Number of uninsured Americans surges – and provokes a movement that might shape the results in two key states
When Donald Trump began campaigning for the presidency that he captured in 2016, he promised to decimate the Affordable Care Act. His agenda was in no way hidden. “It’s gotta go,” Trump said of the ACA in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash. “Repeal and replace with something terrific.”
More than five years later, the president still hasn’t articulated a plan for a system...
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Amy Coney Barrett pledges ‘open mind’ and plays down conservative record
- Nominee avoids answering directly on how she would rule
- Lindsey Graham hails ‘woman who is unashamedly pro-life’
Judge Amy Coney Barrett, Donald Trump’s nominee to the US supreme court, promised to keep an “open mind” when considering cases before the court during a final round of questioning on Wednesday, as Republicans declared her confirmation all but assured despite Democrats’ forceful opposition.
Members of the Senate judiciary committee on Wednesday att...
Amy Coney Barrett hearing begins third day with more questioning from senators – live
- Each committee member will get 20 minutes to speak
- Barrett dodges abortion and healthcare questions
- Trump and Biden offer different visions of US role in world
- Trump in trouble as Florida’s seniors shift towards Biden
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A bit of non-hearing news: a judge has extended the voter registration deadline in Virginia after an accidentally cut cable caused the online system to shut down yesterday.
The AP reports:
Wednesday’s order by U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney, Jr. in Richmond is an effort to make up for several hours of lost time on Tuesday, which had been the last day to register before the November general election.
The shutdown of the state’s website caused ‘a tremendous harm’ to the people who want to register to vote, Gibney said.
During his questioning of Amy Coney Barrett, Republican Chuck Grassley made the bizarre claim that Democrats “don’t really care about Obamacare.”
“This is all a charade. It’s time to get real. This is all just a distraction,” Grassley said. “They want government-run Medicare for All.”
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Amy Coney Barrett faces questions on legal record as nomination hearings continue – live
- First of two days of questioning for Barrett begins
- What Barrett’s likely confirmation means
- Pete Buttigieg emerges as Biden’s unlikely Fox News fighter
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1.38am BST
One other extraordinary dodge today: Barrett said that while she has “read things about climate change”, she does not have “firm views on it”.
Amy Coney Barrett supreme court nomination hearings begin in Washington – live
- Supreme court hearing sets stage for partisan clash
- Barrett was member of anti-abortion group that promoted clinic criticized for misleading women
- Barrett to say she will judge cases on law not personal views
- Sign up for Fight to Vote – our weekly US election newsletter
During the break in Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination hearing, Trump urged Republicans to push their own healthcare agenda in their opening statements.
“We will have Healthcare which is FAR BETTER than ObamaCare, at a FAR LOWER COST,” Trump said in a tweet. “PEOPLE WITH PRE EXISTING CONDITIONS WILL BE PROTECTED AT AN EVEN HIGHER LEVEL THAN NOW.”
We will have Healthcare which is FAR BETTER than ObamaCare, at a FAR LOWER COST - BIG PREMIUM REDUCTION. PEOPLE WITH PRE EXISTING CONDITIONS WILL BE PROTECTED AT AN EVEN HIGHER LEVEL THAN NOW. HIGHLY UNPOPULAR AND UNFAIR INDIVIDUAL MANDATE ALREADY TERMINATED. YOU’RE WELCOME!
We have reached the first break in Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination hearing before the Senate judiciary committee.
The hearing is scheduled to reconvene in about 35 minutes, when more members of the committee will deliver their opening statements.
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Trump claims he no longer has Covid-19 and is ‘immune’ – live updates
- Biden retains double-digit national lead over Trump as election looms
- Forecast projects 395,000 US Covid-19 deaths by February
- Taliban says it hopes Trump wins election
- Republicans express fears Trump will lose presidential election
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Democratic Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer has said Donald Trump’s supreme court nominee Amy Coney Barrett should, if confirmed, step aside from contentious cases.
Reuters reports:
Democratic opposition to Barrett on policy issues has focused on her possible role in deciding a case before the Supreme Court in which Trump and Republican-led states are seeking to invalidate the Affordable Care Act (ACA) healthcare law, often called Obamacare.
“She doesn’t come unbiased and that’s why she should recuse herself,” Schumer said on Sunday.
Donald Trump claims he is immune to Covid-19 – video
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Fears for Obamacare if Amy Coney Barrett confirmed to supreme court
Case due before court seeks to strike down landmark Affordable Care Act – which could leave millions of Americans adrift
This month, Congress is expected to begin confirmation hearings for Donald Trump’s nominee for the supreme court, Amy Coney Barrett. If confirmed, she could be the decisive vote in a case being heard days after the election, which seeks to strike down the landmark Affordable Care Act – a move that could leave millions of Americans without healthcare in the middle of a pandemic.
Related: Amy Coney Barrett: what will she mean for women's rights?
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Trump signals he won’t agree to rules changes for debates – live
- Trump: ‘Why would I allow the Debate Commission to change the rules?’
- McEnany refuses to outright condemn white supremacy at briefing
- Biden plans late-election in-person campaign push
- US officials were directed to make sympathetic comments about Kyle Rittenhouse, report says
- Facebook removes Trump ads with misleading refugee claims
- Sign up for Fight to Vote – our weekly US election newsletter
Frmo Erum Salam in Houston and Sam Levine in New York:
Texas is already one of the hardest places in America to vote, and Greg Abbott, the Texas governor, on Thursday made it even harder.
Related: Outrage as Texas governor orders closure of multiple ballot drop-off sites
A procedural vote on a bill that would stop Trump’s Justice Department from intervening in a lawsuit to strike down the Affordable Care Act has failed.
In a rare move, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer forced a procedural vote to consider the measure, in an attempt to force Republicans – many of whom had said they support protections for people with pre-existing conditions – to prove it with their votes. The bill would “protect the health care of hundreds of millions of people of the United States and prevent efforts of the Department of Justice to advocate courts to strike down the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” per Senate Democrats.
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Democrats on the attack after Trump tax return revelations – live
- Six key findings from the Trump tax bombshell
- Analysis: Will the New York Times taxes report sink Donald Trump?
- $70,000 on hairstyling – Trump’s taxes in numbers
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5.21pm BST
In her MSNBC interview, House speaker Nancy Pelosi also criticized Senate Republicans for moving forward with the supreme court nomination of ...
Trump says overturning Roe v Wade ‘certainly possible’ with Amy Coney Barrett – live
- Senate minority whip says Democrats can only slow nomination by ‘days’
- Amy Coney Barrett: what will she mean for women’s rights?
- Biden hopes for repeat of 2012 as Trump debate nears
- Recipe for chaos: election threatens to snap US society
- Robert Reich: Trump Nation has already seceded
- Sign up for Fight to Vote – our weekly US election newsletter
5.29pm BST
Biden spoke briefly then answered a f...