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Video of the Day
President Trump Leads a Listening Session with Health Insurance Company CEOs

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Today’s Hill Action
Senate Floor Schedule
The Senate reconvenes at 9:30 a.m. and is expected to resume consideration of a joint resolution (H J Res 58) that would disapprove of and nullify an Education Department rule related to evaluation of teacher preparation programs.
H J Res 58 – A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Education relating to teacher preparation issues.
Committee Hearings
9:30 a.m.: Duke Nomination
10:00 a.m.: FCC Oversight
10:00 a.m.: Funding Transportation Infrastructure
10:00 a.m.: Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization
10:00 a.m.: Pending Legislation
10:30 a.m.: Medical Research
2:15 p.m.: Administration’s Indian Affairs Priorities
2:30 p.m.: Global Nuclear Weapons Environment
2:30 p.m.: Cybersecurity
House Floor Schedule
The House reconvenes at noon for legislative business and is expected to consider measures under suspension of the rules. The chamber will also consider a bill (HR 1301) providing full-year appropriations for the Defense Department for Fiscal 2017.
HR 132 – Arbuckle Project Maintenance Complex and District Office Conveyance Act
HR 648 – A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to amend the Definite Plan Report for the Seedskadee Project to enable the use of the active capacity of the Fontenelle Reservoir.
HR 267 – Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Park Act
HR 1301 – Fiscal 2017 Defense Appropriations
Committee Hearings
10:00 a.m.: Member’s Day
10:00 a.m.: Public Witness Day
10:00 a.m.: Quality of Life in the Military
10:00 a.m.: Investor Visa Program
10:00 a.m.: Regulating Space
10:00 a.m.: Air Transportation Infrastructure
10:00 a.m.: Nuclear Deterrence Assessment
10:00 a.m.: Pending Business
10:00 a.m.: Pending Business
10:00 a.m.: Healthcare Reform Legislation
10:30 a.m.: ACA Repeal/Replace Legislation
10:30 a.m.: ACA Repeal/Replace Budget Reconciliation
10:45 a.m.: Committee Funding Resolution
11:00 a.m.: Cybersecurity Resources for Small Businesses
11:00 a.m.: Pending Legislation
2:00 p.m.: Member’s Day
2:00 p.m.: U.S. Army Readiness
2:00 p.m.: IRS Customer Service Challenges
3:00 p.m.: Lawsuit Abuse Reduction/Fairness in Class Action Litigation
3:30 p.m.: U.S. Navy Fleet Assessment
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Mnuchin’s Treasury Staff Picks Stall as White House Scrutinizes Tweets
Steven Mnuchin’s picks for the top ranks of the U.S. Treasury are stalled due to resistance from White House aides, including one recruit whose Twitter account was scrutinized for potential criticism of Donald Trump, according to people familiar with the matter.

Bogged down are Mnuchin’s choices for his senior management team — deputy secretary, undersecretaries for domestic finance and international affairs, general counsel and several other posts, these people said.

Mnuchin has complained privately to friends that President Trump’s advisers are hindering him as he tries to get the Treasury up and running. More than a dozen people with knowledge of the debate spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the confidential deliberations.v

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Trump budget chief: Insurance ‘not really the end goal’ with GOP healthcare plan
The director of the Office of Management and Budget on Wednesday said insurance is “not really the end goal” of the GOP plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare.

“We’re looking at it a different way…because insurance is not really the end goal here,” Mick Mulvaney said on MSNBC, when asked about his range of estimate of how many fewer people would have health insurance under the GOP’s plan.

“One of the conservatives, one of the Republicans complaints about the Affordable Care Act from the very beginning, it was a great way to get insurance and a lousy way to actually be able to go to the doctor.”

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In the House, Leaders of Russia Inquiry are Split on Whether It’s Needed
After seven years of waiting longingly to annul President Barack Obama’s signature health care law, Republican leaders on Tuesday faced a sudden revolt from the right that threatened their proposal to remake the American health care system.

The much-anticipated House plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act also drew skepticism from some of the party’s more moderate members, whose constituents have benefited from expanded coverage in recent years. The criticism came even before lawmakers knew the cost of the replacement plan and how many people might lose their health care if it were enacted.

House Republicans were rushing the legislation through two powerful committees – Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce – with the hope of a full House vote next week, an extraordinarily compressed time frame considering that the legislation affects many parts of the United States economy and could alter the health care of millions of Americans.

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Until tomorrow,
Lobbyit.com