A major misconception on Capitol Hill right now is the notion that Mick Mulvaney is behind President Trump's decision to back a lawsuit to demolish the Affordable Care Act.
After a week of talking to sources who've discussed the matter privately with Trump, it's clear that this health care push is coming from the president himself. These people say Trump thinks it's a great idea to try to brand the GOP as "the party of health care” by backing the controversial litigation and pushing for legislative change.
President Trump is cutting against historical and political norms on a trifecta of big issues at the heart of U.S. domestic, economic and security policy.
Driving the news:
Trump is seekingto kill "Obamacare" through the courts over the objection of his own attorney general and top GOP congressional leaders.
The White House is publicly pushing the Fed to cut interest rates, something prior administrations never contemplated doing.
The presidentis again publicly threatening to close ports of entry on the U.S. southern border. "I'm not playing games," Trump said Friday in Florida.
Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand — a 2020 presidential contender — released a statement of support on Saturday for the action Rockland County, a small suburb of Manhattan, is taking to combat the "horrible measles outbreak."
Driving the news: Rockland County declared a state of emergency on Wednesday, barring unvaccinated children under age 18 from countywide public spaces unless they are under 6 months or have a medical exemption. The community — which only had a 72.9% vaccination rate in people under 18 — is paying the price with 156 cases reported as of March 28.
The Trump administration is plowing ahead on drug prices, hoping to break through the cycle of legal and political setbacks that have stymied the rest of its health care agenda.
The big picture: The administration has several proposed rules that take on some aspect of the drug-pricing system, and is quietly talking with congressional Democrats on the issue, too.
