1/ 24 million would lose insurance under the G.O.P. health bill within a decade, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found. Democrats criticized Republicans for pushing the health care bill through two House committees last week before the Congressional Budget Office had weighed in, saying it was irresponsible to begin considering legislation without a firm grip on its potential costs and ramifications. (New York Times)

  • Republicans may soon get a preview of the political price of health reform. The CBO will issue a report likely showing that millions of people may lose coverage under Republican health care legislation. (CNN)

2/ Trump’s budget proposal is expected to create historic contraction in the federal workforce if enacted. The spending budget Trump is set to release this week will offer the clearest snapshot of his vision: a smaller government, less involved in regulating life in America, with private companies and states playing a much bigger role. (Washington Post)

3/ The House Intelligence panel wants wiretapping evidence today. Trump has not offered evidence to support his explosive wiretapping tweets, in which he compared the alleged wiretapping to the Watergate scandal. (NBC News)

4/ House investigators on a Trump-Russia "collision course" as the top Republican on the intelligence committee was also on Trump's transition team. The lead Democrat is a fierce Trump critic. (Politico)

5/ Kellyanne Conway: "I don't have any evidence" of Trump wiretapping claim. Conway said that previous comments she made linking WikiLeaks' release of nearly 8,000 documents that purportedly reveal secrets about the CIA's tools for breaking into targeted computers, cellphones and smart TVs to Trump's claims were about "surveillance generally” and not meant to be taken as specific proof that his allegation was true. (ABC News)


Spicer: Trump didn't mean wiretapping when he tweeted about wiretapping. Last week, Spicer said Trump's tweet "speaks for itself" and declined to provide any further explanation. But today, Spicer was open to providing an interpretation for Trump's tweet, saying the President told Spicer he was referring to means of surveillance beyond wiretapping. (CNN)

Conway: Magic microwaves may have spied on Trump. There's really nothing else left to write… (The Daily Beast)

  • Conway defends Trump's wiretap claim by citing "microwaves that turn into cameras." The Trump administration continues to provide no evidence for the president’s claim that Obama ordered wiretapping of Trump Tower. (Huffington Post)

6/ Trump said no Americans would lose coverage under Obamacare repeal. Paul Ryan won’t make that promise. The GOP House speaker said it depends on how many choose not to buy insurance once the mandate is lifted; he ducked the question of how many would no longer be able to afford it. (Washington Post)

  • Ryan said he agrees with Trump that there will be a "bloodbath" in 2018 if Republicans don't follow through on their repeal promises. (Axios)
  • Another key Republican senator knocks the GOP Obamacare plan. Sen. Dean Heller panned House Speaker Paul Ryan's bill to repeal and replace Obamacare during a closed meeting with constituents, raising numerous objections to the House bill. (Politico)

7/ The big winner in Trump's decision to fire Preet Bharara might be Rupert Murdoch. The federal prosecutor was in the middle of a delicate case focusing on the conduct of Fox News executives. (New York Magazine)

  • Abrupt dismissals leave US attorneys scrambling. The quick exits aren't expected to have a major impact on ongoing prosecutions, but they gave U.S. attorneys little time to prepare deputies who will take over until successors are named. (Associated Press)

8/ Trump's budget director claims the Obama administration was "manipulating" jobs data. Mick Mulvaney said he has long thought the previous administration framed data to make the unemployment rate "look smaller than it actually was." (CNN)

9/ Trump expected to announce vehicle emissions rules review. Automakers have been pushing the Trump administration for months to reverse the Obama administration decision, which would raise the fleet average fuel efficiency to more than 50 miles per gallon by 2025 from 27.5 mpg in 2010. (Reuters)

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