In an opening salvo against “Obamacare,” US President Donald Trump on Friday night signed an executive order that appears aimed squarely at undoing the requirement that individuals carry insurance or face fines.
The order directs federal agencies to stop issuing regulations that would expand the law’s reach. It directs them to grant waivers, exemptions and delays of provisions in the Affordable Care Act that would impose costs on states or individuals, potentially including the law’s penalties on people who remain uninsured — a key provision.
The order also says that federal agencies must allow states greater flexibility to carry out healthcare programs.
Photo: Bloomberg
“It’s a sign that the Trump administration is looking to unwind the law in every way it can administratively,” said Larry Levitt of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan clearinghouse for information and analysis about the US’ healthcare system.
One possibility is for the government to find new ways to grant exemptions from the law’s unpopular requirement that people who remain uninsured pay fines, if deemed able to afford coverage.
For example, Republican lawmakers in the US Congress have proposed an exemption for people in areas where only one insurer offers coverage — currently about one-third of US counties.
Meanwhile, the Republican-led Senate, taking little time to fill two critical national security posts, overwhelmingly confirmed a pair of retired US Marine generals tapped by Trump to run the Pentagon and secure the US’ borders.
A little more than an hour later, US Vice President Mike Pence administered the oath of office to James Mattis to be US secretary of defense and John Kelly to lead the US Department of Homeland Security.
Mattis had been confirmed by a 98-1 vote and Kelly 88-11.
Earlier in the day, during a luncheon following his inauguration, Trump said Mattis and Kelly were from “central casting,” referring to their reputations as tough-talking, no-nonsense commanders.
“If I’m doing a movie, I’d pick you, General Mattis,” Trump said.
Democrats delayed until Monday action by the full Senate on Trump’s pick for CIA director, Representative Mike Pompeo.
Senators Ron Wyden, Richard Blumenthal and Patrick Leahy objected to what they said was a “rushed confirmation” and demanded more time for Pompeo’s nomination to be “vetted, questioned and debated.”
Republicans said Democrats were unnecessarily delaying the confirmations and that the move left the spy agency leaderless over the weekend.
In a statement issued by the White House, Trump said he was pleased with the Senate’s confirmation votes and made clear he wanted more.
“I call on members of the Senate to fulfill their constitutional obligation and swiftly confirm the remainder of my highly qualified Cabinet nominees, so that we can get to work on behalf of the American people without further delay,” he said.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not