HHS IG nominee pledges to support Trump’s initiatives

The nominee for inspector general at the Department of Health and Human Services has pledged to support the Trump administration’s agenda, marking an unusual statement from a nominee for a role that is considered independent. “If confirmed as inspector general I will examine, evaluate, audit, and investigate to support the initiatives of President [Donald] Trump and Secretary [Robert] Kennedy,” Thomas March Bell wrote as part of written testimony prepared for his confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Finance today. Bell is a lawyer and former Senate staffer who also…

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Trump Is Sleepwalking Into Political Disaster

The most glaring self-inflicted wound from Donald Trump’s first term in office was his decision in 2017 to let Paul Ryan and other traditional Republicans push him into a futile war to repeal the Affordable Care Act. From Ryan’s perspective, the decision made perfect sense: He and his allies despised the welfare state in general and the ACA in particular, and saw Trump’s presidency as a final chance to destroy the hated law before its roots grew too deep. From Trump’s perspective, the move was a fiasco. By dint of…

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Beyond the Shutdown, Federal Appropriations Challenges Loom

In a press call hosted by House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., and the House Freedom Caucus, Republican members of Congress weighed in on the future of federal appropriations whether or not the stopgap spending continuing resolution languishing in the Senate is passed.  “Republicans have been moving their committee stuff forward as best they can, but … you can’t do everything during a government shutdown. You can’t talk about what the next one is going to be until you open it up in the first place,” Emmer told The Daily…

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Can DoD use private funds to pay troops during shutdown?

The Defense Department has received an anonymous $ 130 million donation to fund military salaries amid the ongoing government shutdown, but legal experts warn the Pentagon cannot legally use the funds without congressional approval. President Donald Trump said Thursday that a “friend” offered to cover any shortfall in military pay and had given “a check for $ 130 million, which was sort of a shortfall.” The White House and the Defense Department did not respond to questions about how that $ 130 million figure was determined. On Friday, Chief Pentagon…

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My Quest to Find the East Wing Rubble

When the president of the United States decides to demolish the East Wing of the White House to construct a ballroom, all that stucco and molding and wood has to go somewhere. So I tried to find it. I’d heard that the dirt from the East Wing demolition was being deposited three miles away, on a tree-lined island next to the Jefferson Memorial called East Potomac Park. So yesterday I drove around until I saw trucks and men in construction gear. They were congregating at an entrance to the public…

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