Newly resurfaced video appears to show that White House chief of staff John Kelly was incorrect when he accused Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) of taking credit for the funding of an FBI building in Miami in 2015.

Kelly was speaking to reporters during a rare press briefing appearance to address the growing controversy surrounding President Trump’s remarks to the widow of a U.S. soldier killed in an ambush in Niger.

"A congresswoman stood up, and in a long tradition of empty barrels making the most noise, stood up there in all of that and talked about how she was instrumental in getting the funding for that building, and how she took care of her constituents because she got the money, and she just called up President Obama, and on that phone call, he gave the money, the $20 million, to build the building, and she sat down,” Kelly told reporters.

Wilson fired back at Kelly, calling Kelly’s accusations “crazy” and noting that the building "was funded long before I got to Congress.”

read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/356395-video-appears-to-show-kelly-misrepresented-speech-of-dem

The Trump administration is pushing the limits of an obscure federal law that restricts nominees from serving in federal positions before they’re approved by the Senate.

A POLITICO review has identified four officials at three different agencies doing substantially similar work to the position for which they have been nominated – despite not yet getting a green-light from the Senate. The hires reflect increasing impatience in federal agencies that key jobs remain unfilled nine months into the new administration.

President Donald Trump has complained repeatedly that Democrats are moving too slowly to confirm his nominees, though he’s also said he intends to leave many jobs empty. Democrats counter that the onus is on Trump, who has not yet announced nominees for a slew of key positions across the government.

Either way, lawyers and other experts said the moves – including by the Environmental Protection Agency, the State Department and the White House Office of Management and Budget – to have unconfirmed nominees show up for work appears to skirt the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, which prohibits most people who have been nominated to fill a vacant government position from performing that office’s duties in an acting capacity.

It’s unclear whether the officials in question are in direct violation of the law, but some experts said the administration appears to be defying its intent.

“This seems like it goes further than most examples I have seen,” said Norm Ornstein, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. “It seems like in some cases they’re taking people and potentially giving them roles that go beyond what they’re supposed to have.”

more: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/20/trump-nominees-working-senate-approval-243972

Oct 17, 2017
2:13 PM

Sen. Lamar Alexander said he has arrived at a bipartisan deal with Democratic Sen. Patty Murray to stabilize Obamacare insurer subsidies.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, chairman of a key committee that has been working on a bipartisan deal to stabilize Obamacare, said Tuesday that he has arrived at an agreement with Sen. Patty Murray, the committee's top Democrat.

The deal would fund Obamacare's insurer funds, known as cost-sharing reduction payments, for two years, and includes what Alexander refers to as "meaningful flexibility" for states. Trump abruptly cut off the subsidies last week.

It would allow insurers to sell "copper plans," to people who are older than 30, which tend to have higher deductibles and offer fewer benefits than more expensive options, but could be one way to attract individuals into the market who have fewer medical needs.

"This is a small step, I'd like to undersell it, not oversell it," said the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, adding that he hoped to release legislation this week.

Alexander said he is trying to line up Republican co-sponsors, while Murray is trying to get enough co-sponsors on the Democratic side as well.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the bill received "broad support" during a lunch with Democrats.

Read more: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/key-senators-reach-deal-on-obamacare-insurer-subsidies/article/2637770