A political newsletter for normal people
WTF Just Happened Today? is a sane, once-a-day newsletter helping normal people make sense of the news. Curated daily by Matt Kiser and delivered to 200,000+ people every afternoon around 3 pm Pacific.
Day 154: Win, win, win.
1/ The Senate unveiled its health care bill today. It’s similar to the House bill that passed last month, but with changes aimed at pleasing moderates: linking federal insurance subsidies to income, curbing Medicaid expansion, and ending the mandate that most Americans have health insurance. Mitch McConnell has vowed to hold a vote before senators go home for the July 4th recess, but he is still short the 50 votes he needs to pass the legislation. (New York Times / Washington Post / CNN / Politico)
- What’s in the Senate Republican health care bill. Like the House version, McConnell’s proposal would slash taxes, cut Medicaid, and eliminate Obamacare’s insurance mandates for individuals and employers. (The Atlantic)
- The GOP health plan is really a Medicaid rollback. It would also permanently restructure Medicaid, which covers tens of millions of poor or disabled Americans, including millions who are living in nursing homes with conditions like Alzheimer’s or the aftereffects of a stroke. (New York Times)
2/ Obama said the Senate health care bill “will do you harm.” In a nearly 1,000-word critique, Obama framed the GOP health care plan as fundamentally inhumane. “The Senate bill, unveiled today, is not a health care bill,” he wrote. “It’s a massive transfer of wealth from middle-class and poor families to the richest people in America.” (Barack Obama / HuffPost / Washington Post)
3/ Four Republican senators say they will not vote for the GOP health care bill unless changes are made, putting passage of the bill at risk hours after it was unveiled. In a statement, Ted Cruz, Ron Johnson, Mike Lee, and Rand Paul said they are “not ready” to support the measure. They are open to negotiating changes to win their support. (Politico / NBC News / Washington Post / ABC News)
- Where Senators stand on the health care bill. It needs at least 50 votes to pass. Every Democrat is expected to oppose the bill, which means three Republican “no” votes would block it. (New York Times)
4/ The White House refused to say if Trump will support the Senate health care bill. Trump previously called the House health care bill “mean” and wanted the Senate version to be “more generous.” (Politico)
5/ Trump tweets that he didn’t tape his conversations with Comey after all. In May, Trump warned Comey against leaking to the press, suggesting there were “tapes” of their private conversations. Soon after reports surfaced of memos Comey had written detailing Trump’s effort to shut down the Michael Flynn investigation. Today, Trump tweeted that “with all of the recently reported electronic surveillance, intercepts, unmasking and illegal leaking of information, I have no idea whether there are “tapes” or recordings of my conversations with James Comey, but I did not make, and do not have, any such recordings.” (NBC News / New York Times / Washington Post)
...whether there are "tapes" or recordings of my conversations with James Comey, but I did not make, and do not have, any such recordings.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2017
- Trump’s tease of possible Comey tapes fits familiar pattern. In 2011, Trump promised to reveal what his private investigators had found in Hawaii about Obama’s birth certificate. He never released anything. (Associated Press)
6/ Two of the top intelligence officials told Robert Mueller that Trump suggested they refute collusion with the Russians. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers described the interaction as odd and uncomfortable, but that they don’t believe Trump gave them orders to interfere. The two repeatedly refused to say whether Trump asked them to intervene in the Russia probe during their public Senate intelligence committee testimony. (CNN)
7/ Trump at Iowa rally: “All we do is win, win, win.” He then blamed Democrats for his problems, boasted about his “amazing progress,” and called the Russia investigation a “phony witch hunt” at his campaign-style rally in Cedar Rapids last night. During the 70-minute speech, Trump promised to lay out the next steps in “our incredible movement to make America great again,” but continually veered off on tangents, reflected on the past, and contradicted himself. He knocked trade deals the Iowa economy relies on, dismissed wind energy in a state filled with thousands of turbines, and denounced the war in the Middle East despite reauthorizing troops in Afghanistan. Trump also revealed his plan for putting solar panels on his proposed border wall “so it creates energy and pays for itself.” (New York Times / Washington Post / CBS News)
8/ Trump: “I just don’t want a poor person” in charge of the economy. “When you get the president of Goldman Sachs, smart,” Trump told the crowd at his Cedar Rapids rally. During the campaign, Trump frequently bashed the investment bank for having too much influence in politics. Trump has one of the wealthiest Cabinets in history. (CNN)
9/ House Democrats want to suspend Jared Kushner’s security clearance. Kushner’s previously undisclosed meetings with Russian officials have drawn the attention of investigators. Democrats say these contacts should be enough to suspend his access to sensitive information. (ABC News)
10/ Hackers successfully altered at least one voter roll in 2016 and stole voter records that contain private information like partial Social Security numbers. Investigators have not identified whether the hackers in that case were Russian agents. (Time)
11/ The White House is urging House Republicans to weaken its Russia sanctions bill, which was overwhelmingly passed by the Senate. The bill would place new sanctions on Russia for its meddling in the 2016 election and allow Congress to block Trump from lifting penalties against Moscow. (New York Times)
12/ Betsy DeVos picked the CEO of a private student loan company to run the federal student loan system. 42 million Americans currently owe $1.4 trillion in student loans. (The Hill)
13/ Trump will host his first re-election fundraiser at the Trump International Hotel next week, raising ethics concerns from conflict of interest attorneys. Trump is “becoming more and more brazen in his efforts to monetize the presidency,” Obama’s lead ethics attorney said. (Associated Press)
14/ North Korea called Trump a “psychopath” and warned South Korea that no good will come from aligning with him. The commentary, published in a state newspaper, suggested that Trump could launch a preemptive strike on North Korea to distract from his domestic problems. (AOL News / Washington Post)
15/ The White House told reporters not to report on instructions about not reporting on a press conference. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said today’s press conference would not be a video affair and then said the announcement itself was “NOT REPORTABLE.” (Slate)
poll/ A majority of voters think the American Health Care Act would be harmful for low-income Americans, people with pre-existing health conditions, and Medicaid recipients. 41% oppose the House plan, while 30% support it. 13% think the plan will improve the quality of their healthcare. 9% think it would make their health care cheaper. (Reuters)
poll/ 16% of adults believe that House health care bill is a good idea compared to 48% who say it’s a bad idea. (NBC News)
A political newsletter for normal people
WTF Just Happened Today? is a sane, once-a-day newsletter helping normal people make sense of the news. Curated daily by Matt Kiser and delivered to 200,000+ people every afternoon around 3 pm Pacific.
Become a supporting member.
It's not enough to be a consumer of media. You must be a stakeholder in it. Invest in the continued production of WTF Just Happened Today? by becoming a supporting member. Choose from three recurring membership options below: