|
John:
Hello from Capitol Hill.
Congress continues to debate the terms of the budget reconciliation bill to enact parts of President Trump’s agenda as Speaker Mike Johnson’s Memorial Day deadline draws closer. At present, there is significant discontent among moderate and blue-state Republicans over changes to Medicaid like per capita caps or lowering the base federal reimbursement (FMAP) rate. A group of moderates led by Rep. Don Bacon, crucial votes for the passage of any bill in this closely split Congress, has drawn a red line at $500 billion in total Medicaid spending reductions. Conservative lawmakers are demanding much larger adjustments to Medicaid, while some populist-minded members and President Trump have chilled at the idea of such changes. The consensus is that there is no consensus on next steps - Speaker Johnson and his team met with moderates this week, holding firm to his speedy timeline for the bill. That being said, he asked a few committees to delay their work on the reconciliation bill till next week.
President Trump received a high profile guest in the White House in Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. This is Carney’s first meeting with the President since his election in March and comes on the heels of Canada’s April 28th federal elections where conservatives and Trump-aligned politicians got walloped. Carney embraced the political wave created by Trump’s comments on integrating Canada into the United States and his tariff policies (which have imperiled the Canadian economy). Carney, leaning into anti-Trumpism, led his Liberal party to power. Notably, during their conversation, the Prime Minister proclaimed that Canada will never be up for sale – Trump quipped “never say never.”
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court lifted a nationwide injunction that was issued to halt President Trump’s January executive order to ban transgenders from serving in the military. While left wing special interest groups like the Human Rights Campaign characterize the ban as prejudiced, the Trump Administration argues that the ban is essential for the military’s morale, readiness, and lethality.
The Trump administration entered a new chapter in its conflict with big education. First, the Wall Street Journal reports that the Administration presented Columbia with a consent decree to solidify administrative oversight of the university’s activities. This is in addition to the university firing 180 staff in response to the Education Department pulling more grant funding. Second, Trump disqualified Harvard from receiving future grants over the university’s “consistent violations of its own legal duties.”
Latest From Around the Conservative Movement
One Last Thing
Sincerely,
Jake Chebowski
Government Relations
|
