| | | | CBO: 23M fewer Americans insured under House GOP bill | | CNN's Tami Luhby and MJ Lee write: The House Republican health care bill would leave 23 million fewer Americans with health insurance by 2026 than under Obamacare, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday afternoon.
So what does this mean? The highly anticipated CBO score is poised to trigger another round of negative headlines and more hurdles for Republicans as they look to advance a controversial piece of legislation that was passed in the House earlier this month. The CBO also found the bill would reduce US budget deficits by $119 billion, compared with Obamacare.
Eager to notch a political win in the GOP's yearslong mission to repeal Obamacare, Republican lawmakers took a gamble by voting before the CBO could analyze last-minute changes to the bill. The new CBO report will serve as an important report card for Senate Republicans as they deliberate over their own version of the health care bill.
You can read the full text of the CBO report here.
MJ points out in a tweet: | | "Thank you. I won't forget what you said." -- President Donald Trump to Pope Francis before leaving the Pope's private study after a half-hour meeting. Neither revealed what their conversation entailed. | | | | Another viral photo from Trump's trip abroad: President Donald Trump was at the Vatican on Wednesday to meet Pope Francis in person (remember their old feud?) and this photo from the visit went viral on social media. Almost everyone pictured in the photo -- Ivanka Trump, Melania Trump and the Pope himself -- look serious, except Trump, who is smiling. CNN's Chris Cillizza analyzed the photo here. | | Trump administration hits reset in FBI director search | | | A recap from CNN: The team tasked by the White House with finding a new director for the FBI is resetting its search, a senior administration official told CNN, after a wide range of dissatisfaction with talk of former Sen. Joe Lieberman as a possible nominee. President Donald Trump said last week that he was "very close" to choosing a new FBI director to replace James Comey, who was leading the investigation into possible Trump campaign ties to Russia and was fired earlier this month. The circumstances surrounding the firing have attracted broad attention, with senators calling for an unimpeachable, nonpartisan appointment to the position designed to be a 10-year term.
At one point, Lieberman, the former Democratic senator and vice presidential nominee, was considered a leading candidate. But Trump has since decided he wants to see a broader range of candidates for the job, the official said.
Concerns about the former Democratic senator and vice presidential nominee -- shared with the White House -- centered on the fact that without experience as a federal prosecutor or an FBI agent that he "simply does not have the right experience to lead the FBI."
So who's left? Attorney General Jeff Sessions has been interviewing candidates for the job, including acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, former congressman and FBI special agent Mike Rogers, and Fran Townsend, former homeland security adviser to President George W. Bush. | | | CNN chyron of the day: Getting off the plane in Brussels on Wednesday, President Donald Trump seemed happy to be in a city he dubbed a "hellhole" because of issues over multicultural integration. That was in January 2016. By June last year, he had changed his tune ... kind of. At a rally in Atlanta, he declared, "Belgium is a beautiful city," raising questions about his knowledge of geography. Trump is in Brussels today ahead of the NATO meeting. | | 4 things you might have missed today | | Ryan says Comey is not a nut job: House Speaker Paul Ryan said he doesn't agree with President Donald Trump that former FBI Director James Comey is a "nut job." More from my write on this.
Trump praises Duterte's deadly drug war in leaked transcript: According to a leaked transcript, Trump told Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte he was doing a good job fighting an illegal drug epidemic in his country, an effort that has led to thousands of deaths and has drawn international condemnation from human rights groups. More from CNN's Joshua Berlinger and Elise Labott.
Trump records robocall for Montana special election: President Donald Trump is weighing in on the Montana special election this week with a robocall in support of Republican candidate Greg Gianforte. The Republican National Committee paid for the ad and is using live callers to comply with state law. More from my write-up.
DeVos doesn't rule out federal funds for private schools that discriminate: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos refused to say during a House hearing whether she would deny federal funds to private schools that discriminate against admitting students based on sexuality, race or even special needs. More from CNN's Wade Payson-Denney. | | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Check out Five Things for Your New Day, CNN's morning newsletter. Give us five minutes, and we'll brief you on all the news and buzz people will be talking about. | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
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