WTF Community

Current Status: Where we're at with all the storylines

I want to try and collect a high-level list of the most recent “status” for the major Trump storylines that have dominated the administration’s first 221 days.

Here’s how you can help: Pick a topic/item and write a short, 25 to 75-word “blurb” explaining what the current status is. Please cite your sources. We’ll use the “heart” to vote on the best, most accurate answer. I’ll make those the “official” WTFJHT answer. Pro-tip: use the quote feature to highlight the thing you’re responding to, then respond to it so it’s in context.

The goal is to help people have an at-a-glance understanding of these complex, long-running topics in an objective manner. Keep it simple, clear, and approachable for the normal person who just wants to know the current status.

I’ll make this topic a wiki once we fill out most of the statuses so others can continually update as-needed.


  • The Russia Probe
    Where are we at with this? Who’s being investigated? Is the focus collusion, hacking, or something else/more. Specifically, let’s try to differentiate between the various agencies and committees, where possible.

    – FBI / Special Counsel

– Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
– Senate Judiciary Committee
– Senate Armed Services Committee
– House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
– House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
– House Judiciary Committee
– The Department of Justice
– The Department of Defense


  • Health Care
    Where does this stand? Who’s insured? Are there efforts to repeal or repeal and replace still underway?

  • The Travel Ban
    How long does this ban last for? What’s up with the Supreme Court decision? Who will be effected?

  • NAFTA
    I last heard the first of three talks were underway. What’s up with that? What happens next? What can people expect? Are we really trying to terminate it? Why?

  • North Korea
    How is the US responding? What’s the UN doing? How are our efforts to leverage China, S. Korea, Japan, etc. working/not working?

  • The UN
    Are we still members? How much do we spend vs other countries? How have our actions changed our standing with the UN?

  • Who’s Working For Trump
    The White House has been a rotating door recently. Who’s still there? Who’s new? What are people doing?

  • Trump’s Taxes / Personal Finances
    Bits and pieces have leaked out. Why hasn’t Trump released this information? What standing does he have? How could this information come to light? Etc

  • Climate Change / Paris Agreement / EPA
    What’s the timeline for withdrawal? Why did we terminate it? What is the administration doing with regards to climate change?

  • 2018 Election
    Who’s up for election, what’s at stake, and what are the potential outcomes? Why do these midterms matter?

  • 2020 Election
    Who, when, what, where, how much money is being raised. Everything.

  • The Wall
    What’s the status of the border wall with Mexico? Is there funding? Are designs approved? Is Mexico paying for it?

  • Pipeline projects
    After DAPL, what’s next? Keystone, Enbridge, what else?

  • Transgender Military Ban
    What’s up with this? Mattis is reviewing stuff? What’s that about?

=> What major topics am I missing here?

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North Korea: Just shot a missile that flew over Japan, reportedly breaking up into three pieces before crashing into the ocean. Japanese media urged citizens to seek shelter. This is distinctly abnormal for North Korea and has the US government reiterating willingness to retaliate if escalations do not cease.

Quick History for North Korea Tensions: North Korea (DPRK) is in an ongoing ceasefire with South Korea over control of the Korean peninsula. Every year South Korea holds military games and drills nearby which the US as an ally often performs in. About the same time, North Korea flexes their muscles in an attempted show of power. The tensions very rarely escalate to casualty-level events, thus often evoking a “man who cried wolf”-like response from South Korean citizens. The US is an ally of South Korea and is thus a target of heated diplomatic attacks. Russia and China would prefer not to have a US-ally on their border, so they are interested in keeping North Korea as is.

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“Who’s working for Trump” would require a custodian and daily updates.

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I think it would be important to add pipeline projects to the list. DAPL was a disaster, and there is currently a different pipeline trying to go through Minnesota, and the threat of Keystone still looms (last I heard).

The Wall is another big topic that is starting to become important.

I’ve started a google spread sheet, I’ll share it when the formatting is complete. It appears that staff are doing multiple duties within the White House Office. In some instances, it may look like a position is vacant but really some other staff member is doing that job too. It’s all very ad-hock and confusing. Almost no chain of command until Kelly was appointed Chief of Staff.

Real quick news/gossip: Hope Hicks is still the interm-com director after Spicer quit, no nomination yet to replace John Kelly at Homeland Security. The Breitbart guys left to oversee their army of trolls. Stephen Miller is still an in credited “speech writer”, from what I can tell and Rex Tillerson put some space between himself and the President’s comments about the events in Charlottesville. Mattis made some comments about a return to respectful language to troops overseas but those could be read either way. I don’t have time to go into Mitch McConell, Paul Ryan and McMasters. There’s so much drama and I’m writing this on my phone, I hope this helps. I’ll start a thread with more later this week.

Also, here’s a handy page from The Washington Post on how many Official positions in the Federal Government, specifically in the State Department, lack even a nomination by this administration.

New thread

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Transgender Military ban?

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I think this would go for the Trump/Russia probe too…


Quick Summary Version:

The Supreme Court temporarily approved a more narrow version of Trump’s travel and refugee bans effective June 29 with a full upcoming review in October.

Refugees are barred from U.S. entry for 120 days and citizens from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen for 90 days while immigration security protocols are reviewed.

Individuals with a special waiver, a valid visa, or who already have an established relationship in the U.S.—such as with a family member, school, or employer—may enter.


Detailed Verison:

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) recently granted President Trump a “partial stay” overriding prior decisions of the U.S. Fourth and Ninth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals to halt his revised travel and refugee bans.

This unsigned SCOTUS opinion¹ from June 26, 2017 effectively allowed the ban to proceed with restrictions, pending a full hearing by SCOTUS in October² after returning from their three-month summer hiatus.

The travel ban went into effect on June 29 and suspends entry to the United States by refugees and foreign nationals from six predominently Muslim countries: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. (Iraq from the first ban is not included.)³

U.S. entry by citizens from these countries has been suspended for 90 days. Nearly all refugees have been barred entry for 120 days. Trump’s modified executive order also halves the number of refugees accepted into the U.S. from 110,000 under Obama down to 50,000 people total for fiscal year 2017.

Individuals with a waiver (determined on a case-by-case basis), an existing valid visa, or who can demonstrate an already established “credible claim to a bona fide relationship” with a person or entity in the U.S.—such as people “coming to live with or visit a family member” or people coming to study, teach, or work for American businesses—are not barred from entry.⁴

On July 13, the State of Hawaii again sued Trump⁵ and was granted another preliminary injunction by the District Court against his initial flawed implementation of the ban.

Inconsistent with SCOTUS opinion⁶, Trump’s narrow definition of family blocked “grandparents, grandchildren, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins” from entry⁷, as well as refugees who already had placement in refugee resettlement programs but had yet to relocate.

On July 19, the expanded and more inclusive definition of family relations was upheld by SCOTUS (after a motion for clarification). However, 24,000 refugees who already had been vetted and assigned to U.S. assistance programs—and another 175,000 in waiting—have been denied use of that connection to enter.⁸

The ban allows the Department of Homeland Security (now under Acting DHS Secretary Elaine Duke⁹) to more easily review the visa-granting process and assess which countries have not provided enough information to meet Trump’s national security standards.

Indeed, dispute over the 90-day provision of the ban may be moot by the time SCOTUS issues a final ruling in October.

Regarding June’s unanimous (“per curiam”) SCOTUS opinion, four liberal justices—Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan—had joined Justice Anthony Kennedy and Chief Justice John Roberts in partially lifting the hold on the ban. Conservative Justices Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito believed the ban should be enforced in all cases.

REFERENCES
1. Trump v. IRAP and Hawaii. 582 U.S. (2017). Nos. 16–1436 and 16–1540. Supreme Court of the United States. (June 26, 2017). (Slip opinion: PDF)
2. SCOTUS October Term 2017 for Session Beginning October 2, 2017. Argument scheduled for October 10, 2017.
3. Lind, D. (2017, June 26). The Rise, Fall, and Partial Resurrection of Trump’s Travel Ban, Explained. Retrieved from Vox.com on August 29, 2017.
4. Shear, M. and Liptak, A. (2017, June 26). Supreme Court Takes Up Travel Ban Case, and Allows Parts to Go Ahead. Retrieved from (NYTimes.com) on August 29, 2017.
5. Hawaii and Elshikh v. Trump. CV. No. 17-00050 DKW-KSC. United States District Court, D. Hawaii. (July 13, 2017). (Case law)
6. Cox, A. and Goodman, R. (2017, June 29). Trump Definition of “Family” Is in Contempt of Supreme Court Travel Ban Ruling. Retrieved from JustSecurity.org on August 30, 2017.
7. Sherman, M. (2017, July 19). Justices allow strict refugee ban but say grandparents OK. Retrieved from APNews.com on August 30, 2017.
8. Liptak, A. (2017, July 19). Trump Refugee Restrictions Allowed for Now; Ban on Grandparents Is Rejected. Retrieved from NYTimes.com on August 30, 2017.
9. Spagat, E. (2017, July 30). Incoming Homeland Security secretary has served 3 presidents. Retrieved from PBS.org on August 30, 2017.


RELATED RESOURCES

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Amazing! A+, gold star!!

I can imagine it’s a huge undertaking, simply in data alone - so, if you need an extra set of hands with formatting, let me know! 99% of my job is excel & formatting is one of favorites. :grin:

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Update on North Korea: Did an underground test of a 1 megaton thermonuclear device. This was detected as a 6.3 magnitude earthquake and later confirmed via press release from North Korea. President Trump has responded by threatening to halt trade with any country that trades with North Korea.

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Well… that will be interesting.

FBI / Special Counsel

Follow The Money

  • Mueller is working with NY Attorney General in investigating Paul Manafort’s potential financial crimes, including money laundering. This could simply be signaling to Trump and/or to pressure Manafort to cooperate, as Trump does not have pardon power over state crimes. (source)
  • Agents from the IRS’ Criminal Investigations unit have joined Mueller’s “justice league”. (source)

”The” Trump Tower Meeting

  • Russian lobbyist who attended the meeting, testified to grand jury for several hours on August 11. (source)
  • Mueller wants to know why/if Trump tried to conceal the purpose of the Trump Tower + Russia meeting in crafting Don Jr’s initial statement on it. (source)

Obstruction of Justice

  • Trump’s lawyers met with Mueller’s team in June and provided two memos that argued that (1) Trump had complete authority to fire Comey and (2) Comey is a unreliable witness. (source)
  • Mueller obtained the first draft of Trump’s “you’re fired” letter to Comey that McGahn (WH General Counsel) killed; the draft has been described as a “screed.” This could be essential as it could provide verifiable information about Trump’s intention was. (source)

WTF is going on here…?

  • Mueller has subpoenaed Paul Manafort’s former lawyer & current spokesman, which is unusual especially given Manafort’s lawyer has attorney/client privilege. (source)
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Sorry I haven’t been able to compile a post about pipelines and environmental damage. Here are a few articles I found about the current state of things.

Enbridge’s Line 5 in Michigan:

Enbridge’s Line 3 in Minnesota:

Dominion Energy’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline in Virginia:
http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/government-politics/statewide-pipeline-protests-planned-for-environmental-agency-offices-in-virginia/article_88a4e629-5202-5d93-b52e-40cff2e67189.html

Williams Cos.’ Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline in Pennsylvania:

Sorry I don’t have time to digest all of these articles, and that they aren’t from mainstream widely known sources.

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At this point, I think the failure of the administration to prepare countermeasures for natural disasters, such as the hurricanes in the south or the massive wildfires in the northwest, or the many cases of unpotable drinking water in urban centers across the US may be worth tracking as well.

There just might be too much environmental ignorance and subversion going on to contain in one thread.

This series of posts include details on health care proceedings since inauguration: Trumpcare’s failure to pass Congress (Jan–July 2017), updates since Congress’ summer recess (Aug 2017), how Trump continues to harm Obamacare, and what Congress is doing to fix the ACA.

(Nobody knew health care could be so complicated! :wink:)

Part 1: Summary of Health Care Updates (as of mid-September).

Congress returned from recess on September 5.

Bipartisan committees discussed ways to stabilize Obamacare’s insurance market and prevent premiums from increasing on average by 20% in 2018.

Trump halved the upcoming ACA sign-up period to only 45 days and slashed funding for ads, outreach, and in-person sign-up assistance.

A minority of Republicans are working on a Graham-Cassidy plan to repeal Obamacare with no replacement AND cut more funding from Medicaid by September 30.

Top Democrats joined Bernie Sanders to propose a single-payer option for universal health coverage called Medicare-for-all. Others believe a mixed “public option” to buy into a Medicare or Medicaid plan to fill gaps in the private insurance market is more doable.

Part 2: Background Info on the Failure of Trumpcare.

Unprecedented secrecy followed by significant confusion, extensive frustration, needless drama, intense opposition, and several contentious attempts by Republicans to repeal and replace Obamacare.

Post added September 7, 2017.

Part 3: Obamacare is (not) Dead. Long Live Obamacare.

What is the current status of Obamacare? What are some of the ways Trump has tried to sabotage the ACA?

Post added September 10, 2017.

Part 4: Ideas on How to Fix the ACA.

Identifying specific criticisms, problem areas, and proposed legislation options currently in-the-works.

Post added September 13, 2017.

Part 5: Resources for Health Care News & Analysis.

  • Washington Post’s Health 202 newsletter: a weekly run-down of notable health care news, Capitol Hill hearings and events, short commentary on side issues, and longer articles explaining or fact-checking nuanced health policy claims.
  • VoxCare newsletter: a daily digest focusing on the biggest health care policy news. Easy to understand and edited by Sarah Kliff.
  • Kaiser Family Foundation: collections on various health topics, including health reform and the future of the ACA. Articles and evidenced-based analyses typically contain more details, data, and charts than other sources (in fact, they often are the source for other news media). Educational and comprehensive info explained well.
  • Health Affairs blog: deep technical reporting on health policy and the whole health care industry. Most of their ACA articles are contributed by Timothy Jost, an expert on health law.
  • Health Insurance blog: detailed reporting on Obamacare and health reform. Intended for a general audience.
  • Familes USA: a patient and health care consumer advocacy foundation with health care news, research publications, and health policy activist resources.
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Love your posts John, keep it up!

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Effort to “Repeal and Replace” Obamacare Under Trump

(January to July 2017)

GOP House Bill: The American Health Care Act

The rushed [1] and unpopular [2,3] American Health Care Act (AHCA) of 2017 [4] was passed in the House of Representatives on May 4 under the leadership of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) by a narrow margin of 217–213 [5].

AHCA was the Republican effort to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare.

The House bill would have uninsured 23 million people; drastically reduced federal funding for Medicaid; decreased federal subsidies for health insurance premiums (primarily affecting low-income and elderly individuals); cut taxes for high-income earners; broadened state waivers to facilitate opting out of the federal marketplace; changed essential health benefit requirements and coverage levels by insurers; dramatically increased costs for people with pre-existing conditions; allowed insurers to charge senior citizens up to five times more than younger adults (compared to a maximum of three times more under Obamacare); and decreased the federal budget deficit by 1% over ten years, among other reforms [6].

GOP Senate Bill: The Better Care Reconciliation Act

In the Senate, the House’s AHCA was substituted with a modified version of the bill called the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA) of 2017 [7].

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) led a working group of initially only 13 men [8,9] to draft the bill behind closed doors under strict and unprecedented secrecy [10]. This secretive process drew heavy criticism from both Democrats and Republicans alike [11].

The Senate’s BCRA draft bill was eventually unveiled on June 22 [12]. It was broadly similar in structure to the House’s AHCA bill and would have uninsured 22 million people; rolled back Medicaid expansions more slowly but with deeper funding cuts; allowed insurers to offer stripped-down cheaper plans; on average increased insurance premiums until 2020 (and then lowered thereafter due to insurers covering a smaller share of health benefits); increased insurers’ benchmark plans’ deductibles; increased total out-of-pocket costs that would have disproportionately burdened low-income earners; expanded the option to use tax-deferred health savings accounts; potentially let states lift Obamacare’s ban on limiting the number of insurance claims allowed each year; eliminated all except two Obamacare taxes on the wealthy; insufficiently increased funds to address the opioid epidemic; and set aside a relatively small amount of federal funds to help stabilize health insurance markets, among many other changes [13,14].

Discord Among Senate Republicans

Overall, there were at least two major versions and as many as five additional amendments or alternate versions of the GOP health care bill [15], mostly because Republicans were unable to come to a consensus on which provisions to include in the final piece of legislation.

Moderate conservatives believed changes made by McConnell’s health care bill were too drastic, while the hard-line conservative Freedom Caucus argued the bill didn’t go far enough to repeal Obamacare completely [16,17].

Widespread Opposition to Trumpcare

In the final month leading up to a Senate vote, there was dismal public support. As low as 1 in 6 Americans (17%) approved of the GOP health care bill; among Republicans alone, only about 1 in 3 polled (35%) were in favor of the BCRA [18,19].

Notably, almost every major medical organization, scores of patient advocacy groups, some of the largest hospital networks in the country, some catholic church leaders, an actuarial society, and a few major insurers themselves spoke out to oppose the Senate GOP health care bill [20,21].

Ready or Not, Senate Forces Trumpcare Vote Under Tight Deadline

Before adjourning for summer recess, the Senate pushed for a series of three major chamber votes in the last week of July despite ongoing disagreements.

On July 25, a “motion to proceed” to officially advance the health care bill to the Senate floor barely passed 51–50 after Vice President Mike Pence cast a tie-breaking vote [22, 23].

Just hours later, a few critical provisions of the BCRA bill were found to be in violation of budget reconciliation rules, a special procedure previously invoked by McConnell to use the budget drafting process as a vehicle to pass health care law [24,25].

This legislative approach required all bill modifications to be effectively neutral overall on net spending and debt, but in return allowed Republicans to 1.) avoid a block (filibuster) by Democrats to prevent bringing their bill to a vote, and 2.) pass the bill with just 51 votes (a simple majority) instead of the usual 60 votes (a supermajority). This strategy was necessary because Republicans only held 52 seats in the Senate.

After failing to meet budget reconciliation requirements, the Senate’s health care bill to repeal and replace Obamacare essentially fell apart and was rejected 43–57 [26].

On July 26, a secondary and less ambitious effort to repeal Obamacare—a “partial repeal” called the Obamacare Repeal Reconciliation Act (ORRA), which would have increased the number of uninsured people by 32 million, caused premiums to soar, and eventually collapsed the marketplace without further intervention [27,28]—also failed to pass.

On July 28, Republicans made a last-ditch effort to write a slimmed-down eight-page “skinny repeal” bill revealed merely hours before a final vote [29]. The crux of the bill would have repealed the individual mandate—the cornerstone of Obamacare requiring purchase of health insurance or payment of a penalty. The purpose of the skeleton bill was to simply keep the repeal process alive and to pass something to allow further negotiation later on in the House.

Trumpcare Defeated… For Now?

In dramatic fashion, the GOP repeal effort was narrowly rejected 49–51 as Senator McCain (R-AZ) cast the final ‘No’ vote, joining Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) to defeat the proposal [30,31].


REFERENCES
1. Berman, R. (May 25, 2017). Republicans Reckon With a Rushed Health-Care Vote. Retrieved from TheAtlantic.com on September 4, 2017.
2. Quinnipiac University Poll (March 23, 2017). U.S. Voters Oppose GOP Health Plan 3-1, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Big Opposition To Cuts To Medicaid, Planned Parenthood. Retrieved from QU.edu on September 4, 2017.
3. Kirzinger, A., DiJulio, B., et al. (May 31, 2017). Kaiser Health Tracking Poll - May 2017: The AHCA’s Proposed Changes to Health Care. Retrieved from KFF.org on September 4, 2017.
4. GovTrack (July 28, 2017). H.R. 1628 (115th): American Health Care Act of 2017, Summary. Retrieved from GovTrack.us on September 4, 2017.
5. Willis, D. (May 4, 2017). House Vote 256 - Passes American Health Care Act, Repealing Obamacare. Retrieved from ProPublica.org on September 4, 2017.
6. Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation (May 24, 2017). H.R. 1628, American Health Care Act of 2017. Retrieved from CBO.gov on September 4, 2017.
7. United States Senate Committee on the Budget (June 26 and July 20, 2017). Discussion Draft - Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA). Retrieved from Senate.gov on September 5, 2017.
8. Pear, R. (May 8, 2017). 13 Men, and No Women, Are Writing New G.O.P. Health Bill in Senate. Retrieved from NYTimes.com on September 5, 2017.
9. Phillips, A., Fischer-Baum, R., Schaul, K., and Urmacher, K. (Updated July 25, 2017). Senate Republicans are scraping together votes to debate the health-care bill. Retrieved from WashingtonPost.com on September 5, 2017.
10. Rovner, J. (June 14, 2017). The Senate’s Secrecy Over Health Care Was Decades in the Making. Retrieved from TheAtlantic.com on September 5, 2017.
11. Kaplan, T. and Pear, R. (June 15, 2017). Secrecy Surrounding Senate Health Bill Raises Alarms in Both Parties. Retrieved from NYTimes.com on September 5, 2017.
12. Kurtzleben, D. (June 22, 2017). Senate Republicans Reveal Long-Awaited Affordable Care Act Repeal Bill. Retrieved from NPR.org on September 6, 2017.
13. Levey, N. and Kim, K. (March 8, updated July 13, 2017). A side-by-side comparison of Obamacare and the GOP’s replacement plans. Retrieved from LATimes.com on September 5, 2017.
14. Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation (June 26, 2017). H.R. 1628, Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017, Cost Estimate. Retrieved from CBO.gov on September 6, 2017.
15. Kaiser Family Foundation Health Reform Comparison Tables (May–July 2017). Compare Proposals to Replace The Affordable Care Act. Retrieved from KFF.org on September 6, 2017.
16. Karlin-Smith, S. (July 2, 2017). Republicans can’t agree on where Senate Obamacare repeal stands. Retrieved from Politico.com on September 6, 2017.
17. Struyk, R. (Updated July 14, 2017). Why Senate Republicans can’t agree to repeal Obamacare, in charts. Retrieved from CNN.com on September 6, 2017.
18. Cillizza, C. (June 29, 2017). A number certain to strike fear in the hearts of Senate Republicans. Retrieved from CNN.com on September 6, 2017.
19. Kaiser Health Tracking Poll (July 14, 2017). July 2017: What’s Next for Republican ACA Repeal and Replacement Plan Efforts? Retrieved from KFF.org on September 6, 2017.
20. Marcus, M. (Updated June 26, 2017). Major medical groups call for rejection of Senate health bill. Retrieved from CBSnews.com on September 6, 2017.
21. Congressman Cooper, J. Groups opposing the American Health Care Act. Retrieved from House.gov on September 6, 2017.
22. Kaplan, T., Pear, R., and Abelson, R. (July 25, 2017). Senate Health Care Decision: Pence Breaks Senate Tie. Retrieved from NYTimes.com on September 6, 2017.
23. Stark, L. (July 25, 2017). Vote tally: How each senator voted on GOP health care motion. Retrieved from CNN.com on September 6, 2017.
24. Reich, D. and Kogan, R. (November 9, 2016). Introduction to Budget “Reconciliation”. Retrieved from CBPP.org on September 7, 2016.
25. Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (December 6, 2016). Budget Process: Reconciliation 101. Retrieved from CRFB.org on September 7, 2017.
26. Fox, L., Lee, MJ., Mattingly, P., and Barrett, T. (Updated July 26, 2017). Senate rejects proposal to repeal and replace Obamacare. Retrieved from CNN.com on September 6, 2017.
27. Jost, T. (July 19, 2017). The Obamacare Repeal Reconciliation Act: What Repeal And Delay Would Mean For Coverage, Premiums, And The Budget. Retrieved from HealthAffairs.org on September 6, 2017.
28. Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation (July 19, 2017). H.R. 1628, Obamacare Repeal Reconciliation Act of 2017, Cost Estimate. Retrieved from CBO.gov on September 6, 2017.
29. Lee, MJ., Fox, L., Barrett, T., Mattingly, P., and Killough, A. (July 28, 2017). GOP Obamacare repeal bill fails in dramatic late-night vote. Retrieved from CNN.com on September 6, 2017.
30. Pear, R. and Kaplan, T. (July 27, 2017). Senate Rejects Slimmed-Down Obamacare Repeal as McCain Votes No. Retrieved from NYTimes.com on September 6, 2017.
31. Parlapiano, A., Andrews, W., Lee, J., and Shorey, R. (Updated July 28, 2017). How Each Senator Voted on Obamacare Repeal Proposals. Retrieved from NYTimes.com on September 6, 2017.

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September 7, 2017:
Travel ban follow-up: West-coast district court rejects Trump’s travel restrictions against extended family members of U.S. citizens. The ruling also allows the 24,000 refugees who were already accepted on paper but still waiting to move here enter the U.S.

Court rulings have effectively but not explicitly blocked Trump’s reduction of the annual refugee quota, which he tried to set at 50,000. Since the fiscal year ends September 30, if he wanted to, Trump could try to set the limit to zero or a low number to prevent “new” refugees from entering.

The Supreme Court is still scheduled to hear the case on October 10.

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