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Dems frame Barrett as threat to ObamaCare at confirmation hearing

October 14, 2020

This is a rush transcript from “Special Report” October 12, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

Good evening, welcome to Washington. I’m Bret Baier.

Breaking tonight, we are following three big stories at this hour. Just a short time ago, President Trump’s physician said the commander-in-chief has tested negative for the coronavirus on consecutive days. This as the president’s on his way to a rally in Florida as he restarts his campaign travel while his opponent, you see on screen there, Joe Biden holding a rally in another swing state Ohio.

Back here in Washington, the confirmation hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett began on Capitol Hill today with opening statements and plenty of political rhetoric setting the table for hours of questioning which starts Tuesday morning. Republicans on the Committee touted Judge Barrett’s status as a law professor and legal scholar.

Takeaways: Barrett Is Reticent as Dems Focus on Health Care | Political News

October 13, 2020

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By MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett faced her first day’s worth of questions Tuesday from Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and it was a calmer affair than other recent confirmation hearings.

With public attendance limited by the coronavirus pandemic and Democrats staying focused on a health care message just three weeks ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election, the back and forth was serious, disciplined and mostly uninterrupted — save a few technical glitches from those participating virtually.

But similar to past hearings, Barrett avoided taking positions on a variety of subjects and rulings, saying it would be inappropriate to do so.

Takeaways from day two of the confirmation hearing:

PROHIBITED FROM EXPRESSING VIEWS

Barrett repeatedly declined to give her personal views, or to preview how she might rule, on key issues that could become before the court.

Barrett is reticent as Dems focus on health care

October 13, 2020

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett faced her first day’s worth of questions Tuesday from Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and it was a calmer affair than other recent confirmation hearings.

Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett listens during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

© Provided by Associated Press
Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett listens during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

With public attendance limited by the coronavirus pandemic and Democrats staying focused on a health care message just three weeks ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election, the back and forth was serious, disciplined and mostly uninterrupted — save a few technical glitches from those participating virtually.

Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett listens during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

© Provided by Associated Press
Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett listens during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020, on Capitol Hill

The Hill’s 12:30 Report: Dems ruffle feathers with POTUS fitness bill

October 9, 2020

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NEWS THIS MORNING

Oh this should go over well. Swimmingly, even!:

House Democrats unveiled a bill this morning to create a 17-member panel to assess the president’s “capacity” to perform the job. https://bit.ly/3iST44p

Is the panel designed just for Trump?: Well, the commission would be permanent but is definitely a shot at President TrumpDonald John TrumpBiden campaign raises over M on day of VP debate Trump chastises Whitmer for calling him ‘complicit’ in extremism associated with kidnapping scheme Trump says he hopes to hold rally Saturday despite recent COVID-19 diagnosis MORE, whose capacities have been questioned amid his coronavirus treatment.

Where Pelosi stands: “Speaker Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiOn The Money: Trump says talks on COVID-19 aid are now ‘working out’ | Pelosi shoots down piecemeal approach | Democrats raise questions about Trump tax audits Trump retweets reporter saying 25th Amendment is not equivalent to a ‘coup’

Dems introduce bill addressing president’s fitness

October 9, 2020

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Congressman Jamie Raskin are introducing a bill on Friday to form a commission that would rule on the president’s fitness for office in order to “enable Congress to help ensure effective and uninterrupted leadership” in the presidency.

US-POLITICS-PELOSI

© NICHOLAS KAMM
US-POLITICS-PELOSI

This panel, called the Commission on Presidential Capacity to Discharge the Powers and Duties of Office, would be “the body and process called for in the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” Pelosi and Raskin’s offices said in a statement on Thursday.

At the conference press conference announcing the bill on Friday morning, Pelosi insisted that the bill was not intended to determine President Trump’s fitness of office.

“This is not about President Trump. He will face the judgment of voters. But he shows the need to create a process for future presidents,” Pelosi said.

The 25th Amendment provides the procedure for the

House Dems Tell DOL Employers’ Health Plans Skirt ERISA

October 8, 2020

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Law360 (October 8, 2020, 6:12 PM EDT) — Two Democratic House leaders are urging the U.S. Department of Labor to take a close look at whether employers are violating the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by offering workers shoddy health benefit plans that are subject to less regulation under the law.

House Committee on Education and Labor Chairman Bobby Scott, D-Va., along with Subcommittee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chair Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., warned in their letter Wednesday that employers are increasingly using hospital insurance products meant to replace income during hospitalization or illness in place of traditional health coverage plans.

“Evidence strongly suggests that these arrangements may…

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Texas Dems highlight health care in fight to flip state House

October 8, 2020

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Texas Democrats are making health care the heart of their final pitch as they look to flip the state House, which Republicans have held since 2002.

In a “contract with Texas” that Democrats are rolling out Thursday and which was shared first with The Hill, the party is touting policies it would try to enact should it flip the net nine seats it needs to gain control of the chamber. The central pillar of the plan is expanding Medicaid in Texas, which has the highest number and rate of uninsured people in the nation, as well as boosting coverage for children and making care for women more equal.

The party is betting that voters in the state who normally rank health care as a top issue will be even more receptive to messages around expanding coverage in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, which has hit the Lone Star State

Connecting Supreme Court, health care, Trump boosts Dems’ strategy

September 28, 2020

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Now that Donald Trump has officially nominated Amy Coney Barrett for the U.S. Supreme Court, Democrats have limited options. There is no procedural mechanism, for example, that the Senate minority can use to derail the process.

But Democrats nevertheless believe there’s a political strategy available that may pay dividends.

Democrats rapidly coalesced Saturday evening, with unusual message discipline, around an issue that could milk that political advantage: Obamacare. It blends pocketbook concerns with life-and-death fears and carries urgency with a Trump-backed lawsuit that seeks to invalidate the law and faces a hearing at the Supreme Court one week after Election Day.

“Any vote to confirm this justice is a vote to eliminate health care for millions of Americans in the middle of a pandemic,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), a member of the Democratic leadership team, told NBC News.

As political strategies go, the Democrats’ message makes a lot of sense.

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