The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Trump faces race to push through spending bill
US: President speaks out on North Korean tests, predicting they’ll have ‘good missiles’
After 100 days in office without passing any major legislation, US President Donald Trump faces a week with a deadline to avert a government shutdown and the possibility of progress on health care.
Trump has spent his first three months coming to terms with the slow grind of government even in a Republican-dominated capital, and watching some of his promises – from repealing the nation’s health care law to temporarily banning people from some Muslim nations – fizzle out.
Last week lawmakers sent the President a stopgap spending bill to keep the government open through Friday. Lawmakers will continue negotiating this week on a one trillion dollar package financing the government right through to September 30.
Despite a renewed White House effort, the House did not vote last week on a revised bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Health Care Act.
After the original effort failed to win enough support from conservatives and moderates, Republicans recast the bill. The latest version would let states escape a requirement under Obama’s 2010 law that insurers charge healthy and seriously ill customers the same rates.
During an interview with Face the Nation on CBS aired yesterday, Mr Trump spoke about tensions with North Korea. Asked about the failure of several North Korean missile tests recently, Mr Trump said he’d “rather not discuss it. But perhaps they’re just not very good missiles. But eventually, he’ll have good missiles”.