House Republicans hope to approve nearly $70 billion for immigration enforcement on Tuesday, which would fund Homeland Security throughout President Donald Trump’s time in office. Democrats call it a blank check that imposes no limits on agents despite the deaths of U.S. citizens in Minneapolis.
The Trump administration is vowing to appeal a federal judge’s rejection of its $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas, saying the much-higher fee aims to prevent foreign workers from taking American jobs. Schools and states say filling teacher and doctor jobs was already hard enough before the fee hike.
Trump says he’ll nominate acting Attorney General Todd Blanche for the full-time job, setting up a Senate test of his use of the Justice Department to pursue his foes and give himself immunity from potential tax crimes. And as he looks forward to celebrating his 80th birthday party Sunday with a UFC cage match, Trump has begun suggesting that the eight-sided, wire-mesh cage could become a permanent South Lawn fixture.
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Trump’s push for healthcare price transparency aims to address a major concern for voters
The warnings are the latest example of Trump leaning into the message that his administration is fixing the problem of healthcare expenses that can drain a family budget. It’s a calculated pitch ahead of the November midterms at a time when affordability is a top concern, and Trump is vulnerable on this after allowing subsidies to lapse for Affordable Care Act insurance, widely known as Obamacare.
Just 29% of U.S. adults approved of Trump’s healthcare policies in the most recent survey on the issue by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Price transparency could have a particular impact in the Republican strongholds of Texas, Florida, Indiana, Alabama and Louisiana, which have among the most hospitals warned about inadequate price information.
Trump administration warns more than 500 hospitals to provide more price information or face fines
The administration argues that the lack of basic pricing information for consumers to access is keeping healthcare costs higher than they should be.
The Associated Press obtained exclusively the list of hospitals that since April have either received letters of warning or requests to submit plans to provide transparent pricing. Penalties range up to $2 million annually for each hospital that doesn’t create a plan to post clear pricing data.
The letters are meant to fix a fundamental problem: Patients, employers and insurers might not know ahead of time the cost of blood work, an imaging test or another form of treatment, and as a result pay more than they should have. AP has posted the list of hospitals that have received letters.
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House GOP leader says they’re ‘moving forward’ on passing $70 billion immigration enforcement funds
Pressed if the Republicans would be able to approve the package during afternoon votes, Majority Leader Steve Scalise appeared confident, despite their already slim advantage potentially being narrowed as lawmakers from several states dash home to campaign on primary election day.
“We always have to deal with absences, a narrow majority, that’s life in the big city,” Scalise, the Republican from Louisiana, told reporters.
Democrats oppose the package, which would fuel Trump’s immigration enforcement and deportation agenda through the rest of his time in the White House.
“We’re just going keep working through but, you know, we’re going to get our work done,” he said.
Thune says White House ‘weighing seriously’ a long-term DNI pick
Lawmakers in both parties are pressing the White House to reconsider its decision to install Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Tuesday he does not believe the administration is considering replacing Pulte in the acting role, and is instead weighing a permanent nominee to lead the intelligence community.
“I think they’re weighing seriously making a long-term pick,” Thune told reporters.
Thune added that it’s his “hope” the decision would come sooner rather than later.
Salt Lake City lawsuit is latest against DHS plan to use giant warehouses to detain immigrants
Salt Lake City and its county are suing to block a giant warehouse where Homeland Security plans to detain as many as 10,000 immigrants. Their federal lawsuit is the latest brought by local officials around the country who were not consulted before DHS purchased industrial warehouses to convert into regional immigrant processing and detention centers.
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