The Trump administration issued a rule Friday barring Planned Parenthood and other groups that offer abortions or abortion referrals from participating in the $286 million federal family planning program, reports the Washington Post.
What they're saying: Per the Post, critics of the mandate say it indirectly defunds Planned Parenthood, which provides general health care and STD treatment in addition to abortion services. The Title X program mostly serves low-income women. Supporters of the rule and antiabortion groups, like the the Susan B. Anthony List, say it will "disentangle taxpayers" from Planned Parenthood.
For a handful of hours next week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will be the top-ranked government official on U.S. soil.
Driving the news: In a rare event on Monday, both President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence will be overseas at the same time — Pence in Colombia, and Trump en route to his summit in Vietnam with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, according to three administration sources.
House Democrats on Friday introduced a resolution to block President Trump's national emergency declaration to fund his border wall.
Why it matters: Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the resolution will be brought to a vote on Tuesday. If the bill passes the House, the Senate would then be forced to take it up within 18 days — putting Republicans on the record on whether they support Trump's use of executive power. This could set up the first veto of Trump's presidency.
Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) told the Des Moines Register Thursday that he intends to run for re-election, even as he faces three Republican primary challengers amid intense backlash over his history of racist comments.
The backdrop: King was denounced by leaders in the Republican party and stripped of his committee assignments last month, after he made comments in the New York Times questioning when language like "white nationalist," "white supremacist" and "Western civilization" became offensive. He told the Des Moines Register he has "nothing to apologize for," and blamed the Times and other media organizations for orchestrating dishonest attacks that unleashed widespread "cyber bullying" against him.
President Trump's teambelieves Robert Mueller will submit his report "imminently," but is unsure exactly what that means, two sources familiar with the situation tell Jonathan Swan.
The big picture: These sources say the Mueller team hasn’t had a substantive or consequential conversation with Trump’s lawyers in weeks. That, coupledwith an inactive grand jury and members of Mueller’s team returning to their old jobs, has led Trump’s team to anticipate that Mueller could be done any day now.
Florida Democrats are increasingly frustrated with Bernie Sanders’ unwillingness to recognize Nicolás Maduro as a dictator and accept opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Venezuela's legitimate president, according to a new Politico report Thursday.
Why it matters: The humanitarian and economic crises in the South American nation have dominated the political conversation in the country’s largest swing state. Republicans are seizing on the issue and President Trump, who is pushing Maduro to step aside, recently visited Miami where he sought to make inroads with Venezuelan-Americans and other Democratic-leaning Latinos who have fled Venezuela's authoritarian regime.
Sen. Bernie Sanders has named a diverse group to serve as the four national co-chairs of his 2020 presidential campaign: San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Ben & Jerry's co-founder Ben Cohen.
Why it matters: Cruz emerged as a fervent critic of President Trump in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, which devastated Puerto Rico. Following her public comments about the inadequacy of the administration's response, Trump fired back on Twitter by celebrating his "hurricane work" and calling her a "totally incompetent" mayor.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, and Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), sent a letter to Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) on Thursday criticizing his claims that President Trump's lawyers made false statements to federal ethics officials as "extremely unfair and unsupported accusations."
Why it matters: The letter highlights the increasingly contentious relationship between Cummings, who is leading House Oversight's onslaught of investigations into Trumpworld, and top Republicans on the committee. It also reveals how Republicans plan to publicly defend the president: by scrutinizing how Democrats seek and obtain information relating to their probes.
The House Judiciary Committee announced it will hold a hearing on Feb. 26 at 10 a.m. to assess the Trump administration‘s use of family separation at the border, aiming to finally hold the administration accountable for what it calls an “inhumane and callous policy."
Why it matters: Oversight of the Trump administration is ramping up now that the Democrats control the House. Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen will also testify before three committees next week — Senate Intelligence, House Intelligence and House Oversight — after postponing his appearances for health reasons.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has spoken to President Trump and recommended U.S. Ambassador to Canada Kelly Craft as the next UN ambassador, according to two sources familiar with the situation.
Details: Like McConnell, Craft is from Kentucky, where she and her husband, billionaire coal CEO Joe Craft, rank among the state's highest-profile Republican donors. She previously served as an alternate delegate in the U.S. delegation to the UN during the George W. Bush administration, specializing on the issue of U.S. engagement in Africa.
What he's saying: "I'm gonna be the secretary of state as long as President Trump gives me the opportunity to serve," he said on the Today Show. "I love doing what I'm doing."
In an interview with Pod Save America's Tommy Vietor airing Thursday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren explained why she — unlike fellow senator and 2020 candidate Bernie Sanders — has chosen to identify as a "Democrat capitalist," rather than a "democratic socialist."
"I see the value of markets and that they can produce a lot of good if they have rules. But let us all be clear: Markets without rules are theft and I am opposed to theft. There is a reason that the folks on Wall Street, the big CEOs, don't want me to even be in the Senate. ... Because I get how the system works and how it can work when it works right. And how these are the guys who are ripping it off and make it not work."
House Democrats plan to introduce a resolution on Friday seeking to terminate President Trump’s national emergency declaration, Politico reports, citing a letter from Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Details: According to Politico, Pelosi sent the letter to Democrats and Republicans Wednesday night, stressing that Trump cannot bypass Congress and that his move violates the Constitution. It's unclear when the bill would reach the floor for a vote, but it's expected to easily pass the House. The Senate would then be forced to take up the resolution, putting Republicans on the record on whether they support Trump's use of executive power, which some have already criticized.
