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Video of the Day
President Trump Participates in a Federalism Event with Governors


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Today’s Hill Action
Senate Floor Schedule
The Senate reconvenes at 10 a.m. and will resume consideration of the nomination of R. Alexander Acosta to be secretary of Labor.
Nominations: R. Alexander Acosta of Florida to be secretary of Labor.
Committee Hearings
09:30 a.m.:U.S. Forces in Korea
09:45 a.m.: Aging Without Community
10:00 a.m.: Northern Mariana Islands Economic Expansion
10:00 a.m.: Assessing Russia Sanctions
10:00 a.m.: Gottlieb Nomination
10:30 a.m.: Preventing Veteran Suicide
02:00 p.m.: Intelligence Matters
02:30 a.m.: Cyber-Enabled Information Operations
House Floor Schedule
The House reconvenes at noon for legislative business. The chamber is expected to take final votes on a bill (S 496) previously debated under suspension of the rules. It is also expected to consider a bill (HR 1694) that would make the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Company (Freddie Mac) subject to the Freedom of Information Act.
HR 1694 – Fannie and Freddie Open Records Act.
S 496 – A bill to repeal the rule issued by the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration entitled “Metropolitan Planning Organization Coordination and Planning Area Reform”.
Committee Hearings
10:00 a.m.: Members Day
10:00 a.m.: Strengthening School Accreditation
10:00 a.m.: Outdoor Recreation’s Environmental Impact
10:00 a.m.: Border Wall Security
10:00 a.m.: Disaster Recovery
10:00 a.m.: Syria Policy Options
10:00 a.m.: Small Business and Economic Growth
10:00 a.m.: Pending Legislation
10:00 a.m.: Pending Legislation
10:30 a.m.: Pending Legislation
02:00 p.m.: PTSD/Traumatic Brain Injury
02:00 p.m.: Financial System Terror Financing Safeguards
02:00 p.m.: Afghanistan’s Terrorist Resurgence
02:00 p.m.: TSA Innovation Task Force Initiative

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Freedom Caucus gets to yes on healthcare
Republicans took a serious step forward in their effort to replace ­ObamaCare on Wednesday when the conservative House Freedom Caucus endorsed revised legislation.

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Wednesday that the amendment “helps us get to consensus” but did not say how close Republicans are to the majority vote necessary to pass legislation through the House.

The amendment managed to flip a number of prominent conservatives from no to yes, including Reps. Dave Brat (R-Va.), Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) and Scott DesJarlais
(R-Tenn.), all Freedom Caucus members.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a former chairman of the Freedom Caucus and a strong opponent of the original bill, also announced his support.

“While I remain committed to replacing ­ObamaCare entirely, I can support this new version of the bill moving forward. It is our best chance to pass a bill through the House that will actually reduce the cost of health insurance for everyday Americans,” Jordan said in a statement.
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Trump Says He Will Renegotiate Nafta or Terminate It
President Trump said on Thursday he had agreed to pleas from the leaders of Canada and Mexico not to withdraw immediately from the North American Free Trade Agreement, but he warned he would still pull the United States out if he could not negotiate a better deal.

“I received calls from the President of Mexico and the Prime Minister of Canada asking to renegotiate Nafta rather than terminate,” Mr. Trump said on Twitter. “I agreed…”

Moments later, the president added, “…subject to the fact that if we do not reach a fair deal for all, we will then terminate NAFTA. Relationships are good – deal very possible!”

Mr. Trump’s posts showed once again his taste for high-stakes deal-making and his willingness to reverse himself. Only hours earlier, the president’s aides put out word that he was likely to sign a directive starting a six-month clock to end the trade agreement.
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Trump’s ‘Massive’ Tax Plan: One Page, Many Unanswered Questions
The “phenomenal” tax plan that President Donald Trump promised 11 weeks ago appeared at a White House briefing Wednesday: It was a one-page list of bullet-points that amounted to fewer than 250 words.

The document was largely devoid of detail, including on whether the proposed cuts for businesses and individuals would increase the federal deficit. The answer to that question may determine whether Trump’s recommended 15 percent corporate tax rate — a huge cut from the current 35 percent — would be permanent or temporary.

The points that the tax outline did include — calls for slashing business taxes, eliminating the alternative minimum tax and the estate tax, cutting individual income-tax rates and repealing an investment-income tax for high earners — amount to a conservative wish-list from the past several years. Separately, any one of them could provoke a titanic fight.

But the most immediate controversy is likely to focus on cost. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget released a rough analysis saying the plan could cost $3 trillion to $7 trillion over the next decade — potentially “harming economic growth instead of boosting it.”
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Until tomorrow,
Lobbyit.com