The Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare is either quite nearly dead or right on-course to become law—depending on which Republican you ask. President Trump’s Tuesday trip to Capitol Hill seemed designed to either cajole or intimidate on-the-fence House Republicans to support the bill. House speaker Paul Ryan and House leadership offered what they claim are final changes to the American Health Care Act on Monday night as an olive branch to skeptical members.
Nevertheless, the White House is publicly confident about the bill’s chances of passing its scheduled House vote on Thursday. “I will say that I feel very good about this where it stands now,” said press secretary Sean Spicer on Tuesday. “And I think the more and more that members meet with the president, the more they understand how important this is to the overall agenda that we’re seeking to pass.”
But a significant number of House Republicans, conservatives and moderates both, remain either opposed or unsure of how they’ll vote Thursday. And the disappointment in the bill expressed by senators like Utah’s Mike Lee and Arkansas’s Tom Cotton are no doubt weighing on the minds of these House members. So, too, may be the quasi-threats from President Trump and the White House that political life could get difficult for any Republicans who don’t support the bill. Thursday’s planned vote will be the first major test of whether Trump has the requisite amount of clout among his fellow Republicans in Congress to get big, difficult agenda items through.
Gorsuch Schools Durbin
Neil Gorsuch’s performance on his second day in front of the Senate Judiciary committee was much like that of his first: professional, stable, and only helpful to his confirmation. While Monday’s hearing was mostly concerned with introductions of Gorsuch, Tuesday’s featured questions from senators, and that included Democrat Dick Durbin of Illinois.
Chris Deaton has the video of Durbin’s exchange with Gorsuch about an 11th-hour complaint from a former law student that suggested the Supreme Court nominee was a sexist. The student’s grievance, written up in a letter to the Senate committee, centered around a discussion in which Gorsuch supposedly argued companies should ask female employees and potential hires about their plans to get pregnant. “Several students, some of whom identified as liberals, pushed back against those observations in their own letters to the committee, saying that Gorsuch was a skilled devil’s advocate whose ability to argue for multiple angles of an issue was an asset to their education,” Deaton writes.
The exchange with Durbin is worth watching, if only to demonstrate how little Gorsuch’s political opponents have been able to dig up on him. Once Gorsuch explained that the topic his law student had complained about was the centerpiece of an ethics discussion based on a widely used textbook, Durbin promptly and smartly moved on.
A New Shift on North Korea?
The Trump administration continues to signal it will be shifting toward…well, some kind of shift on North Korea. The isolated and belligerent Asian nation continues to attempt to demonstrate its prowess with missile tests, which is spooking American allies in the region.
Through Sean Spicer, the National Security Council released a new statement Tuesday on North Korea: “The United States, in coordination with our allies, is exploring a new range of diplomatic, security, and economic measures in response to the grave and escalating threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.”
As Spicer noted the prior day, the administration’s view is that the “policy of strategic patience” with North Korea is “over.” What sort of diplomatic, security, and economic measures will be employed remains to be seen. There is some debate within the Trump national-security team about how serious North Korea’s provocations really are, and how much of the latest activity is attention-seeking. (Their latest missile test reportedly failed.)
But the NSC statement suggests the administration at least wants to appear tough and decisive on the issue.
Spotted Entering the West Wing
Former Virginia congressman Tom Davis was seen entering the White House grounds and headed toward the West Wing Tuesday afternoon. The Northern Virginia-based retired member has remained active in Virginia and Republican politics since leaving the House in 2008.
The White House did not respond to a question about why Davis was visiting or who he was visiting with.
Song of the Day
“Sledgehammer,” Peter Gabriel.
