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Seen, Heard & Whispered: Conservatives push DOJ to act on post-Dobbs attacks on the court

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Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

Vice President Mike Pence delivered a pep talk to Senate Republicans and plotted strategy with Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of the chief architects of the proposal to repeal Obamacare and send money to states in the form of block grants. (Associated Press)

Senate Republicans near Obamacare repeal

Senate Republicans scrambled for votes Tuesday on their last-ditch Obamacare repeal, with backers saying they are nearing the magic number to pass their bill before an end-of-month deadline.

September 19, 2017
Vice President Mike Pence delivered a pep talk to Senate Republicans and plotted strategy with Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of the chief architects of the proposal to repeal Obamacare and send money to states in the form of block grants. (Associated Press)

White House, Senate GOP shift focus back onto Obamacare repeal

The White House and Senate GOP leaders on Tuesday praised a last-gasp bill to repeal Obamacare, signaling a shift from bipartisan efforts to stabilize the markets to a bill that would replace the 2010 law with block grants to the states.

September 19, 2017
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, protested the Republicans' Graham-Cassidy bill on Monday. Senate Republicans are revving up a final push to scuttle President Obama's health care law before the end of the month. (Associated Press)Though the effort faces low odds of success and just a two-week window to prevail, Democrats backed by doctors

Graham-Cassidy health care bill sets off clashes in Senate

Senators in both parties reignited the Obamacare repeal wars Monday, as Republicans claimed momentum for a last-chance repeal bill and Democrats told budget analysts to vet the legislation carefully, hoping to prolong a thorny debate before an end-of-month deadline.

September 18, 2017
Sen. Ron Johnson, Wisconsin Republican, chairs a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee hearing on Steve King, a prominent GOP insider from Wisconsin, nominated to be ambassador to the Czech Republic, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Aug. 1, 2017. (Associated Press)

Ron Johnson schedules hearing on health care block grants

Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin has scheduled a Sept. 26 hearing on how states can reduce their health care costs through block grants, a move viewed as a table-setter for a potential vote on the last-gasp Obamacare repeal bill he is pushing with three fellow Republicans.

September 18, 2017
Republicans said the Congressional Budget Office made bad predictions about how Americans would have responded to legislation moving toward the repeal of Obamacare. (Associated Press/File)

Obamacare costs to rise faster than inflation, CBO projects

Obamacare premiums will rise an average of 5 percent a year over the next decade, much higher than the annual inflation rate, the government's chief scorekeeper predicted Thursday, saying that while the 2010 health care law is stable, the government will have to pump in more money per customer to keep it running.

September 14, 2017
This image provided by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services shows what the new Medicare cards will look like. The cards are getting a makeover to fight identity theft. No more Social Security numbers will be placed on the card. Next April, Medicare will begin mailing every beneficiary a new card with a unique new number to identify them. (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services via AP)

Medicare to issue new cards in anti-fraud measure

Medicare enrollees will receive brand-new cards that replace their Social Security numbers with unique IDs, the Trump administration said Thursday, hoping to crack down on the type of identity theft and fraud that's soaking the federal insurance program.

September 14, 2017
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., center, joined by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., center left, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., center right, and supporters, speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017, to unveil their Medicare for All legislation to reform health care. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Bernie Sanders, Democrats introduce “Medicare for all” bill

Sen. Bernard Sanders released a long-awaited "Medicare for all" bill Wednesday that would give Americans a publicly funded insurance card, allowing them to see the doctor without paying anything out-of-pocket or shelling out premiums to private companies.

September 13, 2017
Senate Budget Committee members Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., left, and Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., leave a closed-door meeting with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and Trump's top economic adviser Gary Cohn, as they struggle with a tax code overhaul, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017. The as-yet-undrafted bill to overhaul the tax code is the top priority for Trump and Republicans after the collapse of their effort to dismantle Barack Obama's health care law. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

GOP senators push last-ditch bill to repeal Obamacare

Four Senate Republicans unveiled a last-ditch effort Wednesday to repeal Obamacare, calling for scrapping federal insurance mandates and instead sending the health law's money to the states, letting them decide what to do with their share.

September 13, 2017
President Donald Trump waves and begins to walk away after stopping to answers questions on at South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017. Trump commented on the response to Hurricane Irma which he called "some big monster," and praised both FEMA and the Coast Guard for their efforts as the storm made landfall. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Democrats to Trump: Where’s your opioid emergency declaration?

Senate Democrats on Monday demanded to know why President Trump hasn't followed through on his month-old pledge to declare the opioid crisis a national emergency, saying the delay is forcing them to question his commitment to the fight.

September 11, 2017
After casting the deciding thumbs-down on the GOP's repeal-and-replace effort on Obamacare in July, Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican, is now supporting a plan by his GOP colleagues to allow states to use their Obamacare money as they see fit. (Associated Press)

Obamacare repeal vote sees new life under John McCain plan

Sen. John McCain, the longtime "maverick" whose thumbs-down quashed the GOP's push to repeal Obamacare in July, is now at the center of a long-shot bid to revive the repeal effort before Republicans run out of time.

September 10, 2017
Utah Governor Gary Herbert speaks at the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing to discuss ways to stabilize health insurance markets, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Governors in both parties plead for Obamacare payments, flexibility

Governors who were shut out of the drive to repeal Obamacare implored Congress on Thursday to shore up the program by guaranteeing dollars the White House has threatened to withhold, while giving states a freer hand to shape their markets under the 2010 law.

September 7, 2017