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Hard-Line Republican Caucus Backs Revised Bill to Repeal Obamacare – New York Times


New York Times
Hard-Line Republican Caucus Backs Revised Bill to Repeal Obamacare
New York Times
Senior White House officials, led by Reince Priebus, the chief of staff, have relentlessly pressed Republicans to revive the health care push before Mr. Trump's hundred-day mark on Saturday, and with conservatives falling into line, the bill has a ...
Freedom Caucus endorses Obamacare repeal compromisePolitico
Freedom Caucus endorses latest Republican plan to revise ObamacareWashington Post
The New G.O.P. Health-Care Plan Is So Bad Even Republicans Want OutVanity Fair
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Hard-Line Republican Caucus Backs Revised Bill to Repeal Obamacare - New York Times

What Hill Republicans think of Trump’s tax plan: ‘Not even close’ to reform – CNN

Administration officials say the White House wanted to take the lead on this -- rather than wait for the Hill -- to garner headlines ahead of Trump's 100th day in office.

House Speaker Paul Ryan put a positive spin on things during his own news conference Wednesday, noting that he saw the administration's announcement as a clear example that "progress is being made and we're moving and getting on the same page."

Indeed, House and Senate lawmakers all touted the administration's announcement and professed genuine enthusiasm for a big White House push on what will inevitably be a thorny and difficult process.

"The principles outlined by the Trump Administration today will serve as critical guideposts for Congress and the administration as we work together to overhaul the American tax system and ensure middle-class families and job creators are better positioned for the 21st century economy," Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch said in a joint statement.

But the lead-up to the release was far from a smooth process behind the scenes. The Trump administration has ruffled GOP feathers on Capitol Hill by getting in the way of legislators' efforts to fix the tax system.

"It's not tax reform," said one senior GOP aide. "Not even close."

While GOP lawmakers and aides directly involved in the process acknowledge both publicly and privately they are happy the White House is kicking into gear, none of the key players were given a heads-up before Trump announced he would be releasing his principles last week, according to multiple House and Senate GOP aides.

"We get that they want make a big show of leading the way on this, but that's not how this is supposed to work," one aide told CNN, adding that discussions between House and Senate tax writers and their administrating counterparts had been ongoing, if still far from any concrete agreement or pathway forward.

The White House defended the plan, which was presented in a single-page sheet during a briefing Wednesday afternoon.

"This isn't going to be easy. Doing big things never is," said Gary Cohn, director of the White House National Economic Council. "We will be attacked from the left and we'll be attacked from the right, but one thing is certain: I would never, ever bet against this President. He will get this done for the American people."

The topline principles Trump is releasing leave out the important signs of actual reform, not the least of which include: how to pay for it, what's the pathway through the House and Senate, where the key players off the Hill that have enormous lobbying clout stand on things, and more.

For some aides and lawmakers involved in the process, Trump's approach is being taken as a direct affront to Ryan and Brady, who spent more than a year on their tax proposal with the repeatedly stated goal of "once in a generation reform."

"It's really easy to talk about big cuts," a senior GOP aide told CNN. "We're about solutions. They aren't to that point yet, either on the policy or on the personnel level, and it's both obvious and disruptive to the process."

As the tax debate intensifies, one question above all is sure to emerge: How would the President's plan affect his own taxes?

For that, there is no answer, given his refusal to release his tax returns. Mnuchin said the President had "no intention" of releasing them now.

"The President has released plenty of information and I think has given more financial disclosure than anybody else," Mnuchin said. "I think the American population has plenty of information on it."

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What Hill Republicans think of Trump's tax plan: 'Not even close' to reform - CNN

Republicans refuse to fund ObamaCare subsidies – New York Post

WASHINGTON Republicans drew battle lines Wednesday over the spending bill that would keep the government running by refusing to fund ObamaCare subsidies.

Were not doing that, House Speaker Paul Ryan said Wednesday after a closed-door meeting with his GOP caucus.

Declining to include payments to insurers in the April must-pass spending bill increases the drama for a possible government shutdown at midnight Friday.

Pulling the money that helps low-income Americans afford insurance would create monumental instability in the individual marketplace, Rep. Joe Crowley (D-Queens) warned Wednesday.

I dont think my Republican colleagues want to see this go unfunded. The instability they would create in the markets would be monumental to themselves and their states, Crowley said.

The government will shut down Saturday President Trumps 100th day if Congress fails to pass the new spending bill.

Ryan said lawmakers are very close to agreeing on spending priorities. He said the ObamaCare payments should be addressed separately by the Trump administration and not be a bargaining chip in the spending bill.

That is not an appropriation bill. Thats something separate that the administration does, Ryan said.

Trump has previously signaled a willingness to use his administrative authority to end the payments, which would mean ObamaCare dies.

The cost-sharing payments amounting to about $7 billion a year go to insurance companies so they can lower patient deductibles and co-pays for low-income patients.

Theyve been a huge source of controversy for House Republicans, with former House Speaker John Boehner even filing a lawsuit against the Obama administration in 2014.

Republicans argued Obama didnt have the authority to dole out those payments without the explicit approval of Congress. The case is pending.

Democrats warned of dire consequences if Trump carries out his threat to sabotage the ObamaCare market.

If he chooses to stop making these payments, it blows up the market, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said Wednesday.

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Republicans refuse to fund ObamaCare subsidies - New York Post

Berkeley College Republicans explain lawsuit against university over Coulter – Fox News

One of the leaders of the College Republcans at the University of California, Berkeley, told Fox News the school's attempts to postone Ann Coulter's planned speech this Thursday represented just the latest efforts to silenceconservative voices on campus.

ANN COULTER'S BACKERS AT BERKELEY FILE LAWSUIT

A legal team led by Harmeet Dhillon, a San Francisco attorney who represents the College Republicans, filed a lawsuit claiming Berkeley has violated students' rights to free speech, a claim that school officials have denied. They said they proposed an alternate date out of safety, citing threats of violence.

Every week were harassed and attacked. Ive been spit on. Ive been punched. Theyve destroyed our signs, Naweed Tahmas, the vice president and spokesman for the Berkeley College Republicans,said on "Fox & Friends."

BILL MAHER DEFENDS ANN COULTER IN BERKELEY FREE-SPEECH FIGHT

One time I walked on campus and I saw flyers on campus with my face on it calling me a fascist, calling me a neo-Nazi, Tahmas said. I dont know how many neo-Nazis you know that are named Naweed and have brown skin.

A civil rights lawsuit has been filed with four claims of equal protection, due process and two first amendment claims on free speech, according to Dhillon. She is also a committeewoman to the Republican National Convention for California and former vice chairwoman of the California Republican Party.

UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said the university's attorneys were reviewing the complaint but were confident that "we are on very solid legal grounds." The university and its police department have said they received credible intelligence of security concerns if the event goes ahead Thursday and they need to balance their need to allow free speech with the need to ensure campus security.

"The constitution permits the university to take such steps to protect public safety while facilitating expressive activities, and that is exactly what we are doing," Mogulof said.

The Dalai Lama, the former president of Mexico, famous people come to Cal all the time to speak and theyre allowed to speak and their speech is not barred, their speech is not relegated to 1 to 3 p.m. Their speech is not relegated to being on campus.And their speech is not restricted to only students and their speech is not restricted to not being advertised. These are all unique requirements that are being imposed on conservative speakers at Cal, Dhillon said.

Berkeley'schief attorney Christopher Pattiwrote in a letter to Dhillon that university police and officials have determined neither the group's free speech nor the safety of the university's 36,000 students can be safeguarded on April 27,The Associated Press reported.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Berkeley College Republicans explain lawsuit against university over Coulter - Fox News

Republicans look to undo health-care loophole that appears to benefit members of Congress and staff – Washington Post

As Republicans study an amendment to the American Health Care Act to see if it would revive the moribund effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, theyre wrestling over language that appears to benefit members of Congress and their staff and looking for a way to change it before any votes are called.

The language, first spotted by Vox health-care reporter Sarah Kliff, leaves a loophole in the McArthur-Meadows amendments waiversallowing insurers in states to cut back on theessential health benefits mandated by the ACA. Members of Congress or their staffers from a state that offers a skimpier set of standards would be able stay on the District of Columbias plan, which follows the ACA mandate.

Voxs story ran late Tuesday night, and by Wednesday morning, Republicans werereviewingthe loophole. One member who brought it up during the partys weekly conference meeting was told that the language might not stay in the bill.

[Conservative pressure groups throw weight behind GOP health-care deal]

In a scrum with reporters before the conference meeting, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) said that the language was murky because the District is not a state. Later, leaving a meeting of the House Freedom Caucus, Meadows wasclearer about the need to strip the language.

If you look at the text, it actually penalizes members of Congress and people in D.C.,said Meadows, who did not explain howCongress and D.C. residents would be penalized. But we understand the optics, and were working on that to make sure that it gets fixed.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced a digital ad buy in the districts of 30 Republicans who either represented swing seats or had said theyd oppose the AHCA. The ad, stamped with the name of each targeted Republican, shows a Band-Aid under the word denied and an image of the Capitol under the word approved, accusing Republicans of twisting the rules to avoid personal pain.

Removing protections for people with preexisting conditions will go down in infamy as one of the most heartless acts of this Republican Congress, said DCCC spokesman Tyler Law. As proof of the repeal bills devastating impact, Republican members of Congress are exempting themselves from the punishment they are willing to inflict on their constituents.

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Republicans look to undo health-care loophole that appears to benefit members of Congress and staff - Washington Post