- Key Republicans believe Trump’s plans make no sense
- President says FBI and DoJ to review Jussie Smollett case
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“I’ll take the usual please, Donald”:
The Fake News Media is going Crazy! They are suffering a major “breakdown,” have ZERO credibility or respect, & must be thinking about going legit. I have learned to live with Fake News, which has never been more corrupt than it is right now. Someday, I will tell you the secret!
Mexico is doing NOTHING to help stop the flow of illegal immigrants to our Country. They are all talk and no action. Likewise, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador have taken our money for years, and do Nothing. The Dems don’t care, such BAD laws. May close the Southern Border!
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the day’s political news.
•Republicans are said to be in turmoil over the Donald Trump’s push for Obamacare to be dismantled in the courts. Vice-president Mike Pence and new attorney general Bill Barr are among the skeptics, according to the New York Times, with concerns that scrapping the Affordable Care Act could be a boon for Democrats in 2020. On Wednesday House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy reportedly told his colleagues that Trump’s push made no sense. McCarthy is holding his weekly press conference at 11.30am, and may elaborate.
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World news
Trump’s latest healthcare push exasperates Republicans – live
Key party member reportedly tells president renewed plan to scrap Affordable Care Act ‘makes no sense’
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9.00pm GMT
8.45pm GMT
Bringing this to readers just in case – in the unlikely event! – that you have not seen it, an impassioned speech from AOC on the Green New Deal (which, actually, is more popular than Republicans would ...
Fox News condemns host Jeanine Pirro’s attack on Ilhan Omar – live
- Fox News host went after Omar for wearing hijab
- Network: ‘We strongly condemn Jeanine Pirro’s comments’
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New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s advisers are skeptical to say the least about his potential presidential bid.
De Blasio, who traveled to South Carolina this weekend, has said he won’t rule out jumping into the already crowded 2020 Democratic primary field.
Donald Trump will be unveiling his proposal for the federal budget today.
The president’s budget doesn’t carry the weight that it once did, Reuters reports. Congress is expected to largely ignore it. The proposed budget for 2020 comes a month after its deadline, which the White House has blamed on the government shutdown.
Trump’s plan for the 2020 budget year will propose cuts to many domestic programs favored by lawmakers in both parties but leave alone politically popular retirement programs such as Medicare and Social Security.
Washington probably will devote months to wrestling over erasing the last remnants of a failed 2011 budget deal that would otherwise cut core Pentagon operations by $71 billion and domestic agencies and foreign aid by $55 billion. Top lawmakers are pushing for a reprise of three prior deals to use spending cuts or new revenues and prop up additional spending rather than defray deficits that are again approaching $1 trillion.
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Pence attacks ‘hard-left’ Democrats in rant against socialism – live updates
Vice-president criticizes Green New Deal and Medicare for All and claims choice in next election is between ‘freedom and socialism’
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8.47pm GMT
The Democratic-led House oversight committee has issued a warning to Donald Trump’s counsel, demanding that the White House turn over documents related to security clearances for some of the president’s close advisers.
Elija...
Trump ‘unhappy’ with new shutdown deal – live updates
- Tentative deal includes $1.375bn for border security
- Schumer: ‘I urge President Trump to sign this agreement’
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A House vote on the border security deal to avoid another government shutdown could come as early as tomorrow according to Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.
Hoyer says Hse could vote on border security pkg "maybe as early as tomorrow"
A number of Democrats will unveil legislation on Wednesday that will allow people between the ages of 50-64 to buy into Medicare. The idea of expanding Medicare has long been popular among Democrats. There were past proposals to allow people over 55 to buy in and, on the left, Medicare for All has become a rallying cry.
A new name to add to your Democratic health proposal lexicon: “Medicare at 50.” pic.twitter.com/50kdCCp4MQ
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Trump gets ready for State of the Union address – live news
- Trump to give speech to hostile audience in House
- President aims for reboot and calls for American unity
Donald Trump is expected to pick Treasury Department official David Malpass to head the World Bank, Politico reports.
The choice is a clear sign the Trump administration is looking to rein in international financial institutions, according to Politico. Malpass has been critical of the World Bank, global organizations like it “have grown larger and more intrusive” and “the challenge of refocusing them has become urgent and more difficult.”
A top aide to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told health insurance executives that Democratic leadership has deep reservations about single payer healthcare, the Intercept reports.
Wendell Primus, Pelosi’s top healthcare adviser, met with Blue Cross Blue Shield executives in December and told them Democrats were more focused on lowering prescription drug prices, rather than pushing for “Medicare for All” as some progressives would prefer.
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Momentum founders push benefits of NHS-style healthcare in US
Emma Rees and Adam Klug seek British volunteers to back free healthcare campaign
Two of the founders of the leftwing pressure group Momentum are to launch a campaign asking British volunteers to back a campaign for free healthcare in the US by telling Americans about the benefits of the NHS.
The idea is to sign up activists who are prepared to talk up the British healthcare system as a good example of how a campaign such as “National Medicare For All” in the US would work. It comes as part of a campaign by America’s National Nurses United union.
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Sorry, Howard Schultz – America doesn’t want another billionaire president | Luke Savage
Schultz opposes Medicare for All and raising the top tax rate – his middle-of-the-road vision is not what America needs
Howard Schultz, the former Starbucks CEO, has a bold plan to rescue America, and it involves putting another billionaire in the White House to put a stop to dangerous ideas like universal healthcare and higher taxes on the wealthy.
Related: Howard Schultz heckled as 'egotistical asshole' who would aid Trump in 2020
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Trump said black people were ‘too stupid’ to vote for him, claims Michael Cohen – live
Cohen told Vanity Fair that Trump ‘repeatedly used racist language before his presidency’. Meanwhile, Obama speaks in Florida before midterms
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7.44pm GMT
Pramila Jayapal, a Washington state congresswoman, is one of hundreds of Democrats now running on single-payer healthcare, a monumental shift to the left for the party which – even when it controlled Congress and the White House in 200...
Trump officials move to restrict immigrants who use public benefits
Proposals mean permanent residence applicants could be judged a burden for receiving legal benefits like food aid
The Trump administration on Saturday said it would propose making it harder for foreigners living in the United States to qualify for permanent US residency if they have received public benefits such as food aid, public housing or Medicaid.
The proposed regulation from the Department of Homeland Security would instruct immigration officers to consider whether a person has received a range of taxpayer-funded benefits to which they are legally entitled in determining whether a potential immigrant is likely to become a public burden.
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