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Updated on July 25 at 10:08 p.m. Eastern

Senate Republicans have voted to begin debate on legislation to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, clearing a key procedural hurdle even as it remains unclear whatif anylegislation the party might ultimately pass.

The vote was as narrow as it gets: With two Republicans out of their slim majority of 52 opposing Majority Leader Mitch McConnells motion to proceed on Tuesday afternoon, Vice President Mike Pence broke a 50-50 tie to formally launch deliberations that had taken place almost entirely in private for two months. The vote was briefly delayed as Senate officials removed protesters shouting Kill the Bill! Kill the Bill! from the balcony of the chamber.

As recently as 24 hours before the vote, Senate aides were predicting it would fail, delivering yet another blow to the GOPs hopes of at least partially repealing and replacing Obamacare after seven years of campaign promises. But the return of Senator John McCain of Arizona after a brain-cancer diagnosis and McConnells success in wooing his fellow Kentucky hardliner, Senator Rand Paul, gave the motion some late momentum. In a dramatic moment, McCain entered the chamber long after most Republicans had voted to cast a crucial vote to begin debate. But even with McCains support, McConnell still had to persuade Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, who has criticized his handling of the issue, to vote with the party. After a lengthy one-on-one discussion with the majority leader, Johnson cast the 50th vote after McCain had entered the chamber to a round of bipartisan applause.

Mitch McConnell's Latest Obamacare Gambit: 'Skinny Repeal'

All 48 Democrats protested the move by initially abstaining from the vote before they all voted no. Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska were the only two Republicans to oppose the motion.

In a statement, Trump hailed Senate Republicans for taking a giant step to end the Obamacare nightmare. And during a press conference soon after, he suggested that the initial procedural vote would prove to be more difficult than the ones that followed. But McConnell and his fellow Senate leaders knew the opposite was likely true.

This is just the beginning. Were not out here to spike the football, McConnell said after the vote. Senator John Thune of South Dakota added: Obviously we have our work cut out for us.

Indeed, it was McCain who threw McConnells plan into more jeopardy just minutes after he cast a decisive vote in favor of debating the bill. In a speech on the Senate floor, the Arizonan sharply criticized both the underlying proposal and the secretive, partisan process McConnell used to write it. I will not vote for this bill as it is today, McCain said with a characteristic jab of his finger. Its a shell of a bill right now. He said the proposal must include changes demanded by Arizonas governor, Doug Ducey, in order to win his vote.

Then McCain turned to the process, not naming McConnell but implicitly indicting his handling of health care. We try to do this by coming up with a proposal behind closed doors in consultation with the administration, then springing it on skeptical members, trying to convince them that it's better than nothing. That it's better than nothing? McCain said. Asking us to swallow our doubts and force it passed a unified opposition. I don't think that's going to work in the end, and probably shouldn't. He predicted the effort would likely end in failure, in which case he said Republicans should work with Democrats through the normal committee process.

Though this vote does not commit senators to supporting final passage, Democrats have vowed to attack Republicans merely for advancing the process of repealing the ACA and replacing it with a law that the Congressional Budget Office predicts could result in tens of millions of people losing insurance. A handful of Republican holdouts bowed under intense pressure from McConnell and President Trump to at least allow a floor debate on health-care legislation, despite not even knowing which bill would come up for a vote. They included Senator Dean Heller of Nevada, who voted with party leaders despite ripping McConnells replacement plan a few weeks ago and indicating he would vote to block it from coming to the floor. Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia also voted in favor after earlier saying that she would not support a motion to proceed if she did not back the underlying replacement bill.

"Obamacare isnt the answer, but doing nothing to try to solve the problems it has created isnt the answer either, Heller said in a statement. If the final product isnt improved for the state of Nevada, then I will not vote for it; if it is improved, I will support it.

That Republican leaders struggled so mightily just to bring legislation up for debate underscores how precarious their effort to repeal and replace Obamacare has become. Despite the successful procedural vote on Tuesday, there is no obvious path for any of the GOPs various proposals to pass out of the Senate in the coming days. Republicans who voted yes to begin debate warned that they still planned to oppose final passage if the amended legislation was not to their liking. The Senate will now move to an amendment process, but if none of the ensuing proposals can get 50 Republican votes, the party will be stuck again.

In a blow to McConnell, nine Republicans voted against his replacement bill, the Better Care Reconciliation Act, after it came up as the first substitute amendment on Tuesday night. The proposal had faced procedural hurdles and needed 60 votes to pass because two of its provisions had not been scored by the Congressional Budget Office. That eliminated any doubt about the outcome of the vote, but the breadth of the GOP opposition was surprising. Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Bob Corker of Tennessee, and Tom Cotton of Arkansas all voted against it after giving little previous hint of their opposition. Less surprising no votes came from Collins, Paul, Murkowski, Heller, and Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas. Curiously, McCain voted in favor of the amendment just hours after insisting he would oppose it without significant changes.

On Wednesday, the Senate plan to vote on an amendment that revives a bill the GOP-led Congress passed in 2015 that repeals much of Obamacare but replaces none of it. Then-President Barack Obama vetoed it at the time, but several Republican moderates are opposed to voting for a repeal bill with no replacement ready. It is not expected to pass.

If both of those proposals fail this week, McConnell told Paul he might bring up a more limited repeal that only gets rid of Obamacares insurance mandates and some of its taxes. That would be a significant scaling back of the partys ambition, but the goal would be to set up a conference committee for more negotiations with the House. But its unclear if even that skinny repeal option could get the 50 votes needed.

After 20 hours of debate over the next two days, the Senate will begin a marathon amendment process known as a vote-a-rama in which senators from either party can propose changes that abide by the rules. McConnells goal is to finish the billpass or failby the end of the week. But even he would not predict success.

Its really impossible to predict in a reconciliation process what amendments will be offered and what amendments will succeed, he told reporters. Its wide open.

Read more:
Senate Republicans Clear Key Health-Care Hurdle - The Atlantic

By Lisa Hornak/EPA/Rex/Shutterstock.

Republicans want to find a legislative solution to the controversy over net-neutrality rules, and theyre looking to Silicon Valley to gain the imprimatur of some of the biggest names in tech. On Tuesday, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden invited Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg, Comcasts Brian Roberts, AT&Ts Randall Stephenson, Amazons Jeff Bezos, Alphabets Larry Page, and Netflixs Reed Hastings to testify before Congress about net neutrality during a hearing scheduled for September. A strong consensus is forming across party lines and across industries that its time for Congress to call a halt on the back-and-forth and set clear net-neutrality ground rules for the Internet, Walden said in a press release. The time has come to get everyone to the table and get this figured out.

A public hearing could allow Republicans to move forward with a compromise bill that would roll back some Obama-era Internet regulations while incorporating feedback from the major Silicon Valley players who would be most affected by the new rules. It could also defuse some of the mounting tension between the G.O.P. and the tech industry, which has found itself at odds with President Donald Trump over immigration. Earlier this month, numerous tech companies participated in a Day of Action, an online protest organized by the nonprofit Fight for the Future to speak out in favor of existing government regulations protecting an open Internet. Among the leaders who called on the Federal Communications Commission to preserve robust net-neutrality rules and for Congress to strengthen those rules in law was Zuckerberg. Right now, the F.C.C. has rules in place to make sure the Internet continues to be an open platform for everyone, the C.E.O. wrote on Facebook at the time. At Facebook, we strongly support those rules. Were also open to working with members of Congress and anyone else on laws to protect net neutrality.

Zuckerberg will soon have the opportunity to air those grievances, if he accepts Waldens invitation. Walden, for his part, is framing the committee hearing as a way to bridge a divide that is smaller than activists think. In some form or another, we have been working for at least 20 years on the intertwined goals of incentivizing the huge investments needed to connect Americans, while keeping the Internet open and protecting consumer privacy, the congressman said in his statement. With almost everyone in agreement about fundamental principles to prevent anti-competitive behavior such as throttling and blocking, I think we are closer than ever to achieving a lasting resolution.

Not all Republicans pushing for a lasting resolution to the net neutrality are expressing themselves in such ecumenical terms. The last F.C.C., at the behest of President Obama, pushed far beyond its legal authority to create an unstable set of mandates and a mountain of unanswered questions, Tennessee congresswoman Marsha Blackburn argued in her own statement, deriding the inflammatory rhetoric on the other side of the aisle. The ensuing drama has benefitted certain interest groups but has been detrimental for American innovators and consumers, whose experience and reliance on the Internet are diminished by the lack of clear and predictable rules.

The potential for a legislative compromise could provide a way forward for some tech companies, though the end result is unlikely to please Internet activists and Democrats, who largely favor current rules that treat the Internet as a utility regulated by the F.C.C. Many tech leaders have tended to agree, though Zuckerberg said in his Facebook note earlier this month that hes open to Congress codifying net neutrality more firmly in legislation. A hearing would allow tech executives to formally weigh in on F.C.C. chair Ajit Pais controversial plans to roll back net-neutrality rules, giving them some say in the process. It could also provide a chance for dtente between Republicans and Silicon Valley leadership: earlier this month, the day before the Day of Action, top Republican House leaders warned big tech companies that aggressive pro-net neutrality activism could make it difficult to work together on other policy issues going forward.

The rest is here:
Republicans Want Mark Zuckerberg to Testify Before Congress - Vanity Fair

Sacramento Bee

'Stop lying to the people' on climate change, Schwarzenegger tells Republicans Sacramento Bee Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday slammed President Donald Trump's retreat from the world climate stage and challenged fellow Republicans to accept the science that spurred him to push cap-and-trade legislation. Schwarzenegger to Republicans: 'Stop lying to the people' about climate changeSFGate all 49 news articles »

Continued here:
'Stop lying to the people' on climate change, Schwarzenegger tells Republicans - Sacramento Bee

The Senate voted 51-50 on Tuesday to move forward with a debate on health care reform, even though it was not clear what measure the body will be considering. Vice President Mike Pence cast the tie-breaking vote.

Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska were the only two Republicans who joined Democrats in voting no on the motion to proceed.

Before the voting began, protesters in the Senate's public gallery chanted "Kill the bill" and "Shame! Shame!"

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who was diagnosed with brain cancer last week, returned to the Senate floor to vote in favor of moving the debate forward. His appearance was met with a standing ovation.

"I voted for the motion to proceed to allow debate to continue and amendments be offered," McCain said. "I will not vote for this bill as it is today. It's a shell of a bill right now. We all know that."

The Senate GOP has been dealt several setbacks, including not having enough votes for its original plan to repeal and replace aspects of Obamacare or for a straight repeal, but President Trump has pushed for Republican lawmakers to make progress on one of his legislative priorities.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the debate on health care in the chamber will be "an open amendment process."

"This is just the beginning. We're not out here to spike the football. This is the long way," McConnell said after the vote. "But we'll finish at the end of the week, hopefully with a measure that can either go to the House and be taken up or go to conference" in which differences between the chambers' bills are resolved. "And we're pleased to have been able to take the first step, and that's the direction for today."

In a statement released today, Trump said he applauded senators for "taking a giant step to end the Obamacare nightmare."

"As this vote shows, inaction is not an option, and now the legislative process can move forward as intended to produce a bill that lowers costs and increases options for all Americans," the statement said. "The Senate must now pass a bill and get it to my desk so we can finally end the Obamacare disaster once and for all."

Trump thanked McCain on Twitter for returning to D.C. "for such a vital vote."

Excerpt from:
Republicans pull off narrow victory to move health reform forward - ABC News

Border wall skeptics like Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a moderate Republican from a majority-Hispanic district in Floridas Miami-Dade County, are well aware that they're being bypassed. | Joe Raedle/Getty Images

House Republicans are poised to fund $1.6 billion for President Donald Trump's border wall through a procedural maneuver designed to avoid a floor vote that might fail.

The House Rules Committee is expected to attach funding for the wall that Trump has proposed building along the Mexican border to the so-called minibus, a downsized spending package for the Pentagon, the Energy Department, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the legislative branch but not DHS, the Cabinet agency responsible for the wall.

Story Continued Below

If an amendment to fund the wall is adopted by the Rules Committee, this line item can circumvent a floor vote, sparing GOP immigration moderates and fiscal hawks from being pressed to approve a project that their constituents might view as xenophobic, misguided and wasteful and sparing GOP leaders possible defeat.

Border wall skeptics like Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a moderate Republican from a majority-Hispanic district in Floridas Miami-Dade County, are well aware that they're being bypassed. Im not OK [with it], but it is what it is, Ros-Lehtinen told POLITICO in an interview. We hope that it will be dealt with later on, but it looks like its going to be included in the package. Perhaps, she said, it will set the table for a broader deal on immigration reform.

The amendment under consideration by the Rules Committee was drafted by Rep. John Carter, a Texas Republican and chairman of the Appropriations Committee's Homeland Security Subcommittee. The measure would fund 60 miles of new fence and levee wall in south Texas and 14 miles of secondary fence in the San Diego area, and would earmark roughly $40 million toward planning for additional border wall construction.

At a committee hearing Monday, Carter called the funding "necessary to gain operational control of the border a view that is not shared by most House members, including Republicans, who represent districts near the border.

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The anticipated Rules Committee maneuver leaves House Democrats a difficult choice: Approve money for Trumps trademark project, or vote against military funding.

The spending bill that the House passed in May contained $341 million for replacement fencing, as well as additional funding for immigration enforcement. Only 15 Democrats opposed that measure, but the tally will be different this time around, said House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer.

Although the inclusion of defense spending will make it a tough bill to vote against, Hoyer told reporters during a Tuesday morning briefing, he's nonetheless urging congressional Democrats to vote "no." "I think, overwhelmingly, Democrats are gonna not be for this bill," he said.

Rep. Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat who served in the Marine Corps before he entered politics, has also been pushing his colleagues to vote against the spending measure.

I dont think they should fall for this trick, he said at a press conference Tuesday outside the Capitol. You can be pro-military and against the wall.

Hoyer joined Gallego at the event, as did Rep. Luis Gutierrez, an Illinois Democrat and prominent immigrant-rights advocate. Gutierrez also urged fellow Democrats to reject the border funding.

All we are saying is that Democrats have to stand, as a principle, with the immigrant community, Gutierrez said. We are tired of being some second-tier agenda in the platform of the Democratic Party.

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Read the rest here:
House Republicans seek to dodge border wall vote - Politico