Check out Tuesday’s newsletter!
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Top Stories
Price’s Conundrum: Pull The Plug On Obamacare Or Keep It On Life Support?
The Gist: Tom Price, in his first full week as the secretary of Health and Human Services, has a major decision in front of them: Will he get a head start on GOP lawmakers and take aggressive whacks at the Affordable Care Act that could send the individual markets into chaos, but give the Trump administration a victory against President Obama’s signature achievement? Or will he take a sort of “Make Obamacare Great Again” approach that will keep the ACA exchanges operating and insurers participating, but draw conservative ire?
Michael Flynn Resigns
The Gist: Fired by one American commander in chief for insubordination, Michael Flynn has now delivered his resignation to another.
NYT: K.T. McFarland Expected To Leave Current Position On NSC
The Gist: The deputy national security adviser brought in to President Donald Trump’s inner circle by the former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, is expected to leave that role, the New York Times reported Tuesday morning.
From The Reporter’s Notebook
During several television interviews on Tuesday morning, Kellyanne Conway insisted that it was Michael Flynn’s decision to resign from his role as National Security Adviser, TPM’s Caitlin MacNeal reported. “The President is very loyal. He’s a very loyal person. And by nighttime, Mike Flynn had decided it was best to resign. He knew he became a lightning rod, and he made that decision,” she said.
Agree or Disagree?
Josh Marshall: “The Republican Congress has no interest in any oversight of the Trump administration. None. Sure, opposing parties usually scrutinize administrations more aggressively. But it’s rare to have this level of complete refusal. Again, only three or four hours before Flynn resigned in disgrace, Nunes put forward an aggressive defense of Flynn and said nothing was wrong at all.”
Say What?!
“When we were on the road, national security discussions and head of state phone calls were conducted in a private, secure location set up onsite. Everyone had to leave their Blackberry outside the area.”
– President Barack Obama’s former official White House photographer took to Instagram in the tumultuous first weeks of President Donald Trump’s administration to share some pointedly topical images from Obama’s time in office.
BUZZING: Today in the Hive
From a TPM Prime member: “And look, I was a Bernie supporter. I want the Democrats to be as progressive, and as far away from corporate centrism as possible. And that works for me, in NY. I can frequently vote for very liberal candidates and get them elected. But I also realize, now more than ever, that politics is about coalition building. There aren’t enough true progressive voters in this country to fuel a massive liberal revolution. We need to start winning moderate or GOP-leaning districts, and we’re not going to do that by running “pure” liberals in such districts. Sure, I disagree with a lot of Sen. Joe Manchin’s politics, but goddamnit it’s better to have a Democrat there than a Republican. And to claim a Bernie-type Democrat could win a stateside race in WV is laughable. It’s better to have a D with us 80% of the time, than a GOPer opposed to us 100% of the time, especially in the House, but also in the Senate.”
Related: Focus, People
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What We’re Reading
Love Lives In Whitefish, Montana, But So Do Neo-Nazis (BuzzFeed)
Red State, Blue City (The Atlantic)
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