TRUMP AGENDA: The CBO score cometh
From NBC’s Benjy Sarlin: “A crucial analysis of the House GOP health care bill is expected this week from the Congressional Budget Office — and its projections of how many Americans would gain or lose insurance under the plan and the impact on the deficit will immediately become a major part of the debate.”
Republicans are bracing for a tough CBO score, the AP notes.
Dante Chinni and Sally Bronston look at why the House GOP health care bill would hit Trump voters particularly hard.
“Ohio Gov. John Kasich argued Sunday that Republicans and Democrats should work together to improve health care legislation, criticizing the current House GOP health care bill while predicting that President Donald Trump "would be flexible" on the issue,” writes NBC’s Kailani Koenig.
Worth noting, from the Washington Post: “Trump said no Americans would lose coverage under Obamacare repeal. Paul Ryan won’t make that promise.”
“U.S. Rep. Steve King, an Iowa Republican who last July said white Christians have contributed more to Western civilization than any other “subgroup,” on Sunday found himself again the subject of criticism, this time for saying that Muslim children are preventing “our civilization” from being restored,” writes the Des Moines Register. “King, who was retweeting a message endorsing Geert Wilders, a far-right candidate for Dutch prime minister, said Wilders “understands that culture and demographics are our destiny. We can't restore our civilization with somebody else's babies.”
From NBC’s Daniel Arkin: “The top lawmakers on the House Intelligence Committee have asked the Justice Department to turn over by Monday any evidence showing Trump Tower was wiretapped during the 2016 presidential race — an explosive accusation President Trump leveled at former President Obama without providing proof.”
POLITICO reports that the House’s investigators of the Trump-Russia link are on “a collision course.”
The Wall Street Journal has the latest on Preet Bharara’s firing.
The Washington Post: “President Trump’s budget proposal this week would shake the federal government to its core if enacted, culling back numerous programs and expediting a historic contraction of the federal workforce. This would be the first time the government has executed cuts of this magnitude — and all at once — since the drawdown following World War II, economists and budget analysts said.”
“From the moment he was sworn in, President Trump faced a personnel crisis, starting virtually from scratch in lining up senior leaders for his administration. Seven weeks into the job, he is still hobbled by the slow start, months behind where experts in both parties, even some inside his administration, say he should be,” writes the New York Times. “The lag has left critical power centers in his government devoid of leadership as he struggles to advance policy priorities on issues like health care, taxes, trade and environmental regulation. Many federal agencies and offices are in states of suspended animation, their career civil servants answering to temporary bosses whose influence and staying power are unclear, and who are sometimes awaiting policy direction from appointees whose arrival may be weeks or months away.”
“Republican lawmakers are showing increasing resistance to President Donald Trump’s trade agenda, worried that his plans could hurt exports from their states and undermine longstanding U.S. alliances,” writes the Wall Street Journal.
The New York Times notes that Trump wants higher growth while the Fed is urging restraint.
NBC’s Ari Melber notices: “President Donald Trump pledged to forgo a presidential salary, but as his second payday approaches, the White House is declining to say if the president has donated any of his earnings yet.”
POLITICO: “President Donald Trump relishes the comforts of his Mar-a-Lago estate for repeated weekends away from Washington, but former Secret Service and intelligence officials say the resort is a security nightmare vulnerable to both casual and professional spies.”