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

Seventeen House Republicans rebelled last week against their party’s leadership to help Democrats pass a bill that would restore Obamacare subsidies that expired earlier this year and extend them for three years.

It is not yet clear whether the bill in its current form will make it to the Senate, although the upper chamber is working to release its own bipartisan proposal this week to address the expired grants. The details are still murky, but a bipartisan group of senators could release some sort of legislation as soon as Tuesday or Wednesday. They are currently discussing legislation that would extend for two years the Obamacare tax credits that President Joe Biden expanded to help avert the current crisis: Millions of Americans are expected to lose health insurance coverage this year and millions more will face soaring premium costs. Here’s what’s being discussed among the senators – which include the likes of Senators 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 expansion would include new restrictions, including a minimum premium payment of $5 per month and an income cap set at 700 percent of the federal poverty level. In the second year, the proposal would also allow enrollees to take their cash grant into pre-funded health savings accounts — an arrangement favored by Trump.

But President Trump — who previously supported a bill that would give Americans up to $1,500 to help cover costs related to rising health care costs instead of expanding Affordable Care Act subsidies — could torpedo the whole thing, whether the Senate passes the House extension or he brings his own bipartisan bill to a vote (which would then have to pass the House before being sent to Trump’s desk).

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Sunday, Trump responded “I could” when asked if he would veto the bill passed by the House last week.

Kelly pursues Hegseth

Sen. Mark Kelly (R-AZ) has sued Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who is trying to punish the senator for participating in a video — in which he and other veterans and Democratic elected officials reminded service members that they don’t have to obey illegal orders — by initiating proceedings to have the Navy “reconsider” his retirement rank and pension. By my colleague Kate Riga:

Kelly is suing Hegseth for constitutional and statutory violations, including violating 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 states.

Johnson stands by his man

On Monday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) shut down suggestions from reporters that the DOJ was “weaponized” after announcing its new criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Johnson deviated, defaulting back to the classic Republican argument that the Justice Department was actually a weapon under the Biden administration.

“No, the Justice Department is not being weaponized,” Johnson said. “It lasted four years under Biden-Harris, so it’s what everyone expects.”

“We’re going to let the investigation play out. There are concerns about cost overruns, and whatever the allegations are, I don’t know,” Johnson continued. “I was not involved in this… It’s something that 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 eliminated from the Trump White House fits that assessment.

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

Trump DOJ charges another ICE protester

The DOJ said Monday it has charged one of two people who were shot and killed by ICE agents in Portland, Oregon, last week with aggravated assault of a federal agent. Democratic state/city elected officials are questioning the DOJ’s facts, according to Politico:

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

“We know what the federal government says about what happened here. There was a time when we could take their word for it. Those days are long gone,” Wilson said at a news conference Thursday evening.

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Mark Kelly sues Pete Hegseth in Federal Court for revenge for his rank

Josh Marshall: Don’t be so literal about what counts as a military profession

Morning memo: Powell goes public with Trump’s unprecedented attack on the Fed

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