The Senate is giving ACA repeal one final chance, with the latest bill being the most extreme of all they’ve introduced this year. Whether you’re for full repeal, universal healthcare, or something completely different, PLEASE CALL YOUR SENATORS and tell them to vote no on this fake fix. Ask them for REAL healthcare reform that makes quality, affordable healthcare available to everyone (or whatever you think quality healthcare should be). Your members of Congress don’t know what you want if you don’t tell them.

Russia:

1. Building on their revelations from last week, Facebook says that Russians used false identities to organize and promote political protests on Facebook. The most recent events were anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rallies in Idaho.
2. Mueller obtains a warrant for the records of the fake Russian accounts and their associated ads, an indication that he has already found reasonable proof that a crime was committed using those accounts.
3. The Department of Homeland security forbids federal agencies from using Russian-owned Kaspersky security software. Kaspersky has been linked to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) and Homeland is worried about cyber security.
4. According to documents sent by House Democrats to Robert Mueller, Michael Flynn neglected to disclose yet another foreign trip on his security clearance. This trip was to the Middle East to look at a business deal between the Saudi and Russian governments.
5. Michael Flynn continues to refuse to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Flynn’s son is also being investigated as part of the Russia probe.
6. In closed-door testimony, Susan Rice says she unmasked American names in intelligence reports last year to determine what the crown prince of the UAE was doing in NY last year. Usually foreign dignitaries alert the White House before visiting the states, but the crown prince didn’t do that for this trip.
7. High-ranking members from both parties say they don’t think Rice did anything wrong.
8. Turf wars are surfacing around the Russia investigation. The Justice Department won’t let the Senate interview top FBI officials over Comey’s firing (which could just mean that Mueller is focusing on the firing too). The Senate Judiciary Committee won’t promise Mueller’s team complete access to Donald Trump Jr.’s testimony.
9. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Lindsay Graham propose a bill to create a 9/11-style commission to study cyber attacks around the 2016 elections and to recommend ways to deflect such attacks in the future.
10. The FBI is investigating Sputnik, the Russian news agency, for possible violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which forbids acting as an undeclared propaganda arm of a foreign government in the U.S.
11. Russian parliamentarian Vyacheslav Nikonov says U.S. “intelligence missed it when Russian intelligence stole the president of the United States.”
12. The Senate Judiciary committee has two bills in development that would protect Mueller from being fired by Trump.

Courts/Justice:

1. The Supreme Court gives Texas a little breather from its long chain of court losses on voting issues. In this case, the court says Texas doesn’t have to redraw their illegal district lines immediately. So the 2018 election will likely go on with the gerrymandered districts. The conservative justices gave no reason for their decision.
2. The Department of Justice under Sessions gives it’s argument supporting the pardon of Joe Arpaio and vacating all charges.
3. The House reacts to Jeff Session’s announcement that the DoJ will expand the practice of civil forfeiture by adopting an amendment to prohibit it. Representatives say taking people’s property is unconstitutional and violates civil and property rights.
4. The DoJ refuses to bring charges against the Baltimore police officers who arrested Freddie Gray, who died from spinal cord injuries while in their custody.
5. The Senate has a long tradition of consulting with Senators from a specific state before confirming judges from that state. It’s part of the Senate’s role to provide “advice and consent” as written in the constitution. While Republicans refused 18 of Obama’s nominations using blue slips, they now want to get rid of the practice so Trump’s nominees won’t be blocked.
6. Jeff Sessions wants all National Security Council staff to take lie detector tests, presumably to identify leakers.

Healthcare:

1. Bernie Sanders introduces a Medicare-for-all healthcare bill, co-sponsored by 16 Democrats.
2. Well done, GOP. The Congressional Budget Office predicts that Trump will be successful in his attempts to hurt the ACA by refusing to pay subsidies, keeping the market uncertain, and making it harder to enroll. All of these together will cause premiums to rise and will decrease enrollment. IMO, the GOP’s 6-year refusal to fix the ACA and attempts at repeal has cost the people in the individual market dearly. How much more of this will we take before we start saying no more?
3. The latest ACA repeal bill is headed for a vote in the Senate, this one from Lindsay Graham and Bill Cassidy. Here’s the lowdown on the bill:
   • It’s essentially a repeal-and-don’t-replace bill that gets rid of many of the provisions of the ACA.
   • It would decrease the number of insured by millions more than the previous repeal bills. The CBO estimates the number of uninsured would increase by 32 million compared with current law.
   • It increases the costs for each state, likely by billions.
   • It would punish states that expanded Medicaid under the ACA by drastically reducing funding, and would reward those states that didn’t expand Medicaid by increasing their funding.
   • It would increased premiums by 100% by 2026.

International:

1. The UN Security Council votes unanimously to place new sanctions on North Korea in retaliation for their nuclear tests.
2. And North Korea says “I don’t care!” and launches another test missile over Japan.
3. John Boehner criticizes Trump’s threats to pull out of trade agreements with South Korea, saying that would undermine our objectives in the region.
4. Mexico rescinds its offer to help with the Hurricane Harvey recovery when Trump fails to express condolences or offer assistance for the 8.1 earthquake that hit southern Mexico.
5. Shockingly, Mexico’s view of America hits an all-time low. The percent of Mexicans who view the U.S. unfavorably has doubled under Trump to 65%. 93% don’t trust Trump to do the right thing in world affairs.
6. England raises it’s terror threat level to critical after a bomb goes off in the subway, injuring around 30 people. This launches a major manhunt, evacuating neighborhoods and resulting in two arrests so far.
7. After the Charlottesville attack where he blamed both sides, Trump said that he didn’t condemn the white supremacists at the time because they didn’t have all the information. However, in the London case, he is quick to call out the “Loser terrorists” and make assumptions in the London case. Theresa May says his response was speculative and unhelpful.
8. Trump’s partner in his latest golf course in Dubai contracts with state-owned China State Construction Engineering Corporation to build some of the infrastructure. Trump promised not to work with foreign entities as president.
9. A Senate report on Trump’s foreign policy calls it a doctrine of retreat, and warns that it will only weaken America’s standing in the world.

Legislation/Congress:

1. The House votes to defund Obama’s EPA rules to limit methane emissions for new drilling sites. This is on top of Scott Pruitt’s efforts to block the implementation of these rules, and comes even though most industry experts say it’s a cheap and easy fix. There are lawsuits pending against rescinding these rules.

Travel Ban/Immigration/Discrimination:

1. Two groups file lawsuits claiming that Trump’s pardon of Arpaio is unconstitutional.
2. The Supreme court temporarily upholds the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals expanded definition of a bona fide family relationship under Trump’s travel ban, but it also temporarily blocks the lower court’s attempt to expand the definition to include refugee assistance services as bona fide relationships. The court will hear the case next month.
3. Meanwhile, H.R. McMaster says the White House is considering a new stricter and tougher travel ban.
4. Now that Trump has put the lives of around 800,000 DACA recipients in limbo, he turns his attention to immigrants with Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Trump is weighing whether to extend the status for nearly a half million people. TPS status is granted for a variety of reasons, including natural disasters or violence in their home countries.
5. The House and Senate both unanimously pass the joint resolution denouncing white hate groups. Trump signs the non-binding resolution into law, but says he still blames both sides.
6. After meeting with Tim Scott, the lone black Republican in the Senate, Trump reiterates his previous statements that both sides were to blame in Charlottesville. Scott, who condemned Trump’s response to Charlottesville, says he didn’t expect Trump to have an epiphany–he is who he is.
7. Trump waives over a dozen environmental and religious laws in order to get the initial construction done on his wall. This should give you an idea of how he plans to make this happen, regardless of law, environmental effects, and property rights.
8. Eleven people sue the Department of Homeland Security for what they call unlawful searches of laptops and phones at border crossings and customs.
9. Over dinner, Trump and Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi appear to come to an agreement to protect Dreamers and enact border security measures that don’t include the wall. Democrats are thrilled; the White House is muted.
10. And then Sarah Huckabee Sanders says, “While DACA and border security were both discussed, excluding the wall was certainly not agreed to.”
11. And then Trump says that a deal was definitely in the works and that the border wall could come later.
12. By the end of the week, I’m still not clear on whether there was any kind of agreement.
13. The Trump administration considers lowering the refugee quota to its lowest level since 1980. He’s already reduced the cap to 50,000, less than half the cap under Obama’s last year.
14. The pope criticizes Trump’s actions on DACA, saying you can’t be pro-life yet willing to rip apart families, because families are at the core of pro-life belief.
15. Congressman Kevin Yoder (R-Kansas) goes to bat for the widow of Srinivas Kuchibhotla. Srinivas was shot in a Kansas bar by a man who told him to get out of our country, and his death put his widow at risk for deportation. Yoder is helping her obtain her own H-1B visa so she can keep her current job and stay in the U.S.
16. Yoder previously held a very hard line on immigration, but since helping out in this case, he’s now arguing for immigration reform.
17. The ACLU files a motion requesting an immediate halt to Trump’s transgender military ban.
18. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) introduce an amendment that would block Trump’s latest transgender military ban.
19. So far, three days of protest follow a judge’s decision to acquit a police officer who shot Anthony Lamar Smith after a high-speed chase. The protests started out peaceful, but 80 people were arrested after violence and rioting broke out. Police tried to control the crowd with tear gas.
20. A federal judge rules that Jeff Sessions exceeded his authority by saying cities must cooperate with immigration officials or lose funds to help fight crime; in other words, federal funding can’t be withheld just because a city is a sanctuary city. The judge ruled a temporary nationwide injunction on the DoJ’s sanctuary cities standards.
21. California passes a statewide sanctuary bill, joining Oregon as the only other sanctuary state. This is the result of negotiations and compromise between sheriff’s departments, legislators, and civil rights groups. Before you jump to any conclusions, the bill doesn’t protect violent felons; the sheriff’s department will still work with immigration officials on those. But it does make our neighborhoods safer by developing trust between law enforcement and residents.

Climate/EPA:

1. The pope criticizes climate change deniers during a flyover of the islands hit with Hurricane Irma’s destruction. He urges them to consult actual scientists and says history will judge our decisions.
2. Climate deniers in the House attack NOAA scientists who published a paper debunking the idea of a hiatus in global warming from 1998 to 2012. The House Science Committee Chair Lamar Smith issues subpoenas for the scientists’ emails, accusing them of manipulating data even though a judge threw out those accusations last month.
3. I mentioned this under Legislation/Congress, but it’s worth noting again that the House voted not to fund Obama’s methane emissions regulations, even though methane is 30x more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat.
4. The Senate Appropriations committee approves a 2018 spending bill that does not include any funding for grants, assistance, or contributions to the Green Climate Fund.
5. The House passes a bill cutting funding to the EPA by over $500 million. This is 75% of their operating budget from 2010. We’re on a path to help polluters and reduce our own air and water quality. And don’t even get me started on climate change.
6. Ryan Zinke signs an expansive order to open public lands to more hunting and fishing, as well as provide educational outreach. He says this administration understands hunters better than Obama’s did, although groups of hunters have banded in disagreement over some of Zinke’s changes, saying they’ll open public land to more development and less hunting.
7. This week we hear rumors that Trump isn’t going to pull out of the Paris accord. And then we hear he’s still withdrawing. Or is he? I guess we’ll find out, but for now it seems we are still on track to withdraw.
8. Scientists are working to push back against policy changes that ignore science. The Science Protection Program urges scientists to report interference, helps preserve their data using encrypted channels, and offers legal advice. Public health and scientific agencies are part of this effort.
9. I think this might’ve been mentioned a few weeks ago, but Zinke’s recommendations to Trump after his national monument review include reductions to four protected areas: Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, Nevada’s Gold Butte, Oregon’s Cascade-Siskiyou, the Pacific Remote Islands, and the Rose Atoll.
10. Zinke also proposes removing restrictions on seismic studies in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the first step in opening it to oil and gas drilling. The melting ice and tundra in the area have turned ANWR into a playground for polar bears, which are already at risk from global warming.
11. Last week Trump called Irma the biggest hurricane we’ve ever seen. This week, when asked about climate change, Trump says we’ve seen bigger hurricanes than this.
12. While the EPA works to overturn Obama’s Clean Power Plan climate regulations, Trump considers replacing it with a new plan instead of just junking it.

Budget/Economy:

1. Trump’s budget includes deep cuts to many agencies that members of Congress hold dear, including the National Institutes of Health. This week, not only did Congress reject the cuts to the NIH, they increased spending on biomedical research, fearing that cutting the NIH budget would cripple American innovation and delay new cures.
2. The Senate Appropriations Committee approves a 2018 spending bill that does not include the cuts that Trump requested to the State Department, much to the relief of most diplomats.
3. It turns out that Equifax spent $500,000 lobbying the government to limit the liability of credit agencies in case any of their data was hacked. It’s like they saw it coming.

Elections:

1. In light of Kris Kobach’s baseless accusations of voter fraud in New Hampshire the previous week, voter rights activists protest at the second (and fairly contentious) voter fraud commission meeting.
2. Also at the voter fraud commission meeting, John Lott (researcher and Fox News commentator) proposes that voters be subjected to the same kind of background check as is required to buy a gun.
3. A FOIA request reveals the contents of an email sent by the Heritage Foundation’s Hans von Spakovsky, who is a member of the voter fraud commission. The email urges the Justice Department to create the voter fraud commission with a membership stacked in favor of tighter voter restrictions, saying no Democrats and no moderate Republicans should serve on the commission. In other words, he only wants extremists who believe in voter fraud conspiracies to serve on the panel. Spakovsky had previously denied writing the email.
4. While a number of GOP members of Congress have announced they’ll retire at the end of their current term, Steve Bannon says he’s planning primary challenges to several GOP incumbents who are not retiring.
5. Kid Rock declares his candidacy for the Senate in Michigan.

Miscellaneous:

1. The Trump Organization removes the part in Trump’s online corporate bio that mentioned his birtherism. Just a reminder, Trump worked to prove that Obama wasn’t born in the U.S. and that his birth certificate was fake. And then later admitted that Obama was born in the U.S.
2. The Office of Government Ethics reversed an earlier decision and now says it’s OK for lobbyists to give money to the legal defense funds of White House staffers.
3. The Trump administration put regulations around organic eggs on hold and might rescind them. The regulations require organic egg producers to provide outside space for each hen.
4. Gun sales are on track to be down 11% from last year, likely because people don’t think gun reform is in our near future.
5. In an interview, Sean Spicer says his job as press secretary was to say what Trump told him to and that included lying.
6. The California State Assembly passes a bill requiring presidential candidates to release their tax returns in order to get on the statewide ballot.
7. While emergency officials in Manatee County, Florida, were giving out evacuation and shelter information for Hurricane Irma, the sign-language translator instead signed about random things like pizza, monsters, cats, and dogs.
8. Hillary Clinton is back in the news promoting her new book, What Happened, about the 2016 elections. As usual, she ignites a shitstorm of ignorant and sexist criticism.
9. Pharmaceutical executive and all-around douchebag Martin Shkreli is back in jail after a judge revokes his bail for offering $5,000 to anyone who can get one of Hillary Clinton’s hairs, follicle and all, at one of her book signings.
10. Trump retweets a GIF of himself hitting a golf ball that hits Hillary Clinton, knocking her over. I guess he doesn’t like her book.