Jayapal Introduces Medicare For All
Medicare For All bill unveiled: 'Complete transformation' of health care. NBC: "As the debate over Medicare For All heats up on the 2020 trail, House progressives are opening a new front in Congress with a detailed single-payer bill that they plan to aggressively push this year. 'We intend to make sure that Americans across this country know that we are standing up and fighting for them and for health care to be a right and not a privilege,' Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., the lead sponsor of the bill and co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said in a call with reporters Tuesday. 'I think this Medicare For All bill really makes it clear what we mean by Medicare for All,' she said. 'We mean a complete transformation of our health care system, we mean a system where there are no private insurance companies that provide these core comprehensive benefits that will be covered through the government.' If passed, Medicare For All would replace all existing private and public coverage with a more generous version of Medicare that would cover essential medical services, vision, and dental benefits with no premiums, copays, or deductibles. The new bill does not contain provisions to offset its cost, arguably the most contentious topic in the single-payer debate, but Jayapal said they'd work out financing further down the line."
House Grills Officials Over Family Separations
Five takeaways from Tuesday's family separation hearing. CNN: "House Democrats used Tuesday's hearing on the Trump administration's controversial 'zero tolerance' policy to hammer officials over what they knew about the policy, when they knew it and what they did about it. The question hovering over the Trump administration since the "zero tolerance" policy was ended has been, where are the children? 'How did (Customs and Border Protection) not ensure it had an adequate system before separating them?' asked House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler. Officials acknowledged there was no comprehensive system, but agencies were able to work in their own systems. '(W)e had the ability to track, we have always had the ability to track,' US Border Patrol Chief Carla Provost said, before adding that 'we did not have a searchable field prior to that time frame focused on specifically separated members of families.' During the hearing, Provost repeatedly reminded lawmakers that the "zero tolerance" policy was a 'prosecution initiative.' Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee Jackson also pressed Scott Lloyd, now an HHS senior adviser, on the issue, as well. All the agencies involved in the rollout of the policy were present, providing lawmakers a unique opportunity to pose questions about each aspect of the policy that resulted in thousands of undocumented immigrant children being separated from their families."
Climate Protesters Storm McConnell's Office
Dozens of climate protesters storm McConnell’s office over Green New Deal. The Hill: "More than 100 youth climate protesters entered Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) office Monday to advocate for the 'Green New Deal' and challenge McConnell's plan to fast-track a vote on the resolution in the Senate. The youth climate advocates, members of the national climate group The Sunrise Movement, were seen overflowing from McConnell’s office into the stairwell in the Russell Senate Office Building on Monday morning. Protesters inside his office held up a sign that read, “Mitch, Look Us In The Eyes.” “I am here because people in my community don’t have jobs, are starving and turning to opiods [sic] and dying. Mitch McConnell refuses to do anything about,” said 15-year-old Kentucky high school student Lily Gardner, according to a press release from Sunrise Movement."
Cohen To Testify Trump Is A 'Racist Conman'
Michael Cohen's opening statement: Donald Trump is 'a racist,' 'a conman,' 'a cheat' and knew about DNC email leaks. ABC: "Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer and fixer, intends to tell the House Oversight Committee today that President Donald Trump is 'a racist,' 'a conman' and 'a cheat.' Cohen, according to a copy of his intended remarks obtained by ABC News, also plans to divulge that Trump, as a candidate, knew Roger Stone was talking with Julian Assange about WikiLeaks' revealing of emails from the Democratic National Committee. The comments obtained by ABC News and media outlets including The New York Times could very well change during today's testimony. 'I am ashamed of my own failings, and I publicly accepted responsibility for them by pleading guilty in the Southern District of New York," Cohen writes in his intended remarks. I am ashamed of my weakness and misplaced loyalty -- of the things I did for Mr. Trump in an effort to protect and promote him. I am ashamed that I chose to take part in concealing Mr. Trump's illicit acts rather than listening to my own conscience. I am ashamed because I know what Mr. Trump is. He is a racist. He is a conman. He is a cheat.'"
Court Rejects Challenge To Mueller Probe
Mueller scores big win as court rejects challenge to his appointment. Politico: "Special counsel Robert Mueller scored one of the biggest legal wins of his tenure on Tuesday, as a federal appeals court rejected claims that his appointment was unconstitutional. In a unanimous ruling, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals turned aside arguments that Mueller wields so much power as a special prosecutor that he should have been nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The appeals court judges also found no flaw in Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s appointment of Mueller in the wake of the recusal of then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The court said that because the attorney general can repeal the regulations used to appoint Mueller at any time, he remains under the control of a Cabinet official. 'Special Counsel Mueller effectively serves at the pleasure of an Executive Branch officer who was appointed with the advice and consent of the Senate,' Judge Judith Rogers wrote, joined by Judges Sri Srinivasan and Karen Henderson."
