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News and updates

News and updates

House Republican Leadership Proposes Changes to Healthcare Legislation

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Last evening, the Republican leadership in the House proposed a number of changes to the committee-passed healthcare legislation. The changes have been offered as proposed amendments (see here) and will still need to be formally adopted to become part of the official legislative package.

The proposed changes were offered to garner enough support from among the House Republicans still unsupportive of the bill to ensure its passage. President Trump met with the entire House Republicans earlier today to urge that they support the bill.

Among the proposed changes are:

• Allowing states to place work requirements on Medicaid recipients
• Allowing states to turn Medicaid into a block grant
• Repealing a number of taxes created by Obamacare a year earlier than currently planned
• Changing Medicaid reimbursement rates for states
• Delaying the “Cadillac tax” on insurance benefits from 2025 to 2026
• Instructing the Senate to offer bigger tax credits for those who are 50 to 64 to offset premium increases

It remains to be seen whether these changes will win over enough of the members who are still either undecided or opposed to the measure to gain passage.

FBI: No Wiretaps

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During a public hearing that lasted most of the day before the House Intelligence Committee, FBI Director James Comey stated publicly neither the FBI nor the broader Justice Department have any evidence to confirm the Trump White House allegation that Trump was wiretapped. At the same hearing, Comey also publicly acknowledged that the FBI has an investigation under way to examine, among other things, possible links between Russia and the Trump campaign.

This Week in Congress, March 13-17

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It’s a busy week on the Hill! Here is a selection of committee hearings taking place this week.

 

Monday, March 20

 

House Rules

HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM LEGISLATION

5 p.m. March 20, H-313, U.S. Capitol

Full Committee Business Meeting

 

House Select Intelligence

RUSSIAN ELECTION TAMPERING

10 a.m. March 20, 1100 Longworth Bldg.

Full Committee Hearing

 

Tuesday, March 21

 

Senate Judiciary

GORSUCH NOMINATION

March 21, Time TBA, 216 Hart Bldg.

Full Committee Hearing

 

Senate Energy & Natural Resources

FEDERAL LANDS INFRASTRUCTURE

March 21, 10 a.m., 366 Dirksen Bldg.

Full Committee Hearing

 

House Agriculture

FARM BILL

March 21, 10 a.m., 1300 Longworth Bldg.

Subcommittee Hearing

 

House Appropriations

NIH BUDGET

March 21, 10 a.m., 2358-C Rayburn Bldg.

Subcommittee Hearing

 

House Education & the Workforce

IMPROVING FEDERAL STUDENT AID

March 21, 10 a.m., 2175 Rayburn Bldg.

Subcommittee Hearing

 

House Energy & Commerce

OPIOID CRISIS

March 21, 10:15 a.m., 2123 Rayburn Bldg.

Subcommittee Hearing

 

House Judiciary

PRIVATE IMMIGRATION BILL RULES OF PROCEDURE

March 21, 10 a.m., 2141 Rayburn Bldg.

Subcommittee Markup

 

House Science, Space & Technology

NSF SCIENCE CHALLENGES

March 21, 10 a.m., 2318 Rayburn Bldg.

Subcommittee Hearing

 

Wednesday, March 22

 

Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions

ACOSTA NOMINATION

March 22, 9 a.m., 430 Dirksen Bldg.

Full Committee Hearing

 

Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation

EMERGING CYBERSECURITY TECHNOLOGIES

March 22, 10 a.m., 106 Dirksen Bldg.

Full Committee Hearing

Thursday, March 23

 

Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation

STATE OF THE COAST GUARD

March 22, 2:30 p.m., 253 Russell Bldg.

Subcommittee Hearing

 

A Big Week in Congress

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The first day of Spring today is the start of a big week in Congress. Activities of interest this week include, but are not limited to:

• The confirmation hearing for United States Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch before the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to start today, with opening statements. Members of the committee will have an opportunity to ask questions of Judge Gorsuch Tuesday and Wednesday.

• The House Intelligence Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on a host of issues related to Russian involvement in the November presidential election as well as those around claims of wire-tapping and other issues. The head of the FBI James Comey and the director of the National Security Agency Michael Rogers are slated to testify at the hearing.

• Currently slated for Thursday, the full House is expected to vote on the American Health Care Act, the legislation aimed at repealing and replacing Obamacare.

Office of Federal Relations will provide additional updates.

What We’re Reading This Week, March 13 – 17

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Here’s a selection of articles the Federal Relations team is reading this week.

Trump Budget – The President’s first budget request came out this week, and there’s a lot in there. The Washington Post has an overview. Also, WaPo has an article about how Congressional Republicans aren’t so wild about the proposal. Read more in The Washington Post here. 

CBO Numbers Grab Headlines – While many supporters of the House Obamacare repeal legislation had expected some politically difficult projections from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) with respect to the number of uninsured Americans, the estimates released by the bipartisan office have created even more anxiety among some GOP members in both chambers of Congress. Read more here in Politico, and in The Hill here and here.

Who Do You Trust? – When it comes to health care reform and rhetoric, Trump supporters tend to believe Trump. Read more in The Washington Post.

Marriage of Convenience – Health care reform is making unusual bedfellows and straining strained relationships. For example, President Trump assured Americans on Thursday of the “improvements being made” to legislation that Speaker Paul Ryan initially suggested would scarcely change. Read more in The New York Times.

Punctuation Is Fundamental –A class-action lawsuit about overtime pay for truck drivers hinged entirely on the absence of an Oxford Comma. Read more in The New York Times.