Trump ‘Might’ Torpedo Any Chance of Fending Off Health Care Cost Crisis

Seventeen House Republicans rebelled against their party leadership last week to help Democrats pass a bill that would revive the Obamacare subsidies that expired at the start of the year, and extend them for three years.

It is not yet clear if the legislation in its House form will go anywhere in the Senate, though the upper chamber is working on releasing its own bipartisan proposal to address the expired subsidies this week. The details are still murky, but a bipartisan group of senators reportedly may release some sort of legislative text as soon as Tuesday or Wednesday. They’re currently discussing legislation that would extend the Obamacare tax credits that President Joe Biden expanded for another two years to help avert the crisis at hand: millions of Americans are expected to lose their health insurance coverage this year and millions more will face soaring premium costs. Here’s what is being discussed among the senators — which include folks like Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Bernie Moreno (R-OH) and Angus King (I-ME) — according to Politico:

The Senate group’s proposed extension would include new restrictions including a $5 a month minimum premium payment and an income cap set at 700 percent of the federal poverty level. In the second year, the proposal would also give enrollees to take their subsidy as cash in pre-funded health savings accounts — an arrangement favored by Trump.

But President Trump — who previously backed a bill that would give Americans up to $1,500 to help cover the costs of rising health care expenses in lieu of extending the Affordable Care Act subsidies — might torpedo the whole thing, whether the Senate passes the House extension or puts up its own bipartisan bill for a vote (which would then need to pass the House before being sent to Trump’s desk).

When speaking to reporters on Air Force One Sunday, Trump responded “I might” when asked if he would veto the bill that passed the House last week.

Kelly Sues Hegseth

Sen. Mark Kelly (R-AZ) has sued Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who is attempting to punish the senator for participating in a video — during which he and other veterans and elected Dems reminded service members they did not have to obey illegal orders — by opening proceedings for the Navy to “reconsider” his retirement rank and pension. Per my colleague Kate Riga:

Kelly is suing Hegseth for both constitutional and statutory violations, including infringement on his freedom of speech. 

“It appears that never in our nation’s history has the Executive Branch imposed military sanctions on a Member of Congress for engaging in disfavored political speech,” the lawsuit said. 

Johnson Stands By His Man

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) shut down suggestions from reporters on Monday that the DOJ was being “weaponized” after news emerged about its new criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Johnson deflected, defaulting to the stock Republican argument that the Justice Department was actually weaponized during the Biden administration.

“No, the Justice Department is not being weaponized,” Johnson said. “It was for four years under Biden-Harris so that is what everybody expects.”

“We are going to let the investigation play out. There’s concerns about cost overruns, and whatever the allegations are, I don’t know,” Johnson continued. “I wasn’t involved in that … It’s something you have to look into. And so we’ll have to reserve judgment.”

No word on how the news that aspects of the DOJ are literally being run out of the Trump White House squares with this assessment.

More from my colleagues Layla A. Jones and David Kurtz here and here.

Trump DOJ Charges Person Shot by ICE in Portland

DOJ said Monday that it has charged one of two people who were shot by ICE agents in Portland, Oregon last week with aggravated assault of a federal officer. Elected Democratic officials from the state/city are questioning the DOJ’s facts, per Politico:

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) accused President Donald Trump of “clearly inflaming violence” by deploying federal immigration agents to the city, and Portland Mayor Keith Wilson called on the federal government to halt immigration enforcement operations in the city until more details about the shooting came clear.

“We know what the federal government says happened here. There was a time when we could take them at their word. That time has long passed,” Wilson said at a Thursday evening press conference.

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Correction: The header of the section on Portland is updated to correct a detail about an individual shot by ICE. The person in question was shot after he allegedly “repeatedly struck a federal law enforcement vehicle,” DOJ said. The DOJ alleges the person admitted to striking the vehicle in an attempt to get away from ICE agents who were conducting “a targeted immigration enforcement operation.” He was not stopped during a protest.