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Im glad, because it seemed like it was a distraction to what he hopes to accomplish and Congress hopes to accomplish in the policy realm, Trey Grayson said. | AP Photo

By Aidan Quigley

03/15/17 05:22 AM EDT

Prominent Republicans across the country are breathing a sigh of relief that President Donald Trump has so far not aggressively pursued his pledge for a major investigation into his allegations of widespread voter fraud that he claims robbed him the popular vote.

Current and former GOP state party chairs and other officials said in interviews that the unverified allegation was at best a distraction and at worst a damaging statement that could erode confidence in elections. And even as Trump continues to make some outrageous claims including that former President Barack Obama tapped his Trump Tower phones hes now directing much of his attention to replacing Obamacare and juicing up the job market.

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Im glad, because it seemed like it was a distraction to what he hopes to accomplish and Congress hopes to accomplish in the policy realm, Trey Grayson, former Kentucky secretary of state, said. There doesn't seem to be strong evidence to defend the claims.

Trump raised the issue of voter fraud early and often throughout his transition period and his first couple of weeks in office, claiming without evidence that from 3 million to 5 million people voted illicitly in the 2016 election.

While he pledged during his first week in office to ask for a major investigation into voter fraud and the White House said he would sign an executive order formally pursuing one, the effort has quietly dropped from sight.

There is still no sign of the commission Trump later asked Vice President Mike Pence to form to investigate the matter on Feb. 5. Aside from a brief mention during White House press secretary Sean Spicers Feb. 22 briefing, in which he said Pence was starting to gather names and individuals to be a part of it, the administration has been generally mum on the issue.

Staff is continuing to work to put the framework together for this process, Pence spokesman Marc Lotter said. We will let you know when we have additional updates on it.

Leading conservative organizations focusing on voter fraud at the state level likely participants in a commission on the issue led by the administration say they have not been contacted about participating. Neither has Catherine Engelbrecht, the leader of prominent national anti-voter fraud organization True the Vote.

Last week, House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz said his panel would not pursue its own investigation into Trumps claim as he has not seen the evidence.

Val DiGiorgio, chairman of the Pennsylvania GOP, said that while voter fraud is a real problem that should be addressed, there are more pressing issues the administration is facing.

Theyre putting their priorities where they belong: jobs, keeping America safe and getting their administration off to a good start, he said.

New Hampshire Republicans, in particular, are expressing relief at the development as Trump specifically mentioned their state, alleging voters bused in from Massachusetts cost him and former Sen. Kelly Ayotte victories in the state.

But some Republicans want the White House to retreat even further.

It would be nice if they would admit they made a bogus claim before moving on, but next to that, the right thing to do is move on, said Fergus Cullen, former chairman of the New Hampshire Republican party.

Tom Rath, the states former attorney general, said the claims have faded from view because they are false.

I dont think it was tactical, as opposed to realistic, he said. If youre going to say something like that, you need to have a second act. They didnt even have the first act.

Cullen offered $1,000 to anyone who could provide evidence any individual from Massachusetts was bused in to vote, and he says no one has come forward with evidence. He said he did not think the declining focus on voter fraud is symbolic of a more focused administration, especially in light of Trump's accusations that Obama had wiretapped him.

Others were more optimistic that the development represented growth within the administration.

Ive been encouraged when I hear the president and his administration focusing on health care, focusing on supplying the military with support they need, focusing on tax reform, Jennifer Horn, former chairwoman on the New Hampshire GOP, said. I think the more the administration focuses on these larger issues facing the nation, the better it will be for the president and our nation.

Matt Strawn, former Iowa GOP chairman, said he was encouraged by the presidents engagement on health care as a sign of the administration's priorities, as Iowans do not see voting fraud as an issue in the state.

The issue isnt one Im hearing is at top of mind for folks in Iowa, he said. Their focus is on jobs and the economy.

State legislatures in a number of states are considering laws that would tighten voting regulations, despite the lack of evidence of in-person voter fraud. Only 31 cases of in-person voter fraud were recorded from 2000 to 2014, according to research from Loyola University law professor Justin Levitt.

John Whitbeck, chairman of the Virginia Republican party, said the issue has not fallen out of the spotlight in his state. Citing a recent Washington Times article, Whitbeck said 9,000 noncitizens were disqualified from jury duty in Loudoun County in Northern Virginia from 2009 to 2014. Since the jury pools come from voter registration lists and driver license applications, Whitbeck said that report was a cause for concern.

When we lose elections to progressives, it concerns Republicans because theres always the question of if the integrity of the ballot was kept, he said. I hope the president takes a look at it.

Whitbeck said investigating voter fraud in New Jersey and Virginia, the two states with statewide elections in 2017, should be a priority. However, he understands why the White House has focused on other issues.

Theyre trying to repeal and replace Obamacare, they have the refugee travel issue, there are a lot of things going on right now," he said. "So its not surprising this isnt the No. 1 issue facing the White House."

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Democratic critics of Trumps White House say they dont buy the argument that its simply other priorities that have pushed a voter fraud investigation onto the back burner.

Jason Kander, the former Missouri secretary of state and Democratic candidate for Senate who is now leading a newly formed voting rights group called Let America Vote, floated the idea that Pence is not enthusiastic about pursuing the probe.

It seems the VP is so embarrassed by this massive absurd lie he doesn't want to talk about it, Kander said. If this was in any way within a country mile of a legitimate claim, [the president] would have asked the DOJ to investigate it instead of a clearly biased political figure.

Discussions of large-scale voter fraud without any evidence makes it more likely laws will be introduced to fight what might be a nonexistent problem, said Ellen Weintraub, a Democratic member of the Federal Election Commission commissioner. These laws may deter bona-fide U.S. citizens from voting," she added.

Grayson said he was unsure whether there was any type of strategy behind the presidents claims, or if Trump was trying to blow off steam, trying to get more respect for his electoral win, or actually thought there was that much voter fraud. Either way, Grayson said, he was glad the administration has zeroed in on other issues.

It undermines the confidence we have in our elections, he said. I dont want the president, governors or senators saying things like that, its harmful.

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Republicans relieved Trump eased up on voter fraud claims - Politico

Seventeen Republican members of Congress from diverse districtsincluding representatives from coastal Southeastern states, Nevada, Utah, upstate New York and Pennsylvaniasubmitted a resolution in the House Wednesday acknowledging that human activities have had an impact on global climate and resolving to create and support economically viable mitigation efforts.

The resolution, sponsored by representatives Elise Stefanik of New York, Carlos Curbelo of Florida and Ryan Costello of Pennsylvania, is being submitted in the midst of an unprecedented effort by the most anti-science administration in recent American history to remove climate science studies and data from federal agencies.

Related: Trump posed to drop climate change from environmental reviews

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On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that President Donald Trump is about to sign an executive order repealing President Barack Obamas Clean Power Plan, and to order a reconsideration of the governments use of the social cost of carbonmetric, which measures potential economic damage related to climate change.

Last week, meanwhile, Trumps Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) director, Scott Pruitt, suggested that carbon emissions have nothing to do with climate change.

Curbelo, whose Miami-area district is already experiencing dramatic effects of rising sea levels, has been spearheading the effort to gather pro-science members on his side of the aisle since last year, when he coaxed 10 Republicans to join a bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus, which now has 30 members from 13 states, half of whom are Republican.

The resolution being submitted Wednesday states, That the House of Representatives commits to working constructively, using our tradition of American ingenuity, innovation, and exceptionalism, to create and support economically viableand broadly supported private and public solutions to study and address the causes and effects of measured changes to our global and regional climates, including mitigation efforts and efforts to balance human activities that have been found to have an impact.

During a call with reporters Tuesday, Curbelo said there are many, many more Republicans in the House who are interested in the issue andwant to learn more, and who are considering joining this effort officially by putting their name on it. He said his goal is to move on to solutions that we can all rally around and that we can work on with our Republican and Democratic colleagues. This would include, he said, pressing the administration to add projects to mitigate the effects of climate change, such as seawalls, in its expected infrastructure plan.

While prospects for a swell of GOP political support seem dim, given the presidents stated position that climate change might be a Chinese hoax and his EPA directors open animosity toward the issue, Curbelo said he sees a possible wedge via members of Trumps inner circlepresumably including his daughter Ivanka, who has reportedly lobbied her father on the issue.

We know there are people very close to the president who understand this issue, Curbelo said, without naming anyone. These are people who have already been a very good influence on items such as the Paris Agreement, and we are looking forward to engaging those individuals so that we can take this conversation to a good place.

Curbelo called Pruitts comments on carbon disconcerting and added, What he said was akin to saying the Earth is flat in the year 2017. We must insist on evidence-based and science-based policies. He also chastised Pruitt last week in a statement, saying,Rising carbon emissions have been a contributing factor to climate change for decades. That is a scientific fact and the reality facing communities like my district. The EPA is tasked with the very responsibility of helping to lower the impact of carbon emissions, and for Mr. Pruitt to assert otherwise without scientific evidence is reckless and unacceptable.

One of the resolutions signatories is Representative Mark Sanford (R-S.C.), who represents a section of his state known as the Low Country. Sanford, who grew up on a farm in the area, says he has seen firsthand the effects of rising sea levels, in acreage lost to salt water.

The Low Country makes Miami Beach look like high ground, Sanford said. I just think there is inherent danger in the three-monkey routinesee no evil, hear no evil, speak no evilrelated to climate change. To deny its existence is to deny what our country was founded on. The Founding Fathers designed a reason-based political system, and without reason the system doesnt work.

Curbelos climate caucus co-chairman, Florida Democratic Representative Ted Deutch, released a statement Wednesday morning welcoming the GOP effort. Americans dont see climate change as a partisan issue, and neither should Congress, he said. As the Democratic co-chair of the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus, I applaud my Republican colleagues for introducing this important resolution on climate change. Were going to need lawmakers from both sides of the aisle working together, engaging in robust debate, following the scienceand finding bipartisan legislative responses to the growing threats of climate change.

Polls have shown that a majority of Americans are concerned about climate change, and those fears among constituents, plus the fact that Republicans now control all branches of government and are thus alast line of defense, might be prompting more Republicans to reject the administrations anti-science position. The polling is very clear, Curbelo said. A clear majority understand this is a challenge we are facing, and among younger voters the numbers are staggering. Over 80 percent of millennials consider this a major issue. The House is the most representative institution in our government. This issue was regrettably politicized 20 years or so ago, and we are trying to take some of the politics out and reducing the noise.

Others who signed the resolution are Representatives Barbara Comstock (R-Va.), Don Bacon (R-Neb.), John Faso (R-N.Y.), John Katko (R-N.Y.), Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.), Tom Reed (R-N.Y.), Mark Amodei (R-Nev.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Mia Love (R-Utah), Pat Meehan (R-Pa.), Brian Mast (R-Fla.) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla).

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House Republicans Buck Trump, Call for Climate Change Solutions - Newsweek

WASHINGTON Republicans are in position to finally deliver on their long-standing campaign pledges to repeal the Affordable Care Act, but that effort could be derailed by conservatives who oppose the GOP health care bill introduced last week.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said the friendly fire from some on the right isnt helping Republicans take action on health care.

Weve been promising for six years we were going to do something about it, Grassley said. Forty Republicans in the House and three or four in the Senate might be putting the whole Republican campaign of the last six years in jeopardy.

The House GOP bill, called the American Health Care Act, enters a pivotal period this week. With a relatively small majority in Congress and little support likely from Democrats, Republican leaders cant afford too many defections from their ranks if they hope to pass the legislation.

While the bill won approval from two key House committees last week, nonpartisan bean counters are poised to release their analysis of just how much the proposal will cost and how many Americans could lose coverage.

At the same time, conservative groups and their allies in Congress have stepped up attacks on the proposal, which they deride as Obamacare 2.0 and Obamacare Lite.

The bill would roll back the Affordable Care Acts expansion of Medicaid, but not as quickly as some conservatives would like.

Critics on the right also want to strip out the bills refundable tax credits to help people buy health insurance, which are intended to take the place of the ACA subsidies.

Grassley rejected the notion that such tax credits are essentially the same as the subsidies in the current law, as conservative opponents contend. He said tax credits have long been a staple of GOP health policy proposals.

The Republican answer to that, all the time, has been tax credits that are refundable tax credits, said Grassley, a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, which does much of the heavy lifting on health care policy.

That said, Grassley indicated that he may well push for his own changes to the bill if it gets to the Senate.

The conservative pushback threatens to blunt the bills momentum after it cleared two House committees following marathon sessions.

Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., a member of the Ways and Means Committee, issued a statement hailing that panels approval shortly after 4 a.m. Thursday.

For years, Nebraskans have called on us to provide relief from Obamacares rising premiums and dwindling choices, Smith said. Too many Americans have been hurt by this failing law, and now we finally have the opportunity to reset our health care system.

Smith and Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., have expressed support for the proposal. But other House members from Nebraska and western Iowa have been withholding judgment as have those on the other side of the Capitol.

Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., who made health care his signature issue in his 2014 Senate race, has said only that he remains committed to repeal but is still reviewing the House bill.

Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., was asked about the bill during her weekly conference call with reporters and repeatedly said she first wants to see what the House approves. She then reiterated criticisms of the current law.

But is she confident that Republicans will be able to pass something?

I am, as I said, waiting to see what comes to us from the House, and Im going to look at it and assess what impact its going to have on the American people, Fischer responded.

Fischer did note with approval that the House bill preserves the current laws prohibition on denying coverage to those with pre-existing conditions, and it continues to allow young people to stay on their parents insurance.

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, also lauded those provisions.

That should really please a lot of people, she said.

Ernst said shes still studying the bills impact on Iowa, particularly the thousands covered by the states expansion of Medicaid.

She said Democrats talk about the millions covered under current law is misleading, saying that many of those people have deductibles so high that they cant afford to actually access health care. That, she said, renders their insurance cards useless.

Ernst also pointed to counties where theres a dearth of participating insurers.

Thats no choice and thats no option for those who really need the care, she said.

Health care is an emotional issue for people, she said, noting those with children who have chronic conditions such as diabetes.

It is a complicated issue, she said, but we need to do something to make sure that our families are getting the proper care they need.

joe.morton@owh.com, twitter.com/MortonOWH

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Republicans, long united by Obamacare, now divided on its replacement - Omaha World-Herald

WASHINGTON Republican U.S. Representative Todd Rokita keeps a clock hanging on the wall of his Capitol Hill office that tracks the U.S. government's rising debt in real time and reminds him of his top priority: reining in federal spending.

I was sent here on a fiscal note, said the Indiana lawmaker and vice chairman of the House of Representatives Budget Committee, who rode a Republican wave during his first election to Congress in 2010.

When President Donald Trump unveils his budget for the 2018 fiscal year on Thursday, Rokita will be among many conservative Republicans cheering proposed cuts to domestic programs that would pay for a military buildup.

More moderate Republicans are less enthusiastic and worry Trump's budget could force lawmakers to choose between opposing the president or backing reductions in popular programs such as aid for disabled children and hot meals for the elderly.

What you would hope is that the administration is aware of the difficulty of some of these things," said Representative Tom Cole of Oklahoma.

The release of Trumps budget, which comes as the Republican president is facing an intraparty revolt over proposed legislation to replace the Obamacare healthcare law, could open another fight among Republicans who control both houses of Congress. To keep the government running, lawmakers will need to approve a spending plan later this year.

The White House has released few details about Trump's budget, other than making clear the president wants to boost military spending by $54 billion and is seeking equivalent cuts in non-defense discretionary programs.

But several agencies, including the State Department and the Environmental Protection Agency, have been asked to prepare scenarios for steep reductions, according to officials familiar with the discussions.

While supporting deficit-reduction efforts, Cole said a major research university in his district could get hit by National Institutes of Health cuts, as could sewage treatment facilities funded by the EPA.

Republican Senator Rob Portman, whose home state of Ohio sits on the southern shores of Lake Erie, expressed concern about media reports saying the Trump budget had penciled in sharp cuts in a cleanup program for the Great Lakes.

NOT AUSTERE ENOUGH

While Rokita, who was among a group of Republican lawmakers who met with Trump last week, appeared comfortable with what he had learned so far about Trumps budget, some Republican members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus said they wanted to see even further budget cuts.

Representative Mo Brooks of Alabama said the outcry from lawmakers over the expected cuts underscored to him that the blueprint would be a a very large step in the right direction of reining in the debt.

Brooks added: My fear is that the Trump budget will not be austere enough to minimize Americas risk of suffering the kind of debilitating insolvency and bankruptcy that is destroying the lives of Venezuelans right now.

OPEC member Venezuela is immersed in a deep economic crisis, with inflation in triple digits, shortages of basic goods, and many people going hungry.

Brooks and other members of the Freedom Caucus are among the most vocal critics of the legislation backed by the White House to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, former Democratic President Barack Obamas signature healthcare plan, known as Obamacare.

To try to woo the conservative lawmakers on Trump's legislative agenda, budget director Mick Mulvaney, himself a former member of the House Freedom Caucus, has invited them to a bowling and pizza night at the White House on Tuesday night.

Another Freedom Caucus member, Representative David Schweikert of Arizona, said Mulvaney was encouraging lawmakers to submit maverick fiscal ideas to the White House.

Schweikert said he hoped to revive a proposal from a few years ago, in the midst of a fight over raising the U.S. debt limit, that would have allowed the government to take a series of alternative, albeit controversial steps, such as paying some creditors ahead of others.

'SLASH AND BURN'

One senior Republican aide, who referred to Trumps budget as a slash and burn proposal, said one fear of some House lawmakers was that they would be pressured to back big spending cuts only to have them rejected by the Senate, where Republicans hold a slimmer majority. The risk for House members is that their votes could prompt a backlash in the 2018 congressional elections.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said a budget that cuts State Department funds by one-third is unlikely to pass in his chamber.

Other high-ranking Republicans are setting off alarms.

Senator Lindsey Graham, following a White House lunch on Tuesday with Trump, said: "What I told him is that when we get in a deadlock between the House and the Senate, different factions of the party ... you're the guy who needs to come down and close the deal."

Cole said Congress would ultimately have the final say on the budget.

At the end of the day, well have a budget. Well pass the budget, he said. Our budget is not necessarily the presidents budget.

(Reporting by Richard Cowan and Roberta Rampton; Editing by Caren Bohan and Peter Cooney)

WASHINGTON Aides to U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday attacked the credibility of the nonpartisan agency that will analyze the costs of a replacement for Obamacare, as the White House sought to quell opposition from many conservative Republicans.

JAKARTA U.S. Vice President Mike Pence will visit Japan and Indonesia next month, sources said on Monday, as part of an Asian tour amid concerns the Trump administration is rolling back Barack Obama's "pivot to Asia".

WASHINGTON Two days before U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara was fired, President Donald Trump tried to call the high-profile New York prosecutor in what a White House official said was an effort to "thank him for his service and to wish him good luck."

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Trump budget opens new fight among Republicans - Reuters

Republicans pushing a plan to dismantle Barack Obama's health care law are bracing for a Congressional Budget Office analysis widely expected to conclude that fewer Americans will have health coverage under the proposal, despite President Donald Trump's promise of "insurance for everybody."

House Speaker Paul Ryan said he fully expects the CBO analysis, set to be released as early as Monday, to find less coverage since the GOP plan eliminates the government requirement to be insured.

But Ryan and Trump administration officials vowed to move forward on their proposed "repeal and replace" plan, insisting they can work past GOP disagreements and casting the issue as one of "choice" in which consumers are freed of a government mandate to buy insurance.

"What we're trying to achieve here is bringing down the cost of care, bringing down the cost of insurance not through government mandates and monopolies but by having more choice and competition," Ryan, R-Wis., said on Sunday. "We're not going to make an American do what they don't want to do."

The CBO's long-awaited cost analysis of the House GOP leadership plan, including estimates on the number of people expected to be covered, will likely affect Republicans' chances of passing the proposal.

GOP opponents from the right and center are already hardening their positions against the Trump-backed legislation. House conservatives vowed to block the bill as "Obamacare Lite" unless there are more restrictions, even as a Republican, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., warned the plan would never pass as is due to opposition from moderates.

"Do not walk the plank and vote for a bill that cannot pass the Senate and then have to face the consequences of that vote," Cotton said. "If they vote for this bill, they're going to put the House majority at risk next year."

The GOP legislation would eliminate the current mandate that nearly all people in the United States carry insurance or face fines. It would use tax credits to help consumers buy health coverage, expand health savings accounts, phase out an expansion of Medicaid and cap that program for the future, end some requirements for health plans under Obama's law, and scrap a number of taxes.

During the presidential campaign and as recently as January, Trump repeatedly stressed his support for universal health coverage, saying his plan to replace the Affordable Care Act would provide "insurance for everybody."

On Sunday, his aides took pains to explain that a CBO finding of fewer people covered would not necessarily mean that fewer people will be covered.

"If the CBO was right about Obamacare to begin with, there'd be 8 million more people on Obamacare today than there actually are," said Mick Mulvaney, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, disputing the accuracy of CBO data. "Sometimes we ask them to do stuff they're not capable of doing, and estimating the impact of a bill of this size probably isn't the best use of their time."

Health Secretary Tom Price said he "firmly" believed that "nobody will be worse off financially" under the Republicans' health care overhaul. He said people will have choices as they select the kind of coverage they want as opposed to what the government forces them to buy. In actuality, tax credits in Republican legislation being debated in the House may not be as generous to older people as what is in the current law.

Gary Cohn, Trump's chief economic adviser, described past CBO analyses as "meaningless."

"We are offering coverage to everyone," he said. "If you are on Medicaid today, you're going to stay on Medicaid. If you are covered under an employee-sponsored plan, you're going to be continued to be covered under an employee-sponsored plan. If you fall into that middle group, we're going to provide tax credit so you can go out and buy a plan."

House conservatives weren't buying it.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, a co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus, criticized the plan as an unacceptable form of "Obamacare Lite." He and other caucus members want a quicker phase-out of Medicaid benefits and are opposed to proposed refundable tax credits as a new entitlement that will add to government costs.

Members of the caucus will meet with White House officials on Tuesday. They expressed hope that Trump is sincere in expressing a willingness to negotiate changes, criticizing Ryan for his "take it or leave it" stance.

"I'm not for this plan and I think there's lot of opposition to this plan in the House and Senate," Jordan said. "Either work with us or you don't end up getting the votes. That's the real choice here."

But pressuring the White House on the opposite side were moderate Republican governors and senators, who said Trump needed to allow for continuing Medicaid coverage for the poor.

"It's not like we love Obamacare. It means don't throw the baby out with the bathwater," said Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican. "Don't kill Medicaid expansion. And you've got to fix the exchange, but you have to have an ability to subsidize people at lower income levels."

"We need to have Democrats involved so that what we do is going to be not only significant but will last," Kasich added.

Ryan spoke on CBS' "Face the Nation," Price and Kasich appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press," Mulvaney spoke on ABC's "This Week" and CNN's "State of the Union," Cotton was on ABC's "This Week," and Jordan and Cohn appeared on "Fox News Sunday."

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Republicans brace for downbeat CBO analysis of health bill - ABC News