memeorandum: Republicans scramble for health bill votes after Trump ultimatum (Reuters)

11:50 AM ET, March 24, 2017

Top Items:

A Brave Front, but Regrets? On Health Bill, Trump Has a Few — WASHINGTON — President Trump, the author of “The Art of the Deal,” has been projecting his usual bravado in public this week about the prospects of repealing the Affordable Care Act. Privately he is grappling with rare bouts of self-doubt.

Gabriel Sherman / New York Magazine:

Why Steve Bannon Might Be the Winner of the GOP's Health-Care Civil War — With hours to go before the House is set to (finally) vote on Paul Ryan's health-care bill, the Trump administration is putting a full-court press on recalcitrant Republicans to rally votes.

Discussion: Axios and Hot Air

Adam Davidson / New Yorker:

What the G.O.P. Doesn't Get About Who Pays for Health Care — A few years ago, a relative of mine, an electrician who made a good living laying cable alongside highways, told me that his economic future depended on one thing: his back. He saw what happened to older guys …

Discussion: The Atlantic, Daily Kos and Vox

Mike DeBonis / Washington Post:
House leaders and President Trump press for ‘yes’ …

Discussion: New York Times, RedState, Talking Points Memo, CNBC, The Guardian, Refinery29, Daily Wire, AOL, The Gateway Pundit, TheBlaze and The Daily Caller

Axios:
The state of Trumpcare: Failure is an option

Discussion: Slate and Forbes

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
A postponed health-care vote, a big GOP embarrassment and no good options ahead

Discussion: Politico, Hullabaloo, New York Magazine, Booman Tribune, Occupy Democrats, TalkLeft, Washington Monthly, ACASignups.net, NBC News, Mother Jones and The Mahablog

Fox News:

Potential ‘smoking gun’ showing Obama administration spied on Trump team, source says — Republican congressional investigators expect a potential “smoking gun” establishing that the Obama administration spied on the Trump transition team, and possibly the president-elect himself …

Mike Levine / ABC News:

Intel chair Devin Nunes unsure if Trump associates were directly surveilled — The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Devin Nunes, R-Calif., does not know “for sure” whether President Donald Trump or members of his transition team were even on the phone calls or other communications …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Raw Story, RT, Politico, Business Insider, Hullabaloo, Mediaite, Patterico's Pontifications, RedState, Political Wire, The Daily Caller and CNN

Katie Bo Williams / The Hill:

Nunes: Manafort volunteered to interview with Intel panel … President Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort has volunteered to interview with the House Intelligence Committee's probe of Russia's interference in last year's election, Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) announced Friday.

Discussion: Politico, TalkLeft and Raw Story

Veronica Stracqualursi / ABC News:

The Note: The health care ultimatum — The big story: So there is a law of political physics that applies to Donald Trump after all. Actually, this one is basic math, in that House leaders and the White House have never had the majority they assumed they could get, as we approach today's showdown.

Discussion: Vox, Business Insider, Raw Story and Talking Points Memo

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:
Nunes: I Had ‘Duty’ To Brief Trump Since He's ‘Taking Lot Of Heat’ In Media

Discussion: Daily Kos

Daniel Chaitin / Washington Examiner:
Bob Woodward: Obama officials possibly facing criminal charges for unmasking scheme

Discussion: Scared Monkeys and Fox News Insider

Peter Hoekstra / Wall Street Journal:
Did Obama Abuse Raw Intelligence?

Discussion: The Hill and Washington Post

CNN:
Schiff: New evidence shows possible Trump-Russia collusion

Discussion: Political Wire

New York Times:
Rep. Nunes Is a Lapdog in a Watchdog Role

Discussion: MSNBC

Bill Gertz / Washington Free Beacon: Intelligence Reports Reveal Improper Political Surveillance of Trump, Transition Team

Rodney Frelinghuysen:

Statement of Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (NJ-11) — American Health Care Act — March 24, 2017 — “Seven years after enactment of Obamacare, I wanted to support legislation that made positive changes to rescue healthcare in America. — “Unfortunately, the legislation before the House today …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, CNBC and Politicus USA

Madeline Farber / Fortune:
The GOP Health Care Bill Would Require New Moms on Medicaid to Find Work 60 Days after Childbirth

Discussion: Daily Kos and ThinkProgress

Heritage Action for America:
“NO” ON AMERICAN HEALTH CARE ACT (H.R. 1628)

Discussion: The Daily Signal, Talking Points Memo and FOX6Now.com

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
The Republican health-care proposal is breathtakingly unpopular

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Hill, ThinkProgress, AOL, Politicus USA, Mediaite, Informed Comment, The Guardian, Slate, US News, Daily Wire and Hot Air

Alison Kodjak / NPR:
GOP Health Bill Changes Could Kill Protections For Those With Pre-Existing Conditions

Discussion: The American Conservative and indianapublicmedia.org

Max Greenwood / The Hill:

GOP rep: Once healthcare bill passes, lawmakers can ‘really explain it’ — Voter opposition to the Republican healthcare bill is the result of misunderstanding, and lawmakers will be able to “really explain it” once it becomes law, Rep. Chris Collins said Thursday.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, ABC News, The Daily Caller and AOL

Reuters:
Republicans scramble for health bill votes after Trump ultimatum

Discussion: The Daily Caller, CNBC, Washington Free Beacon and New York Times

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:
The Republican health care plan is totally nuts

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

Nicholas Bagley / The Incidental Economist:

Confusion over essential health benefits — The post has been revised to take into account feedback on how best to understand the manager's amendment. — Last night, House Republicans released the text of the final manager's amendment to the American Health Care Act …

Discussion: Hit & Run, Vox, Talking Points Memo, Health Affairs Blog, Common Dreams, CBO's Publications, Balloon Juice, Los Angeles Times and Mother Jones

Michael D. Shear / New York Times:

Trump Administration Orders Tougher Screening of Visa Applicants — WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is making it tougher for millions of visitors to enter the United States by demanding new security checks before giving visas to tourists, business travelers and relatives of American residents.

Discussion: Politicus USA, Occupy Democrats, updatily.com, Axios, The Daily Caller and Daily Kos

Wall Street Journal: Trump, Tillerson Settle on No. 2 at State Department

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:

Mulvaney: If Your State Doesn't Mandate Maternity Care, Change Your State — Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, one of the top administration officials who had been working to pass the bill to repeal and replace Obamacare, on Friday morning brushed off concerns …

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Root and bradford-delong.com

Media Matters for America:

The Life Cycle Of A Donald Trump Lie — On March 4, President Donald Trump declared himself the victim of a scandal on the level of the the Watergate crimes that brought down President Richard Nixon. In an early-morning tweetstorm apparently triggered by reading a Breitbart article …

Discussion: PolitiFact, Raw Story and CNBC, more at Mediagazer »

Ann Friedman / Los Angeles Times:

Op-Ed Just like her mother, Chelsea Clinton never gets a break — Chelsea Clinton speaks at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York on Sept. 19, 2016. (Mark Lennihan / Associated Press) — This week, Variety magazine announced that it would honor former first daughter Chelsea Clinton …

Discussion: RedState, The Daily Caller, Instapundit and Washington Free Beacon

Dan Alexander / Forbes:

After Promising Not To Talk Business With Father, Eric Trump Says He'll Give Him Financial Reports — Eric Trump sits behind a desk on the 25th floor of Trump Tower in New York City, dressed in a slightly less formal version of his father's go-to power uniform—blue suit, white buttoned-down shirt, no tie.

Discussion: Politico

Chris Erskine / Los Angeles Times:

Mammoth got so much snow this winter it called in the National Guard for help — Some of the National Guard members sent to Mammoth to help with snow removal. (California National Guard) (California National Guard) — Hey, Mammoth Lakes, add this group shot of the National Guard to your winter scrapbook.

Barney Breen-Portnoy / Algemeiner.com:

With Only Two Democrats Voting in Favor, Senate Confirms David Friedman as Next US Ambassador to Israel — Attorney David Friedman was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday to be the next US ambassador to Israel. — President Donald Trump's nomination of Friedman was approved by a 52-46 vote.

Discussion: Geller Report, Washington Post and The Times of Israel

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

The Scammers, the Scammed and America's Fate — Many people are horrified, and rightly so, by what passes for leadership in today's Washington. And it's important to keep the horror of our political situation up front, to keep highlighting the lies, the cruelty, the bad judgment.