April 04, 2017 10:45 AM UTC

Get More Smarter on Tuesday (April 4)

• 16 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

Dreaming of a “White Easter?” It’s time to Get More Smarter–if you think we missed something important, please include the link in the comments below (here’s a good example). If you are more of a visual learner, check out The Get More Smarter Show.

TOP OF MIND TODAY…

► Congress is scheduled to embark on a two-week recess at the end of this week, but there’s still the matter of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch to consider. Senator Michael Bennet (D-Denver) announced on Monday that he would not support a filibuster of Gorsuch, though he still won’t say whether or not he will vote in favor of Gorsuch’s nomination.

With or without Bennet, Senate Democrats say that they have enough votes to reject Gorsuch and force a filibuster. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is thus likely to invoke the “nuclear option” to limit debate and reduce the number of required votes for confirmation from 60 to 51. The editorial board of the Denver Post is encouraging Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Yuma) to reject the “nuclear option”:

Better to have the seat unfilled until senators can grow up and do right by the American people.

Trashing the filibuster over a single nominee would be doing a judge of Gorsuch’s caliber — and the nation — a terrible disservice.

► There is a growing school of thought among Congressional Democrats that Republicans would only be hurting themselves by invoking the “nuclear option” on Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch.

► Congressional Republicans are mulling their next steps as they attempt to undo Obamacare after the House failed to even bring a bill to the floor for a vote in late March. But as the Washington Post reports, there’s little reason to think House Republicans and President Trump could get a new plan past the Senate:

The new proposal would further relax some of the Affordable Care Act’s regulations, to placate conservatives who thought the previous GOP bill didn’t deregulate enough of it. States could seek waivers to opt out of the ACA’s requirement that insurers cover “Essential Health Benefits,” such as visits to the doctor, prescription drugs and maternity care. They could also opt out of the prohibition against insurers charging more from the sick than from the healthy. House conservatives are now saying this might get them on board.

But the problem is that, since this is a deregulatory change, a bill with this feature in it might not be able to pass the Senate by a simple majority under the “reconciliation” process, which is reserved for provisions with a budgetary dimension, according to Sarah Binder, a congressional scholar at George Washington University. This would trigger a so-called “Byrd Rule” challenge from Democrats, and to get around it, Republicans would have to appeal to the Senate parliamentarian.

Republicans may want to make sure that any potential change protects coverage for “pre-existing conditions” created from repeatedly banging your head against a wall.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► Dan Balz of the Washington Post explains how the Trump administration reflects the same mess that plagued Trump’s transition team:

Viewed through the lens of the first months of the new administration, Trump’s transition provided the template for what has unfolded since Inauguration Day on personnel and other matters. No transition goes exactly as planned, but Trump’s proved messier than most, and that has carried over into the first months of his presidency.

Throughout the campaign, Trump took a hands-off approach to transition preparations. It was bad karma, he believed, to start planning a presidency before he won the election. Once elected, he decided to run things his own way. “It went off the rails almost immediately after the election,” said one knowledgeable person who declined to be identified to offer a candid assessment

One effect was that the Trump team could not scale up quickly enough during the transition and therefore failed to maintain a full pipeline of appointees for the new administration. The Partnership for Public Service, in collaboration with The Washington Post, has been tracking 553 key administration positions that require Senate confirmation. To date, just 21 nominees have been confirmed and another 44 await confirmation.

► State Senator Owen Hill will challenge Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colorado Springs) in a Republican Primary in CD-5. History is not on Hill’s side in this quest.

► Former state Sen. Mike Johnston says he has raised some $625,000 in his bid for Governor. This is an impressive sum of money that portends a very expensive statewide race in 2018.

► The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden is facing serious cutbacks under the Trump administration. From the Denver Business Journal:

The national laboratory in Golden employs 1,700 scientists and researchers, contributed $872 million in economic impact across metro Denver in 2014 and has drawn $380 billion in private sector investment over the years, NREL’s director, Martin Keller, said in mid-March at a statewide solar power conference.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy typically gets about $2 billion a year, but is targeted for a cut of $517 million for fiscal 2017 — the budget year currently underway that ends September 30, according to a report by the Washington Post.

► A vote in the U.S. Senate last week to restrict certain federal funding for family planning clinics that offer abortions is unlikely to affect Planned Parenthood in Colorado.

► Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper joined leaders of several other states where marijuana has been legalized in encouraging the federal government to refrain from enacting strict federal enforcement of the good weed. From 9News:

The governors of the first four states to legalize recreational marijuana use want the Trump administration to maintain existing policies related to the enforcement of federal marijuana laws.

Colorado’s Governor John Hickenlooper joined Governors Kate Brown of Oregon, Jay Inslee of Washington, and Bill Walker of Alaska in signing a letter that was delivered to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on Monday.

In the letter, the Governors offer reasons for maintaining existing policy. They also ask for the opportunity to discuss any possible changes to regulation or enforcement prior to implementation.

► The Grand Junction Sentinel chastises Republican lawmakers in Colorado for refusing to take a responsible approach to declining revenue problems that are squeezing key funding priorities.

► Today is Election Day in Colorado Springs.

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► The Washington Post reports on another potential link between Russia and the Trump administration:

The United Arab Emirates arranged a secret meeting in January between Blackwater founder Erik Prince and a Russian close to President Vladi­mir Putin as part of an apparent effort to establish a back-channel line of communication between Moscow and President-elect Donald Trump, according to U.S., European and Arab officials.

The meeting took place around Jan. 11 — nine days before Trump’s inauguration — in the Seychelles islands in the Indian Ocean, officials said. Though the full agenda remains unclear, the UAE agreed to broker the meeting in part to explore whether Russia could be persuaded to curtail its relationship with Iran, including in Syria, a Trump administration objective that would be likely to require major concessions to Moscow on U.S. sanctions.

Though Prince had no formal role with the Trump campaign or transition team, he presented himself as an unofficial envoy for Trump to high-ranking Emiratis involved in setting up his meeting with the Putin confidant, according to the officials, who did not identify the Russian.

ICYMI

► At Least Rick Scott is Not Your Governor.

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