When Republican Congressman John Shimkus expressed outrage during a House committee hearing Wednesday “about men having to purchase prenatal care” in their health insurance — the video clip of which caught fire on social media as an example of misogyny and cluelessness — he wasn’t going rogue. He was just getting ahead of party leaders, who haven’t publicly announced their next steps quite yet.
Research Cited
Gov. Brian Sandoval, Sen. Dean Heller Cast Wary Eyes on Health Care Reform
Back in 2013, Gov. Brian Sandoval said saving money was key to his decision to expand Medicaid. Residents would become eligible for Medicaid anyway, the governor reasoned, but expanding the program would allow the state to recoup most of the costs.
But now, with House Republicans working on legislation to repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act, Sandoval may see those savings vanish.
Pruitt’s First Moves Worry Enviros, Open Records Advocates
Ethical and legal questions that dogged Scott Pruitt’s nomination process are continuing to shadow his first weeks as U.S. EPA administrator.
Constitutional Convention Rejected, But Not Defeated
So far, 28 states have passed resolutions calling for a constitutional convention to add an amendment requiring the federal government to balance its budget. However, Montana state lawmakers yet again stopped an effort to join these states last week.
The movement isn’t over. Only six more states are needed to hold a convention under Article Five of the U.S. Constitution.
Editorial: Gigs and Garlands
GIG: Speaking of protecting the environment, plenty of people doubt whether new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt will be up to the task, given his cozy relationship with the fossil-fuel industry, as revealed in a recently released batch of more than 7,500 emails.
Defeated in ID Senate, Constitutional Convention Lives On
So far, 28 states have passed resolutions calling for a Constitutional Convention to add an amendment requiring the federal government to balance its budget – but Idaho isn’t one of them.
A state Senate resolution calling for a Constitutional Convention was defeated last week, although a House version is still in play. Only six more states are needed to hold a convention under Article Five of the U.S. Constitution.
EDITORIAL: Email Release Is the Right Road to Transparency; Handling of the Roundtable Was Not
The Oklahoma Supreme Court’s chief justice recently granted Oklahoma’s new attorney general more time to produce documents detailing the relationship between energy companies and new Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt.
It’s Not Just Jeff Sessions: The FBI Must Investigate Scott Pruitt for Lying to Congress
The lie is also material politically. The Center for Media and Democracy is gradually releasing Pruitt’s emails, obtained pursuant to a court order in the hopes that the steady drip of embarrassing emails will garner public attention. Pruitt’s statement is material to his very office.
First Read’s Morning Clips: And Speaking of Emails
And speaking of emails: “An environmental group and several Democratic senators are demanding a review of the personal email account of Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, after he said during confirmation hearings that he never used that account for official business as Oklahoma state attorney general,” writes the Washington Post.
EPA Chief and “Polluter’s Tool” Pruitt Lied to Senate About Private Email Use
The court-ordered release of tens of thousands of Pruitt’s emails, published as part of a lawsuit filed by the watchdog group Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), expose not just the former Oklahoma lawmaker’s cozy relationship with the fossil fuel industry—they also show that many of his official emails were copied to his personal account, contradicting his testimony to the Senate Public Works Committee, whom he told, “I use only my official OAG [office of the attorney general] email address and government-issued phone to conduct official business.”