News Alert: Sentencing reform deal heats up, pitting Trump against reliable allies

View in your browser     Sentencing reform deal heats up, pitting Trump against reliable allies Negotiations on a criminal justice reform bill are pitting President Trump against some of his closest allies on Capitol Hill. Read the full story here           Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for News Alerts     Forward News Alerts     You Might Like       Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  |  Email to a friend  |  Sign Up for Other Newsletters   The Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006 ©2016 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Overnight Energy: Court orders EPA to enforce chemical safety rule | Dem says Zinke would 'sell' his grandkids for the oil industry | EPA reportedly poised to unveil climate rule replacement

View in your browser     COURT TOSSES EPA'S DELAY OF OBAMA CHEMICAL PLANT RULE: A federal court Friday threw out the Trump administration's attempt to delay a chemical plant safety regulation written by the Obama administration. In a major blow to the Trump administration, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the Clean Air Act forbids the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from delaying the regulation's enforcement, as it tried to do in June 2017. "Because EPA has not engaged in reasoned decisionmaking, its promulgation of the delay rule is arbitrary and capricious," the court wrote in its Friday opinion. The judges said the EPA's action "makes a mockery of the statute" and that "there is no textual basis for EPA's current interpretation" of the law. An EPA spokesman declined to comment on the ruling beyond saying that the agency is "reviewing" it. New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood (D), one of the leading litigants opposing the Trump delay, cheered the court's decision. "Again and again, the Trump EPA has tried to push through policies that jeopardize our health and fly in the face of the law -- and again and again, we've taken them to court and won," Underwood said in a statement. "This decision is a major victory for New Yorkers' -- and Americans' -- health and safety, ensuring that the EPA cannot put special interests first and block common sense protections against toxic chemical accidents." Read more on Friday's ruling.   Court losses stacking up for EPA: Friday's ruling is just the latest in a string of court losses for former EPA head Scott Pruitt's deregulatory agenda. On Thursday, a federal judge ruled against the Trump administration's attempts to rollback another Obama-era rule. The District Court for the District of South Carolina ruled that the EPA had not followed the rulemaking procedures when it attempted to suspend the implementation of the Clean Water Rule also known as the Waters of the United States. "As administrations change, so do regulatory priorities. But the requirements of the APA [Administrative Procedure Act] remain the same. The court finds that the government failed to comply with these requirements in implementing the Suspension Rule," the court wrote. The decision put a nationwide injunction on the administration's suspension reinstating the rule in 26 states. And last week, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt broke the law when he denied a petition to ban chlorpyrifos, a common pesticide linked to developmental and neurological disorders. That court ordered the EPA to ban the chemical within 60 days.   Why it matters: The Trump EPA has hit numerous roadblocks in its deregulatory agenda, including these, court rulings on methane and others. The federal judiciary could continue to be an impediment to the Trump agenda. Or will it?: On the other hand, most of the court decisions against the EPA have been on administrative matters, including the chemical plant rule decision. It will be a little while before the courts start weighing in on the substance of the EPA's rollbacks. For example, the EPA only proposed in May to repeal key parts of the chemical plant rule. That rollback has to be finalized before opponents can sue, and only then would the courts be able to judge it.   Happy end of the week! Welcome to Overnight Energy, The Hill's roundup of the latest energy and environment news. Please send tips and comments to Timothy Cama, tcama@thehill.com, and Miranda Green, mgreen@thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @Timothy_Cama, @mirandacgreen, @thehill.   DEM GOVERNOR: ZINKE WOULD 'SELL GRANDCHILDREN FOR THE OIL INDUSTRY': Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) slammed Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Thursday, saying he is in the pocket of the oil and gas industry and would "sell his grandchildren for the oil industry." Speaking at an event, Inslee took issue with Zinke's recent tour of California where the secretary visited neighborhoods struck by recent wildfires and told reporters "this is not a debate about climate change." Inslee, whose state has faced similar wildfire threats, said Zinke "would flunk any science test that these kids take," the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported. "With climate change you have a hotter, drier climate, Mr. Zinke. You have fires. What is there about this that you cannot comprehend ... This man works for us. We do not pay him to give us false information. We get enough of that from the President," Inslee said. He added: "That man (Zinke) would sell his grandchildren for the oil industry... We have just seen the beginning of the firestorm." An Interior spokesperson called the remarks unprofessional and "sad." "Bringing up the Secretary's granddaughters in a half-baked interview in order to get a couple headlines is outrageously pathetic and sad," said Interior spokeswoman Heather Swift. Read more here.   Where this is coming from: Zinke toured California along with Department of Agriculture head Sonny Perdue last weekend, meeting with fire chiefs and local representatives. During a number of interviews, Zinke pushed the need for greater forest management and likened the environmentalists who opposed logging and other brush clearing measures to "terrorist groups."   ON TAP NEXT WEEK: The House is still on August recess, but the Senate will still be in town next week. The Energy and Natural Resources Committee is planning a Tuesday hearing on the energy efficiency of blockchain and similar technologies. It comes amid explosive growth of cryptocurrencies and other technologies that use blockchain, as well as concerns about how much energy it uses. The Energy Committee is also planning a Wednesday hearing in its public lands subcommittee on 14 bills within that panel's jurisdiction. We'll have our eyes out as well for potential movement on the EPA's replacement proposal for the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan. Reuters reported Thursday that the proposed rule is likely to be unveiled next week.   OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY: Brazil's agriculture minister said banning glyphosate there would be a "disaster" for the country's farming industry, Reuters reports. Oil prices are on track for their longest downward streak since 2015, Bloomberg reports. Biologists will soon start a project of capturing bears in Yellowstone National Park to put tracking collars on them for research, National Parks Traveler reports.   IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Check out Friday's stories ... -Washington governor says Zinke would 'sell his grandchildren for the oil industry' -Court throws out EPA delay of Obama chemical plant safety rule         Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for Energy Newsletters     Forward Energy Newsletters       Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  |  Email to a friend  |  Sign Up for Other Newsletters   The Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006 ©2018 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Overnight Health Care: Senate takes up massive HHS spending bill next week | Companies see no sign of drugmakers cutting prices, despite Trump claims | Manchin hits opponent on ObamaCare lawsuit

View in Browser     Happy Friday and welcome to Overnight Health Care, where we hope you have plans for a relaxing weekend in anticipation of a busy week ahead.   Heavy lifting in the Senate: The Senate is back in session for a full workweek starting Monday night. Lawmakers are poised to debate a massive appropriations package that will fund the departments of defense, education, labor and health. It's a big deal. The Senate hasn't passed a standalone funding bill for labor, health or education since 2007. Every other time it's been part of an omnibus.   But it remains to be seen if the bill can be kept clean of poison pill amendments once it gets to the floor. Senate leaders want to avoid the types of riders on controversial issues that are typically added in the House; such as limitations on abortion and scrapping funding linked to the Affordable Care Act. Those amendments would effectively kill the bill.   The White House has taken issue with some parts of the bill, including its funding of the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program created under former President Obama. The program provides grants to organizations nationwide working to end teen pregnancy, but the administration argues there's no evidence it's been successful. But even if the Senate does pass the funding bill, it will still need to be reconciled with whatever funding bill passes the House. That's assuming House lawmakers can get one through.   Pharmacy benefit managers say they've received no commitment from drugmakers to lower prices, despite President Trump's pledge. Express Scripts, Humana, MedImpact, Optum RX and Prime Therapeutics all wrote in letters to Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) that they have not received commitments from drug manufacturers to lower drug prices. Why it matters: In May, Trump said drugmakers were going to announce "voluntary" and "massive" price cuts. That hasn't happened. A slew of companies have said they won't increase prices for the rest of the year. But only one company -- Merck -- has said it will lower the costs of some drugs. PBMs, which manage prescription drug benefits for insurers, said they haven't received any commitment from drugmakers, either. We explain here.   Coming up next week: The Senate Finance Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Elizabeth Darling, who has been nominated to serve as commissioner on Children, Youth and Families at the Department of Health and Human Services. The hearing is on Wednesday at 10 a.m. in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, room 215. Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health, will testify before the Senate health committee on "prioritizing cures" on Thursday at 10 a.m. in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, room 430.   The Hill event: Join us Wednesday, Sept. 12 for "A Healthy Start: Infant and Early Childhood Nutrition," featuring Reps. Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.) and Bobby Scott (D-Va.), and Administrator of the Food and Nutrition Service Brandon Lipps. Editor in Chief Bob Cusack will sit down with the headliners to discuss maternal, infant, and early childhood nutrition, and what steps can be taken to establish healthier eating patterns across all communities. RSVP here.   Manchin hits opponent on ObamaCare lawsuit A new ad from Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) shows Democrats-- particularly red state Democrats -- continue to see health care as a winning issue for them. In the ad released Friday, Manchin takes aim at West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey for backing a lawsuit from conservative states that argues ObamaCare's protections for people with pre-existing conditions are unconstitutional. Morrisey signed onto the lawsuit along with 19 other attorneys general. The lawsuit argues that since the GOP tax law eliminated the individual mandate penalty, the law's rules that prohibit insurers from denying people health insurance or charging them higher rates should be found unconstitutional. Morrisey's campaign challenged the idea that he wants to get rid of protections for pre-existing conditions, even though the lawsuit explicitly calls for it. "There is no debate over coverage for preexisting conditions," Morrisey campaign spokesman Nathan Brand said in a statement. "Attorney General Morrisey believes all West Virginians deserve access to affordable and quality healthcare and that is why we must repeal and replace the disaster of Obamacare." Read more and view the ad here.   What we're reading: Escape from the Mayo Clinic: How CNN reported the story on an alleged case of "medical kidnapping" (CNN) WHO expects more Ebola cases in Congo, can't reach no-go areas (Reuters) Trump's new immigration rule court hurt ObamaCare markets (Governing) Synthetic pot seen as a public health danger (AP)   State by state: Texas Tightens disclosure rules following Medicaid investigation (NPR) Social worker pleads guilty to felony Medicaid fraud (CBS Baltimore) Health insurance rates to increase 4.2 percent next year (Boston Globe)         Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for Healthcare Newsletters     Forward Healthcare Newsletters       Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  |  Email to a friend  |  Sign Up for Other Newsletters   The Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006 ©2018 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.