Top Republican To Press For $705B Defense Budget

Her top priority has been settling in 11- year-old son Barron— the first boy in the White House since John F. Kennedy Jr. more than 50 years ago. Mrs. Trump told “Fox and Friends” this week that she’s enjoying White House life so much that she doesn’t really miss New York. In her first lady role, Mrs. Trump has played host to her counterpart from Panama for a lunch upstairs in…

Bernie Sanders, who has retained counsel as the FBI investigates whether his wife, Jane Sanders, committed fraud to acquire a 2010 loan for a now-shuttered Vermont college, predicted Saturday night that the probe would be a political fizzle. Last week, longtime Sanders supporter Harry Jaffe reported that Bernie and Jane Sanders had retained attorneys Rich…

And then sign up for coverage, get the surgery and then drop it, “said Katie Allen, executive director of the Council for Affordable Health Coverage. But Senate Republicans didn’t include the surcharge in their legislation because the provision conflicts with the Senate’s ” Byrd Rule,” a parliamentary rule that governs what can be included in a budget…

WASHINGTON- President Donald Trump reportedly told Republican Senate leaders at a White House luncheon earlier this week he hoped their health care bill would be less “mean” than the version House Republicans passed in May. “I am very supportive of the Senate# HealthcareBill,” said Trump. Senate leaders said they needed to do something to replace and fix former…

—Pass or fail, there will be one man singularly responsible for the fate of health care legislation in the Senate: Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. McConnell made it clear to President Donald Trump on more than one occasion that Senate business should be left to him, and as a result Trump largely stayed out of the process, unlike during the House’s health care…

—The White House says President Donald Trump will sign a bill Friday to make it easier to fire Department of Veterans Affairs employees. Trump promised as a candidate to fire VA employees “who let our veterans down.” The bill cleared the House last week by a vote of 368-55, and the Senate by voice vote.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday is traveling to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to discuss improving Internet connectivity in rural areas as part of an infrastructure effort. A White House aide said Trump will talk about how important technology and Internet connectivity are to farmers, particularly for using GPS in their equipment. Trump’s senior White House…

—The White House plans to introduce its tax overhaul during the first two weeks of September, says Gary Cohn, President Donald Trump’s top economic aide. Cohn added that the administration wants to bring a finished tax bill to the House and Senate, rather than prolonging talks after its introduction. But Cohn said Tuesday at a meeting of technology executives…

—White House press secretary Sean Spicer is seeking to take on a more strategic role that would give him a limited presence in the daily press briefings that have made him a prominent face of the Trump administration. A senior administration official and three people familiar with the potential changes said Monday that Spicer has discussed taking a more…

—Democrats plan to slow the Senate’s work, force votes and make late-night speeches in an effort to focus attention on how Republicans are crafting legislation revamping the nation’s health care system behind closed doors, a senior Democratic aide said Monday. Republicans have held no committee meetings or votes on the measure, which McConnell is trying to…

That assessment, repeated on three other broadcasts, was at odds with a Washington Post report last week and seemingly with a tweet by Trump himself on Friday. The Post reported last week that Mueller, who was appointed to oversee the investigation into Russia’ s role in the 2016 election, is interviewing senior intelligence officials as part of a widening probe…

June 19– The first family spent a little more than 24 hours in Frederick County over the weekend and President Donald Trump said he found Camp David to be “incredible,” “beautiful” and “very nice.” It was the first family’s first visit to the presidential retreat on Catoctin Mountain, and it came one weekend after Melania Trump and the first couple’s 11- year-old son,…

June 19– WASHINGTON– This week could bring an end to the ongoing mystery of whether tapes of President Trump’s White House conversations with former FBI Director James B. Comey actually exist– or it could lead to the White House being hit with a congressional subpoena. During Comey’s June 8 testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, where he testified…

“The Senate is not a place where you can just cook up something behind closed doors and rush it for a vote,” said Sen. But Rubio said he believes the process could take longer and urged the Senate to slow down. “It is going to take days and weeks to work through that in the Senate,” Rubio said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.

-House Majority Whip Steve Scalise was in “imminent risk of death” when he was flown to a trauma center Wednesday after being shot during an ambush of a GOP congressional baseball team practicing on a Virginia field. “He will be in the hospital for a considerable period of time, presumably weeks,” said Jack Sava, trauma director at MedStar Washington Hospital Center,…

Instead, they’re asking Senate leaders to work together on an overhaul of Democrat Barack Obama’s health care law. In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, seven governors, including three moderate Republicans, argue that “true and lasting reforms are best approached by finding common ground in a bipartisan…

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump appeared to confirm Friday that he is under investigation for obstruction of justice, claiming that he is being investigated for firing FBI Director James Comey by the man who told him to do it. It wasn’t clear whether the president was basing his tweet on direct knowledge that he is under investigation, or on reports this week…

Washington— Senate Republican leaders are aiming to bring a major revision to the nation’ s health-care laws to the Senate floor by the end of June even as lingering disagreements, particularly over Medicaid, threaten to derail their efforts, several Republicans familiar with the effort said on Thursday. President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader…

The report from the Office of the Actuary, a nonpartisan economic unit at the Health and Human Services Department, was released earlier this week with little fanfare. “It’s fascinating,” said Chris Sloan, a policy expert with the Avalere Health consulting firm. Individually-purchased coverage is also key to the GOP’s American Health Care Act, which would roll…

The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by one quarter percentage point– to a range of 1 percent to 1.25 percent– signaling strength in the U.S. economy. The federal funds rate is what depository institutions, including banks and credit unions, maintain at the Federal Reserve to lend to other institutions overnight. Eight Federal Reserve…

—Less than six weeks after he helped revive a flagging House Republican health care bill and push it to passage, President Donald Trump now says the measure is “mean” and is asking GOP senators to make it more generous. Facing expected unanimous Democratic opposition, Republicans will be unable to pass a Senate bill if just three of the 52 GOP senators vote “no.

The idea is to ensure that the U.S. economy doesn’t overheat. But beyond the announcement of another rate hike, anticipation surrounds the possibility that the Fed could signal policy shifts in a statement it will issue, in updated economic forecasts and in a news conference with Chair Janet Yellen. The Fed has previously forecast that it will raise rates three…

—The Senate on Tuesday narrowly turned back a bipartisan bid to rebuke Saudi Arabia and reject President Donald Trump’s plan to sell the kingdom more than $500 million in precision-guided munitions, sparing the new Republican administration an embarrassing defeat. “Today’s vote total would’ve been unthinkable not long ago, but Congress is finally taking…

Last month, after Democrats blocked funding for Trump’s oft-promised wall along the U.S.- Mexico border, the president tweeted that “our country needs a good’ shutdown’ in September to fix mess! More than 20 years ago, a pair of GOP- initiated shutdowns over Republican budget cuts bolstered President Bill Clinton’s political prospects as he ran for re-election.

The Federal Reserve is set to raise short-term interest rates Wednesday for the third time in six months— a vote of confidence in the American economy and especially in the resilience of the U.S. job market. Yet neither the U.S. nor the world economy is likely to regain the robust health that prevailed before the recession struck a decade ago.

—The Senate headed toward a showdown vote over President Donald Trump’s proposed weapons sale to Saudi Arabia that, if successful, would be a rebuke of one of the new administration’s most prominent successes. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, are critical of Saudi Arabia’s role in Yemen’s civil war. Paul, who challenged Trump for the GOP presidential nomination…

—House GOP leaders warned their rank-and-file members Tuesday of the potential for heavy midterm losses next year that could cost Republicans their majority, and they urged renewed attention and focus to a positive agenda and message. It comes a week ahead of a special election in Georgia, where Democrats are spending heavily to contest what should be a safe…

The news in Ohio came on the heels of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City pulling out of Missouri exchanges, leaving 25 counties and 67,000 people in the northwest corner of the state without an insurer. Health experts had been predicting these kinds of effects, given the general uncertainty over how, or whether, Congress will act on the landmark legislation.

If the GOP doesn’t get its border tax proposal, it will be looking for revenue, and retirement plan incentives could be in the crosshairs.

—Senate Republicans and Democrats reached agreement late Monday on a new package of sanctions on Russia amid the firestorm over Russia’s meddling in the presidential election and investigations into Moscow’s possible collusion with members of President Donald Trump’s campaign. “The amendment to the underlying Iran sanctions bill maintains and…

—The Trump administration has a backup plan to keep the government from defaulting on its financial obligations even if Congress misses an August deadline to raise the debt limit, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told a congressional panel Monday. Mnuchin said he still prefers that Congress increase the government’s authority to borrow before lawmakers…

—Republicans controlling the House are taking the first steps to approve President Donald Trump’s big budget increase for veterans’ health care and the Pentagon. At stake is an $89 billion spending bill for the Department of Veterans Affairs and Pentagon construction projects that’s scheduled for a preliminary panel vote on Monday. Republicans are still…

—President Donald Trump on Monday chaired the first meeting of his full Cabinet, saying the team is here to “change Washington.” Trump said his Cabinet is “as active as you can possibly be. After Trump’s remarks, the Cabinet members each spoke briefly, praising the president and the administration.

First lady Melania Trump and son Barron Trump are officially residents of the White House. The pair arrived at the White House with multiple pieces of luggage aboard Marine One on Sunday afternoon. Melania Trump tweeted she was looking forward to her years living in the White House.

—President Donald Trump is trying to change the subject from Russia and the election to his promise to create jobs for Americans. Trump is scheduled to visit a technical college in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, and then deliver a policy speech at the Labor Department on Wednesday. He also is set to meet with eight governors at the White House on Thursday.

—President Donald Trump ended a week dedicated to modernizing U.S. highways, railways and rivers with a thud. The president visited the Transportation Department to highlight his goal of making it easier to build such projects. “These binders also make you do unnecessary things that cost billions and billions of dollars and they actually make it worse,” Trump…

President Trump’s health secretary refused to say Thursday whether his boss is committed to making disputed Obamacare-subsidy payments through the coming year, unnerving Democrats and leaving insurance companies to struggle with decisions about whether to remain part of the troubled health exchanges. The biggest question is whether Mr. Trump will make…

But the effort will likely require some major changes to bring about Democratic support in the Senate. House Republicans recognize the uphill climb, but were happy to chalk up a victory. Maxine Waters of California urged senators not to take up the House bill.

President Donald Trump is launching a major push for a $1 trillion overhaul of the nation’s roads and bridges, a key item on his domestic agenda that’s gained little traction amid a slew of controversies that have engulfed the White House. His campaign for public and private funding for the projects is expected to run from the White House, where he’ll speak about…

“It’s my judgment that I was fired because of the Russia investigation,” Comey told the Senate intelligence committee in explosive testimony that threatened to undermine Trump’s presidency. “I was fired in some way to change, or the endeavor was to change, the way the Russia investigation was being conducted,” Comey testified under oath. The former director…

—President Donald Trump has said he wants to do “a big number” on the Obama-era financial rules devised after the Great Recession, and House Republicans were poised to fulfill that goal Thursday. Republicans say many requirements imposed under what is known as the Dodd-Frank Act, named after its Democratic sponsors, have harmed economic growth by making it…

—Emboldened by a business-friendly president, Republicans in Congress have set a goal that is nothing if not ambitious: To undo the stricter banking rules that took effect after the devastating 2008 financial crisis. The landscape is far different in the Senate, where Democrats have the votes to block it. President Donald Trump launched his attack on…

James Comey on Thursday said he was blindsided when President Donald Trump fired him as FBI director, adding he was confused by the administration’s explanations, which he characterized as “lies– plain and simple.” Comey testified before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on Thursday, where he was expected to face questioning about his termination,…

It’s been a month of extraordinary drama since President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, rife with leaked details of private memos detailing awkward interactions with the president and the rare appointment of a special counsel to alleviate concerns of White House interference in an ongoing investigation. At the time he was fired, Comey had been…

—President Donald Trump is suggesting that Iran shares some of the blame for twin terrorist attacks on its parliament and a shrine, insisting that those who sponsor terrorism “risk falling victim to the evil they promote.” Despite the attacks, Democrats and Republicans in the Senate pushed ahead on a new set of sanctions against Iran. The U.S. has designated Iran a…

—House Republicans headed toward a vote Thursday on dismantling sweeping financial rules established under President Barack Obama that were designed to head off economic meltdowns like the one that caused millions of Americans to lose their jobs and homes during the Great Recession. Republicans are arguing that the many requirements imposed under what…

—Dogged by allegations in Washington, President Donald Trump traveled to friendlier territory Wednesday and promised to create a “first-class” system of roads, bridges and waterways by using $200 billion in public funds to generate $1 trillion in investment to pay for construction projects that most public officials agree are badly needed and long overdue.

In the speech, the president also pressed the Senate to send him a health care bill, criticized congressional Democrats as “obstructionists” and revisited his controversial decision to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement. While infrastructure initially was seen as an area where Republican and Democrats could work together, Democrats have balked…

—The Supreme Court on Monday made it tougher for the government to recover ill-gotten gains from people convicted of securities fraud, ruling that such recoveries are subject to a five-year statute of limitations. The justices overturned a lower court decision that ordered venture capitalist Charles Kokesh to pay the Securities and Exchange Commission…

—In its effort to regain control of its message, the White House has curtailed press briefings, redirected questions on the Russia investigation to an outside lawyer and planned a major infrastructure policy rollout for this week. But as long as President Donald Trump has a smartphone, no White House strategy is safe. Trump also makes this point: “Sorry folks, but if…

Republicans are running way behind schedule. By early June, Republicans were supposed to be in the thick of overhauling the tax code. Here’s the reality: The GOP health care debate is stalled in Congress, and its uncertainty has clogged up the legislative pipeline to Trump’s desk.

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Monday that faith-based nonprofits can be treated the same as churches under federal retirement laws, in a decision signaling broad deference to religious institutions. In an 8-0 ruling, the high court said Congress, in a 1980 amendment to the law, did intend for religious nonprofits to be considered a “church plan,” making…

The net worth of U.S. households and nonprofit organizations fell by nearly $14 trillion, about 20 percent. Barack Obama of Illinois and Republican Sen. After the economy stabilized, Congress shifted from economic stimulus and bailouts to establishing the kind of regulatory framework that might keep another Great Recession from happening.