Overnight Health Care: Kavanaugh questioned if Roe v. Wade was 'settled law' in leaked email | Dems up the ante in hearing | Senate to vote next week on opioid package | Officials seek to jail migrant children indefinitely | HHS chief, lawmakers meet over drug prices

View in Browser     Welcome to Thursday's edition of Overnight Health Care. It was another contentious day at Judge Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing, with abortion taking center stage. In the final day of questioning, Democrats pounced on leaked e-mails they said showed Kavanaugh's views on Roe v. Wade.   Kavanaugh questioned if Roe v. Wade was 'settled law' in leaked email. Democrats say new emails released Thursday are evidence that Judge Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination is a threat to abortion rights. In a 2003 email, Kavanaugh questioned if Roe v. Wade was "settled" law. Kavanaugh proposed deleting a line out of the draft of an opinion piece that said "it is widely accepted by legal scholars across the board that Roe v. Wade and its progeny are the settled law of the land." Kavanaugh questioned if legal scholars did agree that Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that established the right to an abortion, was settled. "I am not sure that all legal scholars refer to Roe as the settled law of the land at the Supreme Court level since Court can always overrule its precedent, and three current Justices on the Court would do so," Kavanaugh wrote. But those remarks might not be a gamechanger: Two swing votes, Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), have not expressed any concern yet, though it is possible they could after more thoroughly reviewing the email. In response, NARAL Pro-Choice America dropped another half a million on a TV and digital ad buy in Maine, where they're pressuring Collins to vote against Kavanaugh's confirmation. That brings the total spent on that ad buy to $760,000. NARAL says the ads have been running since Friday and will continue through the week of the Senate floor vote on Kavanaugh's confirmation. "The release of the committee confidential documents proves what women have already known, Brett Kavanaugh does not think American women can determine what is best for our lives, our bodies and our health," said NARAL President Ilyse Hogue. "Senator Collins has promised not just Mainers, but all American women, she will stand with us on this crucial question of our freedom and equality. Unless she stands with her constituents and votes no, Senator Collins will be turning back the clock for generations." A tense day: Democrats, facing their last day to publicly question Trump's nominee, upped their ante on Thursday, threatening to release confidential White House emails and accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of lying to senators. The Judiciary Committee hearing went off the rails almost immediately when Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) sparked a political firestorm by announcing that he was going to release "confidential" documents from Kavanaugh's time as a White House lawyer. Several Democrats then used a batch of emails publicly released on Thursday to imply that Kavanaugh had lied to the Judiciary Committee.  More on that here. Click here for more on the documents Booker released that had not been cleared for the public. And check out The Hill's live blog for the latest on today's hearing.   Azar meets with GOP lawmakers on drug prices. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar came to the hill Thursday to meet with GOP lawmakers to check in on drug prices.  No big announcements yet: Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.), who was also in the meeting, said that the group did not "directly" discuss specific legislation on drug prices but there was a "conversation" about areas where the administration could need additional authority from Congress.  But expect more administration actions soon: Asked if he expected more administrative actions to be announced in the near future, Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) said, "The answer is yes."  Keep watching rebates: Officials have also floated a move to eliminate or reform discounts known as rebates that drug companies pay to negotiators, in an effort to simplify the system and lower sticker prices. Lawmakers discussed rebates with Azar on Thursday, though Reed said that discussion was limited given the ongoing regulatory process. Read more here.   Trump administration seeks to jail migrant children with their parents. The Trump administration is proposing to indefinitely jail migrant children with their families, a policy that would overturn 20 years of protections for immigrant children. Administration officials on Thursday said the proposed change is necessary in order to prevent children from being separated from their families once they cross into the country illegally. Under the Flores Settlement Agreement, which has governed the detention of migrant children since 1997, detaining children for more than 20 days is illegal. The proposed regulations would terminate that agreement. The proposal has been in the works for months, as the Trump administration and congressional Republicans have sought ways to deal with the influx of families illegally crossing the country's southern border. Republicans have introduced numerous bills that would end the Flores protections, but despite requests from immigration officials, they have not been passed.  The reasoning: Administration officials and congressional Republicans have cited the Flores agreement as one of the primary reasons for the "zero tolerance" policy of separating children from their families when they are detained at the border. The administration faced fierce blowback for the policy. By ending the Flores agreement, they no longer have a reason to separate families. In addition, the administration has argued that the Flores protections incentivize parents to bring children when they try to illegally cross the border. Since children can only be detained 20 days, they are released into the country, with or without their parents. Read more about the proposed policy change here.   Senate to vote next week on opioid package. The Senate will vote next week on a package of bills aimed at curbing the nation's opioid epidemic, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced Thursday. McConnell's spokesman said that Democrats had dropped their holds on the legislation.  Why the hold up: Some Democrats had previously objected to a provision, calling it an earmark for a PhRMA-funded advocacy group. What's in the package: The sweeping package focuses on treatment and prevention as well as curbing the flow of illicit substances into the US. One of the bills to be voted on was authored by Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and advocated by President Trump on Twitter last month. The STOP Act aims to end the shipment of synthetic drugs like fentanyl to drug traffickers in the U.S. Across the Capitol: The House passed its opioid package in June. Read more here.   More on opioids....Blue Cross of Tennessee to stop covering OxyContin. The biggest health insurer in one of the states hardest hit by the opioid epidemic is taking a significant new step against the crisis: It will stop covering OxyContin. Blue Cross will instead offer coverage of two drugs it says are less likely to be abused, Xtampza and Morphabond, according to the Tennessean. "We're taking these additional steps because Tennessee deaths from prescription opioids have continued to rise, even as total prescriptions and dosage have decreased," said Mary Danielson, a company spokeswoman. "As the state's leading health insurer, BlueCross can make a meaningful difference in addressing the dangers of opioids. We believe it's the right thing to do -- for our members and for the state." Other steps include a seven-day limit on opioid prescriptions for people using the drugs for the first time and additional authorization requirements for higher doses of opioids. Read more here.     Thousands could lose Medicaid coverage in Arkansas under new work requirements. The state of Arkansas says 4,574 Medicaid beneficiaries had not complied with work requirements for the months of June, July and August as of Monday. While three months of noncompliance gets you booted from the Medicaid program, the deadline for beneficiaries to tell the state how they're meeting the requirement for August wasn't until Wednesday at 9 p.m. That means that number could go up or down, but it likely won't be a drastic change. A spokeswoman said the state expects to release the final numbers around Sept. 13. People who lose coverage will be locked out of the program until Jan. 1, when they get another three strikes for 2019. The National Health Law Program is suing the Trump administration for approving the work requirements in Arkansas. That same group won a lawsuit against the administration earlier this summer blocking similar requirements from going into effect in Kentucky.   In case you missed it (like we did) the Senate passed a bill yesterday banning the use of 'gag clauses' in contracts with pharmacies. Yesterday's crazy news cycle buried this interesting news. Sen. Susan Collins's (R-Maine) bill, which passed by unanimous consent, would ban pharmacy benefit managers from inserting "gag clauses" into its contracts with pharmacies. Such clauses prevent pharmacies from telling customers they can save money on some prescriptions if they pay with cash instead of using their insurance. The House Energy & Commerce Committee will mark up Rep. Buddy Carter's (R-Ga.) version of the bill Friday.   Progressive health care group targets vulnerable GOP candidates ahead of midterms. Progressive campaign group Health Care Voter is launching a new seven-figure voter mobilization effort against House Republicans in over 20 races, including states like California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa and Maine. The campaign will include digital ads, college campus mobilization, and a 50 state voter guide. They are targeting Republican incumbents for their vote to repeal ObamaCare. Targets: Some of the Republicans include Reps. Steve Knight (Calif.), Mike Coffman (Colo.), Vern Buchanan (Fla.), Karen Handel (Ga.), and Bruce Poliquin (Maine). Many of the races are labeled "toss up" by the Cook Political Report.   What we're reading Most insurers not nervous about ending ObamaCare mandate (Washington Examiner) The opioid crisis hits home. Mine. (USA Today) Avoidable sepsis infections send thousands of seniors to gruesome deaths (Kaiser Health News)   State by state Tobacco firms throw additional $7.7 million in campaign against Medicaid expansion in Montana (MTN News) Florida reaches deal on Medicaid mental health (WLRN) Newly formed 'Work, Not Obamacare PAC' to fight Idaho Medicaid expansion (Idaho Statesman)   From The Hill's opinion page There aren't enough doctors to go around Medicare-for-all: Too costly and for too little care   The Hill event Join us Wednesday, September 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. 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On The Money: GOP shrugs off Trump shutdown threat | Trump warns Japan ties could sour over trade | US businesses add 163k workers in August | House GOP huddles on 'tax cut 2.0'

View in your browser     Happy Thursday and welcome back to On The Money. I'm Sylvan Lane, and here's your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line. See something I missed? Let me know at slane@thehill.com or tweet me @SylvanLane. And if you like your newsletter, you can subscribe to it here: http://bit.ly/1NxxW2N. Write us with tips, suggestions and news: slane@thehill.com, vneedham@thehill.com, njagoda@thehill.com and nelis@thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @SylvanLane, @VickofTheHill, @NJagoda and @NivElis.   THE BIG DEAL--GOP shrugs off Trump shutdown threat: Congressional Republicans say they are unfazed by President Trump's on-and-off threats to shut down the government ahead of a funding deadline at the end of the month. "I don't think he'll let that happen," said Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), a member of the House Appropriations Committee. "Leadership is having good conversations with the president and I've got to believe we'll get this job done." Appropriators in both the House and Senate aim to pass nine of 12 spending bills in three packages by the end of the month in order to fund the government in the new fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. They expect to pass a continuing resolution (CR) to keep current funding levels for the remaining three bills, and any other appropriations they fail to pass by the deadline. Trump renewed his threats on Wednesday to shut down the government, saying he was "willing to do anything" to get funding for his signature policy proposal, a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico. But GOP leaders seemed unshaken by Trump's comments. The Hill's Niv Elis tells us more here.    House Speaker Paul Ryan:  "We have a very good understanding with the president that we want to get our appropriations done. We want to get as many bills signed into law this month, and we have a very good agreement and understanding that we're going to keep government funded." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: "I expect us to do a short-term continuing resolution for the balance of the funding and have the discussion about how to fund the wall after the election." House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.): "I think we'll fund the government." Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.): "Leadership is having good conversations with the president and I've got to believe we'll get this job done."   What comes next: Congress has a narrow window to pass the nine remaining funding bill needed to keep the government open. Negotiators were said to be approaching a breakthrough on a veterans health-care funding issue that would allow the first package of three spending bills to move forward to a vote early next week.   ON TAP TOMORROW: House Financial Services Committee: Hearing entitled "Survey of Terrorist Groups and Their Means of Financing," 9:15 a.m.    LEADING THE DAY Trump: Japan ties could sour when 'I tell them how much they have to pay.' President Trump touted his good relations with Japan on Thursday but warned the relationship may sour over trade. "Of course that will end as soon as I tell them how much they have to pay," the president said of his strong ties with Japan in a call to Wall Street Journal assistant editor James Freeman. Freeman shared the president's remarks in a WSJ op-ed published Thursday. Freeman said Trump had called him shortly after the editor appeared in a segment on the Fox News Channel praising the president for the strong U.S. economy. Trump's comments about Japan come as the U.S. finds itself in a number of trade fights with allies and other countries.   More from the frontlines of the trade war: The National Retail Federation and 150 organizations representing manufacturers, farmers, technology and natural gas companies told U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer that proposed tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods will cause widespread damage across the U.S. economy. China's commerce ministry vowed Thursday that it would respond to fresh U.S. tariffs with retaliatory measures, Reuters reported.   US businesses add 163k workers in August: Private sector companies added 163,000 workers to their payrolls in August, according to a report released Thursday, a solid gain that fell below economists' predictions for the month. The report from ADP Research Institute and Moody's Analytics showed a strong but slowing job market in August after nonfarm businesses added 217,000 workers in July. ADP reported last month that private sector firms added 219,000 employees in July, but revised that total down in Thursday's release. Economists polled by Reuters projected employers to hire 190,000 workers in August. While the ADP and Moody's report came in well below that prediction, both firms touted the strength of the overall job market. "Although we saw a small slowdown in job growth the market remains incredibly dynamic," said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's, added, "The job market is hot. Employers are aggressively competing to hold onto their existing workers and to find new ones." I break down the numbers here. More good economic news: The number of U.S. workers filing for unemployment benefits also fell last week to the lowest level since December 1969.   FINANCE IN FOCUS--House GOP huddles on 'tax cuts 2.0' plan: House Republicans on Thursday met to discuss a second package of tax cuts, ahead of the rollout of legislation next week. The meeting came as some lawmakers from high-tax states have voiced concerns about the package, which is expected to cement the 2017 tax law's $10,000 cap on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction. The centerpiece of the package, known as "tax cuts 2.0," is to make the 2017 tax law's changes for individuals permanent. Those tax changes -- which include tax rate cuts and an increase in the standard deduction in addition to the SALT deduction cap -- are currently slated to expire after 2025 because lawmakers wanted to pass last year's tax overhaul using special budget rules that allowed the Senate to clear the measure without any Democratic votes. The divide: The vast majority of House Republicans who voted against the 2017 law were GOP lawmakers in New York, New Jersey and California who were concerned about the SALT deduction cap. And some of them have worries about making the cap permanent. The timeline: House GOP leaders plan to hold a floor vote on the legislation later this month, less than two months before the midterm elections. Many of the blue-state Republicans face competitive reelection races. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) said after Thursday's meeting that he still plans for tax cuts 2.0 to cement the SALT deduction cap. Doubts shadow push for 'tax cuts 2.0': House GOP leaders insistence that they plan to hold a floor vote on a second package of tax cuts this month, comes as questions mount about whether such a move is politically smart for Republicans. The Hill's Naomi Jagoda breaks down those worries here.   GOOD TO KNOW  Economists are debating the effects of minimum wage increases after the University of California, Berkeley, published a study Thursday showing pay increases for restaurant workers did not harm job growth in six major U.S. cities. The U.S. on Thursday announced new financial sanctions on allies of Syrian President Bashar Assad amid concerns over an imminent assault on Idlib province. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar on Thursday met with Republican lawmakers on the House Ways and Means Committee to discuss ways to lower drug prices. The European Union has signed off on Apple's proposal to buy Shazam, effectively clearing the way for the deal to close. Former Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Chairman Martin Gruenberg reiterated his opposition to proposed changes to the enhanced supplementary leverage ratio backed by the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, per American Banker. Equifax's new chief information security officer is pushing changes meant to help prevent another customer data breach similar to the one that struck the company in September 2017, according to The Wall Street Journal.   ODDS AND ENDS A well-known concert venue in the Washington, D.C., metro area receiving federal funding gifted free tickets worth tens of thousands of dollars to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, according to a report by a government watchdog released Thursday. A new bank is suing the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, saying it is unfairly preventing the firm from pursuing a novel business strategy, according to The Wall Street Journal. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is calling on Congress to come up with a federal privacy standard in order to preempt states from passing their own laws governing data collection. THE HILL EVENT Join us Wednesday, September 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.           Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for Finance Newsletters     Forward Finance 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 Energy: Trump pick to lead mining regulator withdraws | Watchdog questions ethics of $43,000 in Zinke concert tickets | House votes to ease natural gas exports

View in your browser     TRUMP'S MINE REGULATOR NOMINEE WITHDRAWS: President Trump's nominee to lead a mining industry regulator withdrew his name from consideration Thursday, citing frustration over the ethics review process. Steven Gardner, a coal industry consultant, said in a statement that he was "saddened by the necessity" of his withdrawal from consideration to lead the Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE). "The decision was very difficult for me and comes after almost a year of back and forth with the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) over the conditions for an Ethics Agreement," Gardner said. "Now, I have reached the point that the uncertainty of when confirmation would actually take place, numerous reversals by OGE of conditions, unknown financial implications, and unknown final conditions have led me to make the decision to withdraw." Trump nominated Gardner, who lives in Kentucky, in October 2017. He is an unabashed supporter of the coal industry and outspoken opponent of many Obama administration regulations, like OSMRE's notable Stream Protection Rule that sought to cut down on pollution from mountaintop removal mining.   Sierra Club cheers: "Steven Gardner had no reason being nominated to direct the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) in the first place," Bill Price, Appalachian organizing manager for the Sierra Club, said in a statement. "He's a lifelong servant of the coal industry who consistently puts the profits of his bosses above the health and safety of coal workers, and the enforcement of our clean air and water laws."   Happy Thursday! 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. CLICK HERE to subscribe to our newsletter.   CONCERT VENUE GIVES ZINKE $43,000 IN TICKETS EACH YEAR: The non-profit that operates northern Virginia's Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts gives Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke free tickets that amount to about $43,000 a year, a watchdog report found. The decades-old arrangement was just one of a handful of concerns that the Interior Department's Office of Inspector General flagged regarding the organization's operation of the National Park Service-owned site, including potential ethics and financial issues. The concert venue has been receiving millions in funding from the Interior Department despite being financially self-sufficient, the report found. The watchdog additionally flagged that the park fails to contribute to NPS's deferred maintenance -- which is currently facing a $12 million backlog. Additionally, the report found that Wolf Trap has exclusive use of the national park land on which it operates and uses revenue generated from cellular towers on the Park to finance its operations. The 50-year old foundation, which generated $40 million in revenue in 2016, continues to receive federal financial support, despite an agreement with Interior that support would be phased out once it was financially sufficient. The IG's office also found that Wolf Trap's executive director is the highest paid of the 28 philanthropic partners visited by the IG office. The director makes $580,300 per year. Read more.   In other Interior IG news… Interior's Inspector General found that a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) official took retaliatory measures against an employee after he found out the that employee had filed an internal complaint. The watchdog determined that the unnamed official took two personnel actions against the employee, which included a written counseling and a lowered performance evaluation two 2 months after the employee submitted the complaint to the IG office. Additionally the report found that the FWS official then directed his own internal investigation into the employee's conduct during the two-month time period. The FWS employee initially alleged that the official was intimidating and verbally abusive and that he twice directed the employee to give false information pertaining to an FWS event and an FWS investigation. The Interior Office did not find information to substantiate those initial claims. Read the findings here.   HOUSE VOTES TO EXPEDITE SMALL NATURAL GAS EXPORTS: The House easily voted Thursday to reduce barriers to small-scale exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Rep. Bill Johnson's (R-Ohio) Ensuring Small Scale LNG Certainty and Access Act passed 260 to 146, with strong Republican support. The bill would require the Energy Department to approve proposals to export 140 million cubic feet per day or less of LNG. It would codify a regulation the department finalized earlier this year to exempt small exports from the requirement that officials certify that the exports would be in the "national interest." "This bill will strengthen our energy security, create jobs at home and open new markets for Americans. This bill is about creating a level playing field for the smallest projects," Rep. Pete Olson (R-Texas) said on the House floor before the vote. Democrats said the bill was unnecessary, given the Energy Department's regulation. "This process is working just fine," said Rep. Frank Pallone (N.J.), the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. "Rather than standing up for American consumers and manufacturers who benefit from low natural gas prices, the Trump administration is boosting the profits of oil and gas special interests, by allowing them to export LNG without any regard for domestic impacts." Demand for small LNG exports is strongest in the Western Hemisphere, especially in the Caribbean and Latin America.   OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY: Saudi Arabia's national oil company is considering launching a $1 billion fund to invest in international technology companies, The Wall Street Journal reports. The Forest Service dropped its Obama administration action to block mining near Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area, Minnesota Public Radio reports. California's state firefighting agency is requesting $234 million more from lawmakers after exhausting its budget on the recent spate of fires, CBS Sacramento reports.   IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Check out Thursday's stories ... -Interior watchdog: Concert park gave Zinke $43,000 in annual tickets -Trump nominee for mine regulator withdraws -House Republicans continue push for questioning over environmentalist's foreign ties -GOP rep: Parties 'have to come together' on climate change -Photographer cropped inauguration photos to make crowd look larger after Trump intervention: report         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.