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The anti-Obamacare repeal ads have begun

Caitlin Owens, author of Vitals

Scott Clause / The Daily Advertiser via AP

Well, that didn't take long. Two days after Republicans in the Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce Committees voted to repeal and replace Obamacare, they're now being targeted by social media ads accusing them of doing things like voting to "strip away health care" from their constituents.

Save My Care, a grassroots coalition of health care advocates, is launching the five-figure ad buy, which will run the ads on social media and encourage voters to demand their representatives change their position before the bill reaches the House floor.

Who's being targeted: 13 members of the two committees.

  • Chris Collins of New York
  • Ryan Costello of Pennsylvania
  • Carlos Curbelo of Florida
  • Leonard Lance of New Jersey
  • Pat Meehan of Pennsylvania
  • Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania
  • Erik Paulsen of Minnesota
  • Dave Reichert of Washington
  • Jim Renacci of Ohio
  • Pete Roskam of Illinois
  • Pat Tiberi of Ohio
  • Tim Walberg of Minnesota
  • Mimi Walters of California

Many are the same members who have already been targeted in town halls, and all are from purple or blue states. The ads look like this:

Similar social media ads will appear in all the targeted districts.

This is just the beginning. Expect much, much more like this to come. Health care policy is painful. And recess is coming, meaning more brutal town halls.

Go deeper

Jonathan Swan
3 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Scoop: Gina Haspel threatened to resign over plan to install Kash Patel as CIA deputy

CIA Director Gina Haspel. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

CIA Director Gina Haspel threatened to resign in early December after President Trump cooked up a hasty plan to install loyalist Kash Patel, a former aide to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), as her deputy, according to three senior administration officials with direct knowledge of the matter.

Why it matters: The revelation stunned national security officials and almost blew up the leadership of the world's most powerful spy agency. Only a series of coincidences — and last minute interventions from Vice President Mike Pence and White House counsel Pat Cipollone — stopped it.

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Axios
Updated 4 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Health: Coronavirus deaths reach 4,000 per day as hospitals remain in crisis mode — CDC warns highly transmissible coronavirus variant could become dominant in U.S. in March.
  2. Politics: Biden says, "We will manage the hell out of" vaccine distribution — Biden taps ex-FDA chief to lead Operation Warp Speed amid rollout of COVID plan — Widow of GOP congressman-elect who died of COVID-19 will run to fill his seat.
  3. Vaccine: Battling Black mistrust of the vaccines — "Pharmacy deserts" could become vaccine deserts — Instacart to give $25 to shoppers who get vaccine.
  4. Economy: Unemployment filings explode again — Fed chair: No interest rate hike coming any time soon —  Inflation rose more than expected in December.
  5. World: WHO team arrives in China to investigate pandemic origins.
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Lachlan Markay
5 hours ago - Politics & Policy

John Weaver, Lincoln Project co-founder, acknowledges “inappropriate” messages

John Weaver aboard John McCain's campaign plane in February 2000. Photo: Robert Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)

John Weaver, a veteran Republican operative who co-founded the Lincoln Project, declared in a statement to Axios on Friday that he sent “inappropriate,” sexually charged messages to multiple men.

  • “To the men I made uncomfortable through my messages that I viewed as consensual mutual conversations at the time: I am truly sorry. They were inappropriate and it was because of my failings that this discomfort was brought on you,” Weaver said.
  • “The truth is that I'm gay,” he added. “And that I have a wife and two kids who I love. My inability to reconcile those two truths has led to this agonizing place.”
Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow

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