The Note: Health care disconnect

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March 10, 2017

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Health care disconnect

The Big Story

Here at the halfway point of President Trump's first 100 days, a question looms: Which version of reality to believe? The one where the House is marching toward passing the big new health care plan, with Professor Paul Ryan outlining the way? Or the one where the united force of virtually every conservative policy shop and the House Freedom Caucus kill the bill faster than you can say "CBO"? There's another big disconnect: The White House says it's still in listening mode, publicly and privately. "We're welcoming ideas and thoughts," White House press secretary Sean Spicer said. "I didn't hear anything that said it's a binary choice at the White House today," said Rep. Mark Meadows, chairman of the Freedom Caucus. But that's not the message from Ryan and company: "This is the closest we will ever get to repealing and replacing Obamacare," the speaker said Thursday. For now, there's disagreement on whether this is a real negotiation, not to mention what a compromise from here would even look like.

The Sleeper Story

Michael Flynn is gone from the Trump administration, but he's not forgotten – and with good reason. The disclosure that Flynn was paid more than half a million dollars to lobby on behalf of the government of Turkey – work he performed in the run-up and immediate aftermath of the election – is a stunner. As his ties to Russian officials continue to be scrutinized, what other foreign lobbying work was he being paid for – directly or indirectly – as he was about to be tapped to serve as President Trump's national security adviser? Did he disclose any such contracts to the president's team when his name was under public and private consideration? Moreover, Vice President Mike Pence's icy response – "It is an affirmation of the president's decision to ask Gen. Flynn to resign," he told Fox News' Bret Baier on Thursday – raises questions about what other aspects of Flynn's behavior led to his dismissal. Recall that, after he asked him to go for misleading Pence about his contacts with Russia, the president himself called Flynn a "wonderful man" who was treated unfairly by "the fake media."

The Shiny Story

EPA chief Scott Pruitt is now on record contradicting his own agency, and surely the vast majority of his employees, in questioning whether carbon dioxide is contributing to global warming. "I would not agree that it's a primary contributor to the global warming that we see," Pruitt said, falling back on the need to "continue the debate and continue the review and the analysis." That may not align fully with what he told Congress at his confirmation hearings. But it should not be the least bit surprising. Pruitt has spent much of his career trying to undermine the core of what he has called the "activist agenda" of the agency he now leads. The question for career EPA officials – as at other agencies that now have radically different leadership – is whether they would feel more comfortable staying or going, given the current direction. But no one should truly be shocked by any of this – elections, as they say, have consequences.

TLDR

The GOP health care plan has moved through two House panels, but there is a disconnect in the Republican Party of whether it'll pass or be killed. And after remaining relatively quiet about the health care bill (except for a tweet yesterday), Trump will be meeting with House Committee chairmen to discuss health care today.

FBI Director James Comey meets congressional leaders on wiretapping, leaks, Russia

FBI Director James Comey traveled to Capitol Hill Thursday to meet with congressional leaders on a number of national security issues, according to senior officials familiar with the situation. Comey was anticipating questions on a range of topics, including the recent WikiLeaks release of purported CIA files, Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and President Donald Trump's assertion that former President Barack Obama ordered the wiretapping of Trump Tower last year. ABC's PIERRE THOMAS, JACK DATE and BENJAMIN SIEGEL have more: http://abcn.ws/2mGonpu

Inside the Senate GOP resistance to Trumpcare

Just as House Speaker Paul Ryan was rolling up his sleeves to give a presentation on the House Republican Obamacare replacement plan, on the other side of the Capitol, senators offering a full-throated defense of the bill were scarce. The House blueprint, which Ryan referred to as a "three-pronged approach" Thursday, includes some provisions that various Republican factions oppose; most notably, a plan to provide tax credits to individuals, which some critics have said amounts to a new entitlement, and an eventual cap on the amount of Medicaid funding states can receive, which worries some Republicans whose states accepted an Obama-era Medicaid expansion. ABC's ALI ROGIN has more: http://abcn.ws/2m6MOIR

The road to repealing and replacing Obamacare

After the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Ways and Means Committee approved the GOP's health care plan yesterday, ABC's JOHN PARKINSON explains what happens next in the House. While Democrats have worked overtime to frustrate the legislation's progress, they appear powerless so far to block its advancement. That privilege will fall to conservatives. http://abcn.ws/2mMO73M

This Week on 'This Week'

George Stephanopoulos goes one-on-one with White House Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney, Sunday on "This Week." Plus, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and House Intelligence Committee ranking member Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., come to "This Week." And the Powerhouse Roundtable debates the week in politics, with National Review editor Rich Lowry, Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons, Republican pollster and ABC News contributor Kristen Soltis Anderson, and editor and publisher of The Nation Katrina vanden Heuvel.