Trump praises House Republican leaders on health bill – The Boston Globe

WASHINGTON President Trump capped the most low-key week of his presidency on Friday by meeting with House Republican leaders to congratulate them on their bill to repeal and replace the health care law.

Trump has been noticeably less accessible since unleashing a series of posts on Twitter last weekend accusing President Barack Obama of bugging Trump Tower during the campaign. He abandoned for the first time his nearly daily ritual of chatting with reporters before meetings and other events at the White House.

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On Friday, Trump convened what was billed as a strategy session in the Roosevelt Room with Vice President Mike Pence; Representative Diane Black, Republican of Tennessee, chairwoman of the Budget Committee; Representative Kevin Brady, Republican of Texas, the Ways and Means Committee chairman; Representative Greg Walden, Republican of Washington, chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee; and several other key Republicans.

The Republican bill which White House officials have described as a work in progress most likely to undergo significant change cleared the Ways and Means and the Energy Committees on Thursday after nightlong sessions to review and amend the proposal earlier in the week.

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The measure, which faces potential opposition from at least three Senate Republicans and the Houses ultraconservative Freedom Caucus, is expected to pass the Budget Committee soon and then be voted on by the House within the next two weeks.

The meeting at the White House came as the presidents staff was celebrating the federal jobs report released Friday, which covered Trumps first full month in office. In February, the economy added a better-than-expected 235,000 jobs, which prompted a renewed round of jubilant posts on Twitter by some on the presidents team.

Dan Scavino Jr., director of the White House social media operation, posted the number 235 on Twitter with an American flag.

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Great news for American workers in first report for @POTUS Trump, the White House press secretary Sean Spicer posted.

Trump often questioned the veracity of the Bureau of Labor Statistics report during the 2016 campaign, when job growth often exceeded 200,000 a month, arguing that the statistics were rigged to make Democrats look better.

There was no hint of that skepticism Friday. At 8:41 a.m., less than an hour after the February numbers posted, Trump retweeted a news report on them.

The posts by Trump and Spicer may have violated a federal rule barring executive branch employees from publicly commenting on principal economic indicators for at least one hour after the official release time.

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Trump praises House Republican leaders on health bill - The Boston Globe

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