This week in politics: You don't have the votes
What a time to be alive, OnPolitics readers. Let's get to it.
Governing's harder
When the week began, the Trump administration was flying high. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price was certain that the American Health Care Act, the legislative overhaul of Obamacare, would pass Congress. Really: "I’m confident that as we move forward, we’ll be able to move all portions of the plan."
Price was in Congress for 12 years before he joined the Trump administration. Maybe he should have known better. And so began a week that ended with the first major defeat of Trump's presidency.
The president did his best to push a plan through. He worked the phones, he met with lawmakers, he made threats. When a Thursday vote on the legislation was postponed, he told House leadership that they must vote, even if the bill won't pass.
House Speaker Paul Ryan scrambled. But it was probably a no-win from the start, with different faction of the Republican Party in rebellion. By Friday afternoon, Ryan rushed to the White House, explained the situation and the vote was scrapped all together.
"Obamacare is the law of the land," Ryan said after he canceled the vote. "It’s going to remain the law of the land."
"I'm disappointed, because we could have had it," he said, trying to shift the blame onto Democrats, who were never going to support the bill in the first place.
Never forget what George Washington in Hamilton taught us: Winning was easy, governing's harder.
I can see Russia from my House
The president can call it "fake news" all he likes, but there's no denying that FBI Director James Comey dropped a bombshell while testifying before the House Intelligence Committee: the FBI is indeed investigating potential links between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election. The White House's response? That an investigation doesn't prove anything.
The major reveal came alongside Comey's rebuke of the president's claims that the Obama administration wiretapped his New York offices during the campaign.
But wait, there's more: House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said he learned the intelligence community had collected communications of members from Trump's transition team — and he went to the president with this information. (White House spokesman Sean Spicer said this was fine because hey, this has nothing to do with Russia.)
Still with us? Another piece to the puzzle: The Associated Press published a report this week about former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, saying he received a $10 million contract a decade ago to advance Russian President Vladimir Putin's interests. Manafort has since offered to testify before the House Intelligence Committee, which ranking member Adam Schiff argued was done to cancel a public hearing with members of the Obama administration's intelligence team.
Phew.
If nothing else, Gorsuch has stamina
Perhaps if this was another administration, the confirmation hearing of a Supreme Court nominee would have been the major news of the week.
But this is the Trump administration, which is nothing if not busy, so apologies, Neil Gorsuch, for falling to number 3 on our list.
The Colorado judge parried with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee for four days this week. Yes, *four* days. Among the topics covered: that whole Russia thing. Whether he'll stand up to Trump. How he compares to the late Antonin Scalia. "No forecasts, no hints" of his views on certain issues, from abortion rights to money in politics. The fact that he ruled differently than the Supreme Court on special education.
But never forget Merrick Garland. While Gorsuch's nomination is expected to be sent to the full Senate in April, it would require 60 votes on the Senate floor to advance -- meaning Republicans need at least eight Democrats to support Gorsuch. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has already called on his party to block the nominee. In turn, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., might be able to change the rules to allow Gorsuch's confirmation with only 51 votes.
The roller coaster never ends.
Other things that happened this week:
- So, what CAN the GOP do?
- Breitbart's moving on up
- The Keystone XL pipeline is a go
- And, finally, trucks are awesome
Need a full recap on what the president did this week? Check out our interactive on Trump's first 100 days.