Pence has to break tie on abortion vote
WASHINGTON — Republican legislation letting states deny federal family planning money to Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers squeezed narrowly through the Senate on Thursday, rescued by an ailing GOP senator who returned to the Capitol after back surgeries and a tie-breaking vote by Vice President Mike Pence.
In Congress’ latest clash mixing the politics of abortion, women’s health and states’ rights, Pence cast the decisive vote in a 51-50 roll call. The tally had been tied after two GOP senators, Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski and Maine’s Susan Collins, joined Democrats opposing the measure.
Senate approval sent the legislation to President Donald Trump, who was expected to sign it. The House voted its consent last month.
The bill erases a regulation imposed by former President Barack Obama shortly before he left office that lets states deny family planning funds to organizations only if they are incapable of providing those services. Some states have passed laws in recent years denying the money to groups that provide abortions.
Democrats assailed the legislation as an attack on women.
“While Trumpcare was dealt a significant blow last week, it is clear that the terrible ideas that underpin it live on with Republicans in Congress,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., using a nickname for the failed House health-care bill. Murray, among a stream of Democratic women senators who spoke, called the Senate measure “shameful” and “dangerous.”
Republicans said the measure would let states divert money now going to groups that provide abortion to organizations that don’t, like community health centers.
With Republicans controlling the Senate 52-48, the Collins and Murkowski defections could have derailed the bill because Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., has been absent since he had his first spinal surgery Feb. 20. But he got permission to return to Washington for one day, his office said, and he did so using a walker and wheelchair.
Senate against launch of retirement plans
The Senate voted Thursday to undo an Obama-era rule that would have made it easier for major cities to launch retirement plans for workers who don’t have access to one through their jobs. The move is part of a broader effort in Congress to block state and local governments from creating such programs.
Senators narrowly approved the resolution 50-49. Most Republicans voted in favor of killing the rule, with the exception of Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who opposed the measure, and Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., who was absent. The resolution, which was passed by the House in February, now heads to President Donald Trump’s desk for a signature.
A handful of major cities, including New York City, Philadelphia and Seattle, had considered launching savings plans that would expand access to retirement accounts for some workers, and at least seven states — California, Oregon, Illinois, Maryland, Connecticut, New Jersey and Washington — are in the process of creating state-run retirement plans.
The initiatives have faced resistance from some Republicans and business groups who argue that states and cities shouldn’t be creating retirement plans. Some critics say they are worried that the local plans may discourage some employers from offering their own retirement programs.
FCC not for deciding on internet providers
The head of the Federal Communications Commission wants to block requests by dozens of small and rural internet providers hoping to offer subsidized broadband connections to lowincome Americans nationwide, saying state officials should decide whether to allow those companies to participate in the federal program known as Lifeline.
The decision comes a month after the FCC’s Republican chairman, Ajit Pai, placed a hold on the applications of nine providers that he said were approved in the 11th hour by his Democratic predecessor, Tom Wheeler. And it signals a broader retrenchment for the program, which had been dramatically expanded.
Through Lifeline, roughly 3.5 million Americans receive a monthly credit worth $9.25 that they then use to reduce the cost of buying mobile or residential broadband. Millions more use the subsidy to purchase traditional phone service. The program, created during the Reagan administration, supports seniors, veterans and rural Americans who otherwise cannot afford phone or internet service.
It is funded by the fees collected on consumers’ phone bills each month.
Pai said Lifeline should continue to support internet service as an eligible benefit, but that the FCC should not be the agency to decide which providers may join.
Hold on travel ban draws Justice appeal
The Department of Justice has appealed a Hawaii court order that brought President Donald Trump’s travel ban to a national halt.
The appeal Thursday to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals came a day after U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson in Honolulu refused to dismiss his March 15 temporary block of the travel ban.
The government is now fighting to reinstate the ban in two appeals courts on opposite ends of the country. That increases the likelihood that one of the cases will make it to the Supreme Court.