Trump signs law aimed at Planned Parenthood funds
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed legislation Thursday aimed at cutting off federal funding to Planned Parenthood and other groups that perform abortions, a move cheered by conservatives who have clamored to impose curbs on reproductive rights.
The measure nullifies a rule completed in the last days of the Obama administration that effectively barred state and local governments from withholding federal funding for family planning services related to contraception, sexually transmitted infections, fertility, pregnancy care, and breast and cervical cancer screening from qualified health providers — regardless of whether they also performed abortions. The new measure cleared Congress last month with Vice President Mike Pence casting the tiebreaking vote in the Senate.
The move marked the 12th time that Mr. Trump has signed a resolution under the 1996 Congressional Review Act abolishing a rule issued under then-President Barack Obama. Less than two hours later, Mr. Trump signed a 13th measure abolishing a Labor Department regulation aimed at expanding retirement savings accounts.
The previous Department of Health and Human Services regulation, which took effect two days before Mr. Trump’s inauguration, said that states and localities could not withhold money from a provider for any reason other than an inability to provide family planning services.
Mr. Trump has been seen as showing ambivalence about Planned Parenthood, voicing support for its healthrelated services other than abortion.
Regardless of his misgivings about the defunding effort, Mr. Trump appeared ready to accept congressional Republicans’ idea of using a broad health care overhaul to strip all federal money from Planned Parenthood. When the Freedom Caucus, a conservative faction of House Republicans, refused to support legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act last month, Mr. Trump took to Twitter to denounce the group, saying it had “saved Planned Parenthood.”
Mr. Trump has made restricting abortions a priority during his early days in office. Days after being sworn in, he signed an executive order reinstating the Mexico City policy, also known as the global gag rule, which blocks U.S. funding from going to any nongovernmental organization around the world that provides abortion counseling, even if the money is not used for abortion-related services.
Besides signing new bills into law, the president and Washington’s political sphere remained busy in other ways Thursday.
Obamacare fixes
The Trump administration released limited fixes Thursday for shaky health insurance markets, even as it reaffirmed its goal of dismantling the Obama-era law that created them and now covers millions.
The changes announced Thursday include a shortened sign-up window of 45 days, starting with coverage for 2018; curbs on “special enrollment periods” that allow consumers to sign up outside the normal open enrollment window; allowing an insurer to collect past debt for unpaid premiums from the prior 12 months before applying a consumer’s payments to a new policy; and giving insurers more flexibility to design low-premium plans that can be tailored to young adults.
At the same time, Mr. Trump is threatening to destabilize those insurers by withholding from them about $7 billion in federal reimbursements as a way to force Democrats to begin negotiating the repeal of the Affordable Care Act.
‘Hostile’ WikiLeaks
In what was seen as an indication that Mr. Trump will take undefined but forceful action, CIA Director Mike Pompeo in his first public remarks after 10 weeks on the job Thursday called the antisecrecy group WikiLeaks a “hostile” intelligence service and said the group would soon face decisive U.S. action to stifle its disclosures of leaked material.
GAO investigation
The independent, nonpartisan Government Accountability Office — an arm of Congress — is launching a probe into Mr. Trump’s transition operation, including its public spending, private fundraising and how it managed communications with foreign governments.
Tax Day march
An idea that sprung from a law professor’s tweet after Mr. Trump’s inauguration will unfold Saturday on the Mall, where thousands of protesters plan to call on Mr. Trump to release his personal tax returns. The demonstration is expected to be the largest of more than 100 affiliated protests planned across the country.
‘Sanctuary’ no more
Michigan’s capital reversed a decision to call itself a “sanctuary city” that protects immigrants, bowing to pressure from a business community concerned that the term would draw unwanted attention to Lansing from Mr. Trump’s administration and cost the city federal funding.