By Emily Goodin

It was a week of bad news for the Republican Party – the repeal and replace vote for Obamacare was cancelled in the Senate after the GOP couldn’t muster enough votes, Sen. John McCain was diagnosed with brain cancer, and President Trump turned against his own attorney general and his special counsel.
 
Let’s take it one controversy at a time:
 
Confused about where health care legislation stands? You’re not the only one.
 
The upper chamber is expected to hold a vote next week, likely on Tuesday when senators return to Washington. Bu what are they voting on? A straight repeal of the Affordable Care Act? Repeal and replace with the Republican plan? Repeal and replace with an amended version of the Republican plan? Repeal but with a delay on implementation? It all remains to be seen.
 
RealClearPolitics’ Caitlin Huey-Burns reports that if Republicans can’t fulfill this long-standing promise to repeal Obamacare “how can they sell the party to voters?” http://bit.ly/2vIdSDa
 
Public approval of the Affordable Care Act stands at 3.5 percent in the RCP average. http://bit.ly/2udqtyQ Congressional job approval is at a -53.8 percent. http://bit.ly/2tjhdIo
 
RealClearMarkets’ editor John Tamny writes of the GOP repeal effort: “Why legislate away one central plan in return for an allegedly improved central plan; essentially exchanging bad legislation for bad legislation on top of what already wasn’t working before 2010? The politics of repeal or partial repeal spoke to the horror of Washington doing anything to legislate a right to what was and is a market good like any other.” http://bit.ly/2vFLemt
 
McCain’s cancer diagnosis brought an outpouring of support from both sides of the aisle. Further details about his treatment and return to Washington have yet to be released but the senator tweeted on Thursday: “I greatly appreciate the outpouring of support - unfortunately for my sparring partners in Congress, I'll be back soon, so stand-by!”
 
The Arizona lawmaker’s presence on Capitol Hill is missed. Not only is he a crucial GOP vote for whatever next week’s health care vote turns out to be but he’s also chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which is dealing with nominees to Pentagon positions and a budget for the Defense Department. Plus the plain-spoken, happy-to-talk-to-the-press senator could also be counted on for his willingness to call out his own party. His influence and respect in the upper chamber should not be underestimated.
 
Finally, Trump gave a shocking interview to the New York Times to mark his six months in office. In it, he said he wouldn’t have appointed Jeff Sessions to be attorney general if he knew the AG would recuse himself from the Russian investigation. Sessions, afterwards, said he would continue in office as long as it was “appropriate.” http://bit.ly/2uGwlTM
 
A lack of faith in his staff and a lack of publicly supporting them is a typical move for Trump. He has made it clear he expects loyalty. Yet he doesn’t give it in return. There has been talk he will fire and replace staff. Will the talk now turn to whether they will quit?
 
Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported that Team Trump is looking into special counsel Robert Mueller, who is leading the Russia investigation, for possible conflicts of interest or things they could use to discredit him and his staff. http://bit.ly/2twGQJW
 
The president’s job approval is at a negative-16.1 points in the RealClearPolitics Polling Average. http://bit.ly/2slB9gm

 

TUNE IN: In Episode 4 of “The Future of the Administrative State,” RealClearPolicy editor Tony Mills talks with Nicholas Bagley, a professor of law at the University of Michigan, who argues that contemporary critiques of executive power miss the mark. What we really need, he asserts, is not more “judicial review” of administrative actions, but more “judicial humility.” The podcast discussion touches on the nature of regulatory oversight, the role of the courts, and today’s political dysfunction. http://bit.ly/2tHQVP5

UP AND AWAY: At RealClearDefense, Pentagon correspondent Sandra Erwin examines the Air Force’s push to update its fleet of surveillance planes: “The Air Force is embarking on a $7 billion program to replace the JSTARS fleet with modern planes by 2024. To meet that target, it has to select a team of contractors in the coming months to start building prototypes. Officials have said a decision will be made sometime between October and March. Congress already appropriated $128 million in fiscal year 2017.” http://bit.ly/2u5MHTu

WASTE NOT, WANT NOT: Sandra also reports that nominees for Defense Department positions have to face pointed questions in their hearings about waste, mismanagement, and concerns that a number of defense industry executives are moving into high-level Pentagon jobs. http://bit.ly/2vItzdw

MAKING THE GRADE: RealClearEducation editor Christopher Beach was in Denver for Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ speech to the American Legislative Exchange Council, where she “promised to minimize the federal government's role in education policy and allow states, local officials, parents and teachers to lead the way.” http://bit.ly/2vIwZNF

In Other Originals

ANIMAL PLANET: At RealClearPolicy, Gary Mowad, a former deputy chief with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, argues the Endangered Species Act should be reformed, not repealed. http://bit.ly/2uzue3I
 
FRENCH RELATIONS: At RealClearWorld, Ronald Tiersky writes on Trump’s relationship with French President Emmanuel Macron: “International relations is not simply about winning and losing, about getting the best deals today. Macron has an idea of France in her historic “special role” as a permanent counter-example to American can-do impatience.” http://bit.ly/2tHnfBM
 
BY THE BOOK: At RealClearEducation, Lexington Institute President Don Soifer reviews the new book “Education Savings Accounts: The New Frontier in School Choice” by Nat Malkus, Adam Peshek and Gerard Robinson, which explores the latest school choice trend: education savings accounts. http://bit.ly/2vvh1WP
 
FOOTNOTES: At RealClearBooks, editor John Waters talks to Michael Pitre for the site’s new spotlight-on-authors feature. http://bit.ly/2uJyoqV
 
Additionally, RealClearBooks has an excerpt from  Joshua Levine’s book "Dunkirk: The History Behind the Major Motion Picture.” http://bit.ly/2twEP08
 
NOTHING BUT NET: At RealClearPolicy, former Rep. Harold Ford Jr. writes that “net neutrality is vitally important, but the FCC’s woefully outdated public-utility approach to this issue is falling short. If we want to preserve net neutrality for the future, Congress must enact bipartisan legislation making an open internet the law of the land.” http://bit.ly/2vrXyXV
 
CARE FIRST: At RealClearHealth, Dr. Kevin Campbell, in the final part of his digital health series, examines the final frontier: personalized care. http://bit.ly/2vIbpc2 You can read the entire series here: http://bit.ly/2gQe0xQ
 
MODERN MEDICINE: RealClearScience editor Ross Pomeroy looks at six common medical conditions that don’t actually exist. http://bit.ly/2ueNYJw
 
CYBER CENTS: RealClearLife examines whether Bitcoin can continue to lead the cryptocurrency market.  http://bit.ly/2tDv5fA
 
Also at RealClearLife, Sean Cunningham recounts the real story behind the upcoming film “Dunkirk” about the dramatic rescue of trapped Allied troops. http://bit.ly/2tgdmM3
 
TOUCHDOWN: At RealClearSports, editor Cory Gunkel looks at the top 10 college football contenders http://bit.ly/2uJMGaS