The Trump administration is looking at driving tax reform and infrastructure concurrently, according to a White House source with direct knowledge.
It's a major strategic shift - infrastructure was likely going to be parked until next year - and is only possible because of last week's healthcare debacle.
President Trump feels burned by the ultra conservative House Freedom Caucus and is ready to deal with Democrats. Dangling infrastructure spending is an obvious way to buy the support of potentially dozens of Dems, meaning he wouldn't have to bargain with the hardliners.
The Trump Administration is requesting $1 billion this year to cover 62 miles of the border wall, according to DHS documents obtained by CNN.
The documents detail specific locations where current fencing requires upgrades, and stretches near San Diego and in the Rio Grande Valley where the wall is to be built.
Do the math: Estimates of the total wall cost have varied widely, but 62 miles is about 1/32 of the total US/Mexico land border.
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan told Republican donors Monday he would brief them at a retreat scheduled for Thursday and Friday in Florida about how he will push forward on a healthcare overhaul, according to The Washington Post.
"When we're in Florida, I will lay out the path forward on health care and all the rest of the agenda. I will explain how it all still works, and how we're still moving forward on health care with other ideas and plans... know this: we are not giving up."
No details are available on the new plan yet but Ryan met with Trump at the White House today and separately with VP Mike Pence, HHS Secretary Tom Price, and Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.
The Russian state bank Vnesheconombank confirmed to the AP that its chair met with Jared Kushner, Trump's senior advisor and son-in-law. The bank said the meeting was part of "road show" discussions with representatives of financial institutions throughout the world, and they discussed strategies for development banks.
The White House said Kushner was just doing his job by holding this meeting, but Obama sanctioned this bank in 2014 and contacts with Russia have other Trump associates in hot water.
What to watch: Kushner has agreed to discuss his Russia contacts with the Senate Intelligence Committee.
House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, 43, grew up on a farm in Tulare, California. He started buying cows as a teenager, used his savings to begin a harvesting business, and then bought farmland with his brother before studying agriculture at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
His political rise: In 2001, Nunes was appointed by George W. Bush to serve as Calif. State Director for the Dept. of Agriculture's Rural Development section. He was then elected to the House in 2002, and quickly became a protege of former House Speaker John Boehner, who tapped Nunes as chairman of the intelligence committee in 2014. He became an early Trump supporter and was particularly influential in shaping Trump's national security team.
Characteristics: As the Washington Post notes, Nunes is known more for his skills as a political operator than his expertise on policy, and he can be a "fiercely loyal protector" of his allies. That instinct was on display last week when Nunes chose to brief the White House on intelligence reports he received before going to his committee: "Loyalty can sometimes make you, you know, go a step too far," said Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole. "I'm pretty heartened that [Nunes] recognized that within 24 hours and moved to change it."
Former U.S. VP Dick Cheney highlighted American security concerns at the Economic Times Global Business Summit today, and touched on Russian interference in the U.S. presidential elections last year, according to the Economic Times. His perspective on Putin's cyber hacking and NATO is particularly of note:
He has found a way to undermine NATO...There are some serious effort made by Putin and his government to interfere in our election which can be considered as an act of war.
Why it matters: The crux of the issue in coming months will be determining whether it was an act of war, which ups the ante in terms of the ways countries can respond to being attacked, some of which can be all-out military responses.
Context: As we wrote earlier, there is a lot of disagreement about what constitutes an act of war when it comes to cyber hacking. This puts Russia at an advantage in cyber space, since countries and NATO don't know how to respond to attacks, and Cheney is affirming that belief.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions made a surprise visit, announcing actions the DOJ is taking against sanctuary cities. He said states and localities seeking DOJ grants must certify compliance with immigration policy, or lose federal funding. He added: "I strongly urge our nation's states... to seriously consider the harm they are doing to our citizens" by refusing to implement federal law.
CNN's Jake Tapper finds an interesting nugget on the mystery of where House Intel Chair Devin Nunes learned of potential surveillance on the Trump transition team. The California Republican was on White House grounds the day before his explosive claims:
In a phone interview, Nunes confirmed to CNN that he was on the White House grounds that day -- but he said he was not in the White House itself. (Other buildings, including the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, are on the same grounds.) No one in the White House was aware that he was there, Nunes said.
Why it matters: Nunes hasn't been heavy on the details on the sourcing of his claims, although he reportedly prematurely hopped out of an Uber and disappeared from the staff that night. With Nunes and fellow Republicans quick to criticize leaks from the intelligence community, plenty of attention will come his way on the source of his claims.
North Carolina's HB2 "bathroom bill" limiting LGBT rights will cost the state more than $3.76 billion in lost business over 12 years, reports the AP, citing data compiled through interviews and public records requests.
But HB2 supporters argue they're willing to absorb the costs. "The effect is minimal to the state," said Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, a stringent defender of the bill, to Texas legislators considering a similar law. "Our economy is doing well. Don't be fooled by the media. This issue is not about the economy. This issue is about privacy, safety and security in the most vulnerable places we go."
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