First Draft on Politics: Health Care Vote Is Delayed

The bill was facing growing opposition from Republican senators. View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Wednesday, June 28, 2017 [NYTimes.com/Politics »]( [Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.]( Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill on Tuesday. Eric Thayer for The New York Times Good Wednesday morning, Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today: Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, delayed the vote on the G.O.P. health care bill. - Mr. McConnell [postponed the vote on the legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act]( as he worked to corral support. His tactic of appeasing conservatives while pressuring moderates exposed party fissures in an embarrassing setback for Republicans. - The majority leader has long had a reputation as a master tactician. But when it comes to repealing the Affordable Care Act, [he seems to have miscalculated in the first round of play](. - Until Tuesday afternoon, [the president was largely on the sidelines]( as the fate of one of his most important campaign pledges played out. - After the vote was delayed, [Democrats warned against celebrating too early]( and complacency in the fight over the Affordable Care Act. - The Republican effort to overhaul the health care system [inspired extensive bipartisan cooperation]( from states’ leaders — in an attempt to defeat it. Fallout from the end of the Supreme Court’s term reverberated in several areas. - Three words in the court’s decision on the president’s travel ban [opened a world of uncertainty for refugees]( The “bona fide relationship” standard in the decision could shut out thousands of refugees who lack family ties in the United States. - School choice advocates, including Betsy DeVos, the secretary of education, see the decision in favor of a church in Missouri as [a crucial development in the voucher debate](. - The court was short-handed for most of the term that ended Monday, and it responded with caution, [setting a modern record for consensus](. The Russia investigations continued to roil the president’s associates and the news media. - A Ukrainian political party tied to Russia had [paid President Trump’s campaign chairman]( for help branding itself as warming toward the European Union. - The ferocious response to a breakdown in editorial procedures at CNN was [a reminder of the network’s unique role]( as a nemesis for the president. — The First Draft Team HAVE A CONFIDENTIAL NEWS TIP? Do you have the next big story? Want to share it with The New York Times? We offer several ways to get in touch with and provide materials to our journalists. [Learn More »]( ADVERTISEMENT [Trump’s Agenda]( We’ll keep you updated on the recent legislative action by the Trump White House. [• Sign up »]( The Interpreter [Canada’s Secret to Resisting the West’s Populist Wave]( By AMANDA TAUB [Pedestrians silhouetted against the CN Tower in Toronto.]( Pedestrians silhouetted against the CN Tower in Toronto. Cole Burston for The New York Times As right-wing populism has roiled elections and upended politics across the West, there is one country where populists have largely failed to break through: [Canada](. The raw ingredients are present. A white ethnic majority that is losing its demographic dominance. A sharp rise in immigration that is changing culture and communities. News media and political personalities who bet big on white backlash. Yet Canada’s politics remain stable. Its centrist liberal establishment is popular. Not only have the politics of white backlash failed, but immigration and racial diversity are sources of national pride. And when anti-establishment outsiders have run the populist playbook, they have found defeat. Outsiders might assume this is because Canada is simply more liberal, but they would be wrong. Rather, Canada has resisted the populist wave through a set of strategic decisions, powerful institutional incentives, strong minority coalitions and idiosyncratic circumstances. While there is no magic answer to populism, Canada’s experience offers unexpected lessons for other nations. [Read more »](  [A demonstrator joined doctors and other health care workers at a rally on Capitol Hill on Thursday. The Republicans’ health care proposal has reignited an old debate over what spending changes qualify as cuts.]( [Health Bill Does Not ‘Cut’ Medicaid Spending, Republicans Argue]( By ALAN RAPPEPORT Republicans have long despised the use of words like “slash” or “cut” in reference to funding changes, and some believe that such words cast their health care bill in a false light. [The Trump administration has moved to rescind a rule that would have extended existing pollution protections for large bodies of water — such as the Puget Sound in Washington — to include rivers, tributaries and wetlands.]( [E.P.A. Moves to Rescind Contested Water Pollution Regulation]( By CORAL DAVENPORT Environmentalists strongly supported the rule, which was a key conservation initiative of the Obama administration. But landowners and developers have bitterly opposed it. [Michael Johnson, a Customs and Border Protection field agent, looking over the Rio Grande at Miguel Alemán, a Mexican town across the river from Roma, Tex.]( [Homeland Security Will Start Building Border Wall Prototypes This Summer]( By RON NIXON An official said the wall would not span all 1,900 miles of the border, but the Department of Homeland Security has identified some key areas for construction. [Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, on Capitol Hill last month.]( [N.S.A. Warrantless Surveillance Aided Turks After Attack, Officials Say]( By CHARLIE SAVAGE Security officials testified about the value of the surveillance program with the expiration of its legal authorization looming at the end of 2017. [One study found that insurance status, more than any other demographic or economic factor, determines the timeliness and quality of health care.]( Economic Scene [When Cutting Access to Health Care, There’s a Price to Pay]( By EDUARDO PORTER In measure after measure of well-being in rich nations, Americans are among the worst off, with costs to the economy and to individuals. Feature [How Donald Trump Misunderstood the F.B.I.]( By TIM WEINER Since Watergate, the bureau has come to view itself as an essential, and essentially independent, check on the president. [Sarah Palin at an event last year in Ames, Iowa.]( [Sarah Palin Sues New York Times, Claiming Editorial Defamed Her]( By SYDNEY EMBER Ms. Palin contends that The Times “violated the law and its own policies” when it linked her in an editorial to a mass shooting in January 2011. [How Health Costs Would Soar for Older Americans Under the Senate Plan]( By HAEYOUN PARK AND MARGOT SANGER-KATZ Lower premiums on average, but lower subsidies and higher out-of-pocket costs. Right and Left: Partisan Writing You Shouldn’t Miss Read about how the other side thinks. We have collected political writing from around the web and across ideologies.  From the Right • [Andrew Clark]( in [Independent Journal Review]( “It’s [...] a defeat for activist judges who had tried to invent a new legal standard with which to derail President Trump.” Mr. Clark writes that the [Supreme Court’s per curiam decision]( is both a political victory for the president and “a win for legal common sense.” Rather than relying on Mr. Trump’s comments on Twitter or the campaign trail, Mr. Clark writes, the justices kept their analysis to what he sees as the strictly relevant considerations: “Whether the executive order is facially legitimate and balancing the executive’s authority on national security against the burden on the plaintiffs.” [Read more »]( _____ From the Left • [Ed Kilgore]( in [New York Magazine]( “Calling the SCOTUS action a ‘clear victory’ is a bit much.” The president and his supporters have been somewhat premature in their celebration of the [Supreme Court]( decision on the travel ban, Mr. Kilgore writes. He notes that the court issued a “complicated and very preliminary ruling” that gives the administration a narrow and “tentative” victory. [Read more »]( _____ [More selections »]( ADVERTISEMENT HOW ARE WE DOING? We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email thoughts and suggestions to [washington-newsletter@nytimes.com](mailto:washington-newsletter@nytimes.com?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback). FOLLOW NYTimes [Facebook] [FACEBOOK]( [Twitter] [@NYTPolitics]( Get more [NYTimes.com newsletters »](  | Get unlimited access to NYTimes.com and our NYTimes apps for just $0.99. [Subscribe »]( ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's First Draft newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Subscriptions]( | [Change Your Email]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Contact]( | [Advertise]( Copyright 2017 The New York Times Company 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018