrats, who control 48 seats in the upper chamber, would need to sign off on the terms of any increase.

I think the interesting thing is were appropriating and yet we dont have an agreement with the Senate, said Rep. Mark Meadows, North Carolina Republican and chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. And so I think its critically important that we have some bicameral discussions on what those numbers should be.

More money at the Pentagon means less elsewhere in the budget, and lawmakers are struggling to find places to cut.

Rep. Michael K. Conaway, Texas Republican and chairman of the Agriculture Committee, said the fight isnt so much over defense spending but over what gets cut to clear the way for a $621 billion figure.

The food stamps program, where Mr. Trump has suggested deep cuts, falls under his jurisdiction.

Part of being on the team is you fight your fight as hard as you can, you make your positions known as hard as you can, then when the positions made you soldier on and get it done, Mr. Conaway said.

The spending debate is particularly sensitive this year because its tied directly to tax reform, one of the Republicans defining agenda items for the rest of the year.

Republicans need to write a 2018 budget in order to set up the reconciliation process that would allow them to overhaul the tax code without having to face a Democratic filibuster in the Senate. Its the same process they are using to try to repeal Obamacare, based on the 2017 budget.

But passing a budget is always tough because it demands limits to spending.

If lawmakers cut too deeply from nondefense programs in the pursuit of cutting taxes, then the political ads practically write themselves, said Rep. Charles W. Dent, Pennsylvania Republican.

You run the risk of the very simple political attack. Were cutting taxes, business taxes, and then were [at] the same time potentially weakening safety net programs for lower-income people, he said.

House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer, Maryland Democrat, said the Republican delay pushes Congress closer to a government shutdown, which could happen if lawmakers cant agree on spending bills by the end of September.

It is deeply concerning that Republicans seem more focused on the budget process merely as a vehicle for enacting partisan tax reform through reconciliation rather than because budgets are how Congress sets priorities for our nation, Mr. Hoyer said.

See the rest here:
House Republicans to miss budget deadline as defense hawks clash with fiscal conservatives - Washington Times