Congress Weighs Rescue Package For O'Care, States Launch Pro-Gun Bills, And Capitol Hill Interns Forced To Sign NDAs

March 5th, 2018 Top Stories --------------------------------------------------------------- [Congress Weighs Rescue Package For O’Care As Trump Admin Hacks Away At Market]( The Gist: With the deadline to pass an omnibus budget bill to fund the federal government just a few weeks away, Congress is considering a rescue package for Obamacare’s troubled individual market, including funding for stabilization measures aimed at bringing down rising insurance premiums. [Despite Parkland, States Plow Ahead With New Pro-Gun Bills]( The Gist: Last month’s massacre in Parkland, Fla., which killed 17 high school students and staff, kicked off a national conversation about the need for increased gun control. But gun rights supporters are playing offense as well as defense. Despite Parkland, Republican lawmakers in a number of states are quietly advancing a slew of NRA-backed bills. In some cases, they’re even citing the shooting as a reason why we need more guns, not fewer. [Vox: Capitol Hill Interns Required To Sign Sweeping Non-Disclosure Agreements]( The Gist: Many unpaid interns working on Capitol Hill are required to sign non-disclosure agreements on their first day in Congress, Vox reported Monday. The agreements are reportedly designed to keep interns from speaking up about anything that happens in a lawmaker’s office, even in cases of harassment or abuse. From The Reporter's Notebook --------------------------------------------------------------- Former President Barack Obama’s last White House chief of staff, Denis McDonough, said Sunday that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) insisted in 2016 on "water[ing] down" a bipartisan statement on Russian election meddling, [TPM’s Matt Shuham reported](. “It took over three weeks to get that statement worked out,” McDonough told NBC’s Chuck Todd in an interview. “It was dramatically watered down.” Agree Or Disagree? --------------------------------------------------------------- Josh Marshall: "Commentators often say the President doesn’t like being questioned; he’s angry that his appointees don’t defend him; he lashes out at different staff members whom he’s ‘frustrated’ with. In other words, people look for process explanations. This is all seems like psychologizing and over-explaining to avoid the most obvious explanation: he’s scared and looking for a way out. But he can’t seem to find one. [It’s all escalating](. And we’ve learned over the last week that President Trump’s racket with Russia may be only one facet of his family’s political corruption. The level of apparent corruption, interlaced with numerous constitutional landmines, is beyond our national experience." Say What?! --------------------------------------------------------------- "This is the danger that we have in this country." - House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes (R-CA) on Saturday [complaining]( about a Stephen Colbert segment mocking him. BUZZING: Today in the Hive --------------------------------------------------------------- From a TPM Prime member: "Folks, it's probably time to stop focusing on some overpriced office furniture. I worked in the Snivel Service, and I can almost write the script that this followed. Boss says, 'Geez, this furniture is getting pretty tatty. Can we get something a little better?' Underlings scurry off to make the boss happy, gleefully tell him that they've got nice, new, shiny stuff on the way, and that's it's covered in their general furniture budget. Boss never even asks what the price tag is. And in an agency with a $41 billion budget, $30K really is de minimis. It's too much, but it's not a firing offense." Related: [NYT: Carson Considered Leaving HUD Over Department Budget Negotiations]( Have something to add? Become a [Prime]( member and join the discussion [here](. What We're Reading --------------------------------------------------------------- 'Everyone Sees The Difference': Race, Sexual Orientation And Florida's Responses To Parkland And Pulse ([Politico]( NPR’s Tiny Desk Is Actually Not Tiny At All ([Noisey]( [unsubscribe from this list]( | [update subscription preferences]( | [view email in browser](