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Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., joined by, from left, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., and Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, meets with reporters following a closed-door strategy session, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 20, 2017. Sen. McConnell says Republicans will have a "discussion draft" of a GOP-only bill scuttling former President Barack Obama's health care law by Thursday. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Obama slams Senate GOP plan to repeal his health law

Former President Barack Obama slammed the Senate GOP's plan to replace his health care law Thursday, saying it's time to "step back" and devise the type of plan that Americans need, as the signature program he crafted suffers from rising premiums and dwindling choices.

June 22, 2017
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has promised a vote on health care reform soon. (Associated Press/File)

GOP: Senate will unveil health bill on Thursday

Senate GOP leaders will release a "discussion draft" of their closely held plan to replace Obamacare on Thursday, kicking off a one-week scramble to mollify holdouts and gather the 50 Republican votes needed to pass a bill before the July 4 break.

June 20, 2017
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

Obamacare repeal effort by GOP stonewalled by Democrats

In 2013, it was Republicans who sent the government into a shutdown over Obamacare. Democrats aren't there yet, but they are inching up their resistance efforts, ratcheting up their attacks and vowing to slow Senate business to a crawl, hoping to make the GOP's Obamacare repeal push as painful as possible.

June 19, 2017
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., speaks to members of the Glendale Chamber of Commerce Tuesday, May 30, 2017, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) ** FILE **

Democrats blitz airwaves as GOP debates health care

Democratic operatives and their progressive allies flooded the airwaves Monday with ads pressuring GOP senators to reject an emerging -- yet so far secret -- bill to repeal and replace Obamacare.

June 19, 2017
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., listens to testimony on Capitol Hill in Washington in this Jan. 21, 2015, file photo. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Lamar Alexander to HHS: Keep Obamacare payments flowing for now

Another prominent Republican is urging the Trump administration to guarantee critical Obamacare payments on a temporary basis, saying the individual insurance market is in free-fall and needs stability while the GOP works to reshape health care.

June 15, 2017
A police office stands watch behind police tape near strewn baseballs on a field in Alexandria, Va., Wednesday, June 14, 2017, after a multiple shooting involving House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of La. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Ryan Costello: I missed my ride to GOP baseball practice by 2 minutes

Rep. Ryan Costello of Pennsylvania narrowly missed his ride for a GOP baseball practice in suburban D.C. Wednesday, only to get an "ugly jolt" when he saw TV reports that a gunman had opened fire at that very session, wounding House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, a congressional aide and two police officers.

June 14, 2017
Republican Shelley Moore Capito is looking for a $45 billion commitment to ensure treatment for opioid addicts in her hard-hit state of West Virginia. (Associated Press)

Opioid funds tied to Obamacare repeal

Senate Republicans are dangling billions of dollars in opioid-fighting funds to try to entice wary moderates to sign onto their Obamacare repeal bill, looking to ink a final compromise.

June 13, 2017
Vice President Mike Pence speaks at a campaign fundraiser for Republican candidate for 6th Congressional District Karen Handel at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre in Atlanta, Friday, June 9, 2017. (AP Photo/David Goldman) ** FILE **

Mike Pence says Obamacare is in ‘death spiral,’ cites insurer exits

Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday said Obamacare is in the throes of an "ongoing collapse" and that states across the Midwest will suffer the most next year, even as one insurer announced it is bucking the grim outlook and expanding its footprint in the law's exchanges.

June 13, 2017