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What We’re Reading This Week, January 16 – 20

Here’s a selection of articles the Federal Relations team is enjoying this week.

@POTUS – It’s official. Donald Trump is the 45th President of the United States, and he officially takes over the @POTUS handle today. President Obama and all of his prior tweets have been moved to @POTUS44. As president, Trump plans on keeping the @RealDonaldTrump account active. Read more in The New York Times.

18 Million – A Congressional Budget Office report revealed that repealing major Obamacare provisions without a replacement plan in place would quickly strip 18 million Americans of their insurance and cause premiums to skyrocket. The number of uninsured people could climb to 32 million by 2026, the report from the nonpartisan office said. Premiums, which would rise by up to 25% initially, would double by 2026. Read more at CNN. 

Complications on Taxes – President-elect Trump criticized Republican border-adjustment measure, which would tax imports and exempt exports, as ‘too complicated’. Read more in The Wall Street Journal. 

Capitol Rotunda (AOC)
Capitol Rotunda (AOC)

Conflict – Trump and Congressional Republicans don’t agree on everything. There are a series of topics and issues where the Trump Administration and Congressional Republicans will have some friction as to what to do and how to approach it. Read more in Forbes. 

Protection from Bears – The Senate HELP Committee heard from several nominees this week, including Education Secretary nominee Betsy DeVos. The hearing had some interesting moments. Read more in The Washington Post. 

ACA Moving Forward – Vanity Fair interviews former HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who helped implement the ACA and what the proposed Republican changes could have. Read more in Vanity Fair. 

Common Core – The much derided Common Core is something that President-elect Trump has said must go, but truly how much can be done? Read more at NPR.

EPA Nominee – “Science tells us that the climate is changing, and that human activity, in some manner, impacts that change,” Scott Pruitt told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in the opening statement of his confirmation hearing Wednesday. Read more in The Hill. 

This Has to End in Disaster, Right? – On Thursday through Sunday mornings until February 12, you can take part in “The Museum Workout” at New York’s Metropolian Museum of Art. It’s an 8:30 a.m. fitness class and museum tour by choreographer Monica Bill Barnes and her dance partner Anna Bass. Barnes and Bass pair their sneakers with sparkly dresses, and the tour route and soundtrack come via artist Maira Kalman. At $35, it costs about the same as a SoulCycle class. Read more at The MET.