| | | | House GOP passes bill to replace and repeal Obamacare | | A quick recap: In a major victory for President Donald Trump, the House has voted to dismantle the pillars of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, and make sweeping changes to the nation's health care system.
The bill now heads to the Senate, where it faces daunting challenges because of the same ideological splits between conservative and moderate Republicans that nearly killed it in the House. But Trump said he is confident the bill will pass the Senate, calling Obamacare "essentially dead."
"This is a great plan. I actually think it will get even better. This is a repeal and replace of Obamacare. Make no mistake about it," Trump said at a celebratory White House ceremony with House Republicans.
Today marks a political milestone -- one that has painfully eluded Trump and House leaders for months. After a dramatic week of negotiations and lobbying from Trump and Republican leaders, the vote ended with 217 GOP lawmakers backing the measure. Twenty Republicans opposed it, as did all House Democrats.
Democrats ready for 2018 fight: As reporters stood outside of House Speaker Paul Ryan's office Wednesday night waiting for guidance on whether there would be a vote, Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings approached the group to joke that he had a "breaking" announcement. Republicans had the votes on their health care bill, Cummings said. His punchline: And Democrats will take back the House in 2018.
As originally introduced, the GOP bill would leave 24 million fewer people insured by 2026 than under Obamacare, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said. And there is not a CBO report yet on this current version of the bill.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi blasted the bill and timing of the vote. "Do you believe in what is in this bill?" she said. "Some of you have said ... well, they'll fix it in the Senate. But you have every provision of this bill tattoos on your forehead you will glow in the dark on this one." Read more details from CNN's MJ Lee. | | "We're going to get this passed through the Senate. I feel so confident." -- President Donald Trump speaking in the Rose Garden about the health care bill. | | | | Trump signs executive order to "vigorously promote religious liberty": President Donald Trump signed an executive order that allows churches and other religious organizations to become more active politically. The order directs the IRS to exercise "maximum enforcement discretion" over the Johnson Amendment, which prevents churches and other tax-exempt religious organizations from endorsing or opposing political candidates. It also provides "regulatory relief" for groups that object on religious grounds to a provision in Obamacare that mandates employers provide certain health services, including contraception. More from CNN's Kevin Liptak. | | Trump to visit the Vatican, Israel and Saudi Arabia | | This will be President Donald Trump's first foreign trip since he took office. The trip includes visits to the Vatican, Israel and Saudi Arabia, stops that his top aides hope will improve views of the President abroad and build toward Middle East peace. The stops will come before Trump attends a NATO meeting in Brussels on May 25 and a G-7 meeting in Italy on May 26.
"Saudi Arabia is the custodian of the two holiest sites in Islam, and it is there that we will begin to construct a new foundation of cooperation and support with our Muslim allies to combat extremism, terrorism and violence, and to embrace a more just and hopeful future for young Muslims in their countries," Trump said in announcing his trip during a Rose Garden ceremony where he signed a religious liberty executive order.
First lady Melania Trump "will accompany her husband for the entire trip," an East Wing spokeswoman told CNN.
Trump, a senior administration official said, feels like accomplishing Middle East peace is "one of the things that he has to try to do" during his presidency and has been "very involved" with "a lot of ideas" during the trip's planning. The trip has been coordinated by the White House, in cooperation with the National Security Council and the State Department, another official said.
To date, Trump has left the foreign travel to his top aides and Cabinet members, including Vice President Mike Pence, who has been on two international trips so far, national security adviser H.R. McMaster and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. More from CNN's Jim Acosta, Dan Merica and Jake Tapper. | | | Lawmaker tweets "It's a trap!": Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine figured out a way to combine his feelings on the new health care bill and celebrate "Star Wars Day" in a single tweet. | | 3 things you may have missed today | | Hillary Clinton to launch political group: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is building a new political group to fund organizations working on the resistance to President Donald Trump's agenda. More from Politico's Gabriel Debenedetti.
Obama endorses Macron in French election: Former US President Barack Obama is wading into the closely watched French presidential election to endorse Emmanuel Macron, the centrist politician widely backed by the establishment in his run against far-right leader Marine Le Pen. More from CNN's Sophie Tatum.
Trump's Army pick blasted Obama in 2013 for supporting "transvestites in uniform": Donald Trump's nominee to be Army secretary, Mark Green, wrote in a June 2013 Facebook post that then-President Barack Obama "supports transvestites in uniform." If confirmed, Green would oversee some of the estimated thousands of transgender active duty service members. More from CNN's Andrew Kaczynski and Chris Massie. | | | Miley Cyrus shared her thoughts on how to talk politics with supporters of President Donald Trump. ... The Trump administration looks to be easing up on Beijing in the South China Sea. ... Susan Rice, President Barack Obama's former national security adviser, on Wednesday declined Sen. Lindsey Graham's request to participate in a judiciary subcommittee hearing next week on Russian interference in the US election. | | | 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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