Tag Archives: Government

UK government declines to publish review on funding of extremism

FILE PHOTO: Britain's Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, arrives in Downing Street for a cabinet meeting, in central London, Britain June 20, 2017. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

By Michael Holden

LONDON (Reuters) – The British government said on Wednesday it would not publish in full its report on the sources of funding of Islamist extremism in Britain, prompting opposition charges that it was trying to protect its ally Saudi Arabia.

The report, commissioned in November 2015 by then-Prime Minister David Cameron, was handed to the government last year and ministers have been under pressure to release its findings following three deadly attacks in Britain since March which have been blamed on Islamist militants.

Home Secretary (interior minister) Amber Rudd said that though some extremist Islamist organizations were receiving hundreds of thousands of pounds, she had decided against publishing the review in full.

“This is because of the volume of personal information it contains and for national security reasons,” she said in a written statement to parliament.

The review found the most common source of support for these organizations was from small, anonymous donations from people based in Britain, according to Rudd.

But it also found overseas funding was a significant source of income for a small number of organizations.

“Overseas support has allowed individuals to study at institutions that teach deeply conservative forms of Islam and provide highly socially conservative literature and preachers to the UK’s Islamic institutions,” Rudd’s statement said. “Some of these individuals have since become of extremist concern.”

Critics were quick to see a cover-up to shield Saudi Arabia, a powerful Gulf ally of Britain and the world’s biggest oil exporter. The Home Office later released a statement denying this.

“Contrary to suggestions by some media outlets, diplomatic relations played absolutely no part in the decision not to publish the full report,” the statement said.

Lawmaker Caroline Lucas, co-leader of the Green Party who had been pressing the government to release the report, said Rudd’s statement was unacceptable.

“The statement gives absolutely no clue as to which countries foreign funding for extremism originates from – leaving the government open to further allegations of refusing to expose the role of Saudi Arabian money in terrorism in the UK,” she said.

That view was echoed by the Liberal Democrats and the main opposition Labour party.

“There is a strong suspicion this report is being suppressed to protect this government’s trade and diplomatic priorities, including in relation to Saudi Arabia,” said Labour’s home affairs spokeswoman, Diane Abbott.

Britain’s Henry Jackson Society (HJS) think tank last week released a report which said foreign funding for Islamist extremism in Britain primarily came from governments and government-linked foundations in the Gulf, as well as Iran.

“Foremost among these has been Saudi Arabia, which since the 1960s has sponsored a multimillion dollar effort to export Wahhabi Islam across the Islamic world, including to Muslim communities in the West,” the report said.

The Saudi government has demanded the HJS provide evidence for its claims, saying it was committed to fighting terrorism and violent extremism at home and across the world.

“If there is a list of names of Saudi individuals or organizations with proven links to UK terrorism, the think tank should present them and Saudi Arabia will deal with them,” Saudi Information Minister Awwad Alawwad said in a statement.

(Additional reporting by Kylie MacLellan and William MacLean in Dubai; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Senate may vote on revised healthcare bill next week

Senate Majority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) attends a new conference following party policy lunch meeting at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S. July 11, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

By Yasmeen Abutaleb and Susan Cornwell

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Senate Republicans said Tuesday they will seek to bring their healthcare overhaul to the Senate floor next week after a lengthy intraparty struggle, but it remained unclear whether they had the votes to pass the measure or even what form it would finally take.

With his reputation as a master strategist on the line, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell laid out a timetable for Senate consideration of legislation to fulfill President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to dismantle the 2010 Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

In a departure from Republican orthodoxy on tax-cutting, the legislation likely will retain some of the taxes that were imposed on the wealthy under Obamacare, Senate sources said.

But it was unknown whether a revised version of the bill to be announced on Thursday morning can satisfy both moderates and hard-line conservatives in the Republican majority who voiced opposition to a draft unveiled last month on very different grounds.

With Trump urging the Senate to act before taking the August break, McConnell pushed back the Senate’s planned August recess by two weeks to allow senators more time to tackle the measure that would repeal key parts of Obamacare, as well as pursue other legislative priorities.

McConnell’s announcement drove a turn-around in stock prices in afternoon trading on Wall Street after an earlier sell-off, on hopes that a shortened recess could mean progress on the stalled Republican legislative agenda.

A dark mood lingered among some Republicans over the healthcare subject, with party leaders appearing to act because of the need to dispense with healthcare and turn to other issues, among them increasing the U.S. debt ceiling.

“I think we’ve narrowed down now to where we know where the decision points are, and we just have to make those decisions,” Senator John Thune, a junior member of the Republican leadership, told reporters. Leaders were still trying to “figure out how we get to 50” votes, he said.

Republicans, who hold 52 seats in the 100-seat Senate, would need 50 votes to pass the bill, with Vice President Mike Pence providing the tie-breaking vote.

“I am very pessimistic” about the prospects for Republican healthcare legislation, Chuck Grassley, a senior senator, told Fox News on Tuesday. Another Republican senator, Lindsey Graham, was working on his own healthcare proposal and will unveil it this week, a Graham aide said.

KEEPING OBAMACARE TAXES

McConnell said the plan was to vote on the healthcare bill next week, and said he hoped to have a fresh analysis of the bill from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office at the start of the week. He did not reveal any of the planned changes to the draft, on which he postponed action last month after it failed to gather enough support.

But Senate sources said it is likely that two Obamacare taxes on the wealthy will be kept in place – a 3.8 percent net investment tax and a 0.9 percent payroll tax that helps finance Medicare – which would appeal to moderates who have balked at the prospect of cutting taxes for the wealthy while reducing benefits for the poor.

“Obviously that’s the direction I think that a lot of our members want to move, is to keep some of those (taxes) in place and be able to use those revenues to put it into other places in the bill,” Thune said, while stressing that no decisions were final.

Republicans could also retain Obamacare’s limit on corporate tax deductions for executive pay in the health insurance industry, one Senate source said.

It was unclear whether the bill would include a proposal by conservative Republican Ted Cruz that would allow insurers to offer basic low-cost healthcare plans that do not comply with Obamacare regulations.

Cruz argues it would help to lower premiums, but critics say it would allow insurers to offer skimpier plans that may not cover essential health benefits while also charging more for more comprehensive, Obamacare-compliant plans.

The Senate Republican healthcare bill unveiled last month would phase out the Obamacare expansion of Medicaid health insurance for the poor and disabled, sharply cut federal Medicaid spending beginning in 2025, repeal many of Obamacare’s taxes, end a penalty on individuals who do not obtain insurance and overhaul Obamacare’s subsidies to help people buy insurance with tax credits.

Democrats are united in opposition to the bill and at least 10 Republicans have said they oppose the existing draft. The House of Representatives passed its own version in May.

Moderate Republicans are uneasy about the millions of people forecast to lose their medical insurance under the draft legislation, and hard-line conservatives say it leaves too much of Obamacare intact.

Democrats call the Republican legislation a giveaway to the rich that would hurt the most vulnerable Americans.

(Additional reporting by David Morgan and Amanda Becker; Writing by Susan Cornwell and Tom Brown; Editing by Mary Milliken and Leslie Adler)

Turkey takes control of nearly 1,000 companies since failed coup: deputy PM

Supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan wave national flags during a trial of soldiers accused of attempting to assassinate Erdogan on the night of the failed July 15 coup, in Mugla, Turkey, March 8, 2017. REUTERS/Kenan Gurbuz

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish authorities have seized or appointed an administrator to 965 companies with total annual sales of some 21.9 billion lira ($6 billion) in the year since an attempted coup in July 2016, Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli said on Friday.

Under the emergency rule imposed after the coup, Turkish authorities took control of companies suspected of having links to followers of Fethullah Gulen, the U.S.-based Muslim cleric blamed by Ankara for the failed military takeover.

The 965 companies under state management control, based in 43 provinces across Turkey, have assets totaling some 41 billion lira ($11.3 billion) and employ 46,357 people, Canikli said in a written statement.

Turkey took control of a bank, industrial companies and media firms as part of the crackdown on companies accused of links to Gulen. He has denied involvement in the putsch.

Apart from the business crackdown, Turkey has jailed more than 50,000 people pending trial and suspended or dismissed some 150,000, including soldiers, police officers, teachers and civil servants, over alleged links with terrorist groups.

The purge has alarmed Turkey’s Western allies and human rights groups, who say President Tayyip Eroding is using the coup as a pretext to muzzle dissent, a charge he denies.

Ten people including Amnesty International’s Turkey director and other rights activists were detained this week on suspicion of membership of a terrorist organization, Amnesty said on Thursday, in what it called a “grotesque abuse of power”.

The government has said the security measures are necessary because of the gravity of the threats facing Turkey, which is also battling Kurdish and Islamist militants. More than 240 people were killed in last year’s coup attempt.

(Reporting by Ebru Tuncay; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Gareth Jones)

Republican lawmaker Steve Scalise’s condition worsens after June shooting

FILE PHOTO: House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) speaks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol, hours before an expected vote to repeal Obamacare in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 4, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Representative Steve Scalise, shot and wounded during a baseball practice last month, developed an infection and was readmitted to an intensive care unit, MedStar Washington Hospital Center said on Wednesday.

Scalise, the No. 3 Republican leader in the U.S. House of Representatives, had been improving in recent weeks following surgeries to repair internal organs and broken bones.

The hospital, which downgraded his condition to “serious” from “fair,” said it would provide another update on Thursday.

A gunman opened fire on Scalise and other Republican lawmakers as they practiced on June 14 in a Washington, D.C., suburb for a charity baseball game. Scalise, from Louisiana, was shot in the hip.

Gunman James Hodgkinson, 66, had a history of posting angry messages against Republican President Donald Trump. He died after being wounded by police at the Alexandria, Virginia, ballpark.

(Reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Howard Goller)

Maine, New Jersey end state government shutdowns

A "Park Closed" sign is seen at an entrance to Liberty State Park during a partial state government shutdown in Jersey City, New Jersey U.S., July 3, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

By Daniel Trotta

(Reuters) – New Jersey and Maine ended partial government shutdowns just in time for the Fourth of July holiday on Tuesday, helping New Jersey Governor Chris Christie move past the embarrassment of being photographed on a beach that had been closed to the public.

Both states had suspended non-essential services for three days after failing to reach budget agreements. Their Republican governors signed the budget bills after late-night negotiations with their respective state legislatures.

New Jersey and Maine were two of nine states that had missed their deadlines for enacting budgets in time for the July 1 start of the fiscal year.

Christie signed a $34.7 billion budget measure that included reshaping the state’s largest health insurer, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, which covers 3.8 million people in the state.

All state parks and beaches would be open for the Fourth of July holiday and state offices would be open as usual on Wednesday, the governor said.

Christie had remained unapologetic after the Star-Ledger newspaper captured the photos by hiring a plane to fly the New Jersey coastline, showing Christie with family and friends on a state beach on Sunday that was otherwise deserted because of the shutdown.

The scandal became a popular topic on social media with images of Christie in his beach chair superimposed into places such as famous beach scenes in the movies “From Here to Eternity” and “Planet of the Apes.”

Christie played down the kerfuffle.

“If they had flown that plane over the beach and I was sitting next to a 25-year-old blonde in that beach chair next to me, that’s a story,” Christie said.

While states have mostly recovered since the 2007-2009 recession, their revenue growth has not always kept pace with the national economy.

Illinois is in its third year without an enacted budget. In Connecticut and Pennsylvania, lower-than-anticipated income tax collections exacerbated budget gaps and led to disputes over how to close them.

Maine Governor Paul LePage announced on Twitter that he had signed a budget for the fiscal years 2018 and 2019.

“The Maine state government shutdown is now over. Happy Fourth of July!” LePage said.

“I have signed a budget with no tax increase. I thank the House Republicans for standing strong for the Maine people,” he said in a second tweet.Maine state police, parks and offices responsible for collecting revenue had all planned to work through the shutdown, the state’s first since 1991.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Chris Reese)

Maine, New Jersey lawmakers scramble to end partial government shutdowns

A "Park Closed" sign is seen at an entrance to Liberty State Park during a partial state government shutdown in Jersey City, New Jersey U.S., July 3, 2017.

By Elinor Comlay and Chris Kenning

(Reuters) – Partial government shutdowns in Maine and New Jersey stretched to a second day on Sunday as lawmakers returned to their respective state capitals in a bid to break budget impasses that have led to the suspension of many nonessential services.

In Maine, a bipartisan budget committee met in Augusta in hopes of breaking a stalemate between Republican Governor Paul LePage and Democratic lawmakers. The shutdown came after LePage threatened to veto a compromise reached by lawmakers in the state’s $7.055 billion, two-year budget.

At New Jersey’s statehouse in Trenton, there was little evidence of progress in resolving a fight over a health insurance bill that Republican Governor Chris Christie said must be passed alongside the state’s budget.

Maine state police, parks and all offices responsible for collecting revenue planned to operate during the shutdown, the state’s first since 1991, but the majority of 12,000 state employees will be furloughed.

New Jersey residents were not so lucky. With the July 4 holiday weekend in full swing, the shutdown there included the closure of Island State Beach Park, one of New Jersey’s few free public beaches, and all other state parks.

Although he beach park was closed to the public, Christie took a state helicopter on Saturday to a gubernatorial residence there to be with family and said he would go back on Sunday night.

“That’s just the way it goes. Run for governor, and you have can have a residence there,” he said when pressed on the issue.

At a news conference on Sunday afternoon, the governor said he had not spoken since Friday to Democratic holdouts.

The impasse could mean a furlough for 30,000 to 35,000 state employees on Monday.

In Maine, the stalled budget proposal would have repealed a measure voters approved in November for a 3 percent income tax hike on residents earning more than $200,000 a year. It also contained a 1.5 percent increase in the lodging tax, while increasing funding for public education by $162 million.

LePage has promised to veto any spending plan that raises taxes.

A six-member bipartisan House-Senate budget panel huddled into the evening on Sunday seeking to reach a deal that would win the two-thirds vote needed for passage of an emergency budget bill in both legislative chambers.

Mary-Erin Casale, a spokeswoman for Democratic House Speaker Sara Gideon, said a new compromise could be ready for a vote as early as Monday morning, about the time state employees planned to protest the shutdown at the capitol.

A spokeswoman for the governor could not be reached for comment on Sunday.

 

HEALTH INSURANCE STALEMATE

At the center of New Jersey’s stalemate was a plan by Christie to shake up the state’s largest health insurer, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, which he said lacked sufficient transparency and spent too much on salaries.

He threatened to cut $150 million in school funding and other items unless lawmakers adopt his proposal, which would redirect some of Horizon’s reserves to drug addiction treatment and other services.

Christie offered to hear Democrats’ proposals for breaking the impasse, saying: “It should end today,” but acknowledged a settlement was unlikely so soon.

Christie, a former presidential contender whose reputation was tarnished by the Bridgegate traffic scandal involving some of his closest aides, ranks as the least popular governor in state history. He is in his second and final term.

Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto and other Democrats have criticized the Horizon bill as “bad public policy,” insisting that it be considered after the budget is passed.

Christie blamed Prieto for the shutdown and vowed on Sunday to stand by the Horizon bill, saying: “I got elected by a lot more people than Vinnie Prieto did.”

 

(Reporting by Elinor Comley in Atlantic City, N.J., and Chris Kenning in Chicago; Editing by Frank McGurty and and Peter Cooney)

 

U.N. urges Venezuela’s Maduro to uphold rule of law

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a gathering in support of him and his proposal for the National Constituent Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela June 27, 2017. Miraflores Palace/Handout via REUTERS

GENEVA (Reuters) – The United Nations on Friday criticized President Nicolas Maduro’s government for curtailing the powers of the chief state prosecutor and called on it to uphold the rule of law and freedom of assembly in Venezuela amid a clampdown on protesters.

Critics of Maduro have taken to the streets almost daily for three months to protest against what they call the creation of a dictatorship. The protests, which have left nearly 80 dead, frequently culminate in violent clashes with security forces.

Ruling Socialist Party officials have launched a series of attacks against chief state prosecutor Luisa Ortega, from accusations of insanity to promoting violence, after her high-profile break with the government.

“The decision by the Venezuelan Supreme Court on 28 June to begin removal proceedings against the Attorney General, freeze her assets and ban her from leaving the country is deeply worrying, as is the ongoing violence in the country,” U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told a Geneva briefing.

The Supreme Court’s Constitutional Chamber has nullified Ortega’s appointment of a deputy attorney general, naming someone else in violation of the law, he said. It also transferred some of her functions to the ombudsperson.

“Since March, the Attorney General has taken important steps to defend human rights, documenting deaths during the wave of demonstrations, insisting on the need for due process and the importance of the separation of powers, and calling for people who have been arbitrarily detained to be immediately released,” Colville said.

The U.N. human rights office was concerned the Supreme Court’s decision “appears to seek to strip her office of its mandate and responsibilities as enshrined in the Venezuelan Constitution, and undermine the office’s independence”.

“We urge all powers of the Venezuelan state to respect the constitution and the rule of law, and call on the government to ensure the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of opinion and expression are guaranteed,” Colville said.

Maduro says the demonstrations are an attempt to overthrow him with the support of Washington.

The United Nations has received increasing reports that security forces have “raided residential buildings, conducted searches without warrants and detained people, allegedly with the intention of deterring people from participating in the demonstrations and searching for opposition supporters,” Colville said.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

House cracks down on illegal immigrants with bills backed by Trump

U.S. President Donald Trump (L) meets with immigration crime victims at the White House in Washington, U.S., June 28, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

By Steve Holland and Amanda Becker

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Bills backed by U.S. President Donald Trump to crack down on illegal immigrants passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday, drawing criticism from immigration activists and others who called them a threat to civil liberties.

The House voted 228-195 to pass the “No Sanctuary for Criminals Act” that would withhold some federal grants to so-called “sanctuary city” jurisdictions that do not comply with certain federal immigration laws.By a vote of 257-167, the chamber also passed “Kate’s law” to increase penalties for illegal immigrants who return to the United States. It is named for Kate Steinle, who was shot dead in San Francisco in 2015. An illegal immigrant who had been deported five times was charged with her murder.

“I applaud the House for passing two crucial measures to save and protect American lives,” Trump said in a statement. “These were bills I campaigned on and that are vital to our public safety and national security.”

Both bills will need approval from the Senate to become law. Trump’s Republicans control both chambers. But Democrats assailed the measures as fear-mongering.

“Although people who illegally re-enter the country do so to reunite with their families, or to flee violence or persecution, this bill considers them all dangerous criminals who deserve lengthy prison sentences,” Democratic Representative Jerrold Nadler said during debate on “Kate’s Law.”

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump demanded action against sanctuary cities, which provide some protection for illegal immigrants under laws that limit how much cooperation local police may have with federal immigration authorities.

The “No Sanctuary for Criminals Act” prohibits sanctuary cities from adopting policies that restrict police officers from asking individuals about their immigration status or the immigration status of others.

Under the laws, illegal immigrants would face mandatory detention for past convictions of an expanded number of offenses, such as driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

On Wednesday, Trump promoted both bills at the White House with speeches by parents of young people slain by people who live in, or immigrated to, the United States illegally.

(Reporting By Steve Holland and Amanda Becker; Editing by Grant McCool, Howard Goller and Diane Craft)

Mexico opposition officials targeted by government spying: report

A Mexican flag is seen over the city of Tijuana, Mexico from San Ysidro, a district of San Diego, California, U.S., April 21, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake

By Michael O’Boyle

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Three senior opposition officials in Mexico, including a party leader, were targeted with spying software sold to governments to fight criminals and terrorists, according to a report by researchers at the University of Toronto.

The officials, who included conservative National Action Party (PAN) head Ricardo Anaya, received text messages linked to software known as Pegasus, which Israeli company NSO Group only sells to governments, the report by Citizen Lab said.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has asked the attorney general’s office to investigate charges that the government spied on private citizens, saying he wanted to get to the bottom of the accusations that he called “false.”

Last week, Citizen Lab, a group of researchers at the University of Toronto’s Munk School, identified 12 activists, human-rights lawyers and journalists who had also seen attempts to infect their phones with the powerful spyware.

John Scott-Railton, one of a group of researchers at Citizen Lab who have spent five years tracking the use of such spyware by governments against civilians, said Mexico’s case was notable for the number of targets and the intensity of efforts.

“What we have already provided, in our prior reporting, is strong circumstantial evidence implicating the government of Mexico,” he said.

Anaya, PAN Senator Roberto Gil Zuarth and Fernando Rodriguez, the PAN’s communications secretary, received infectious messages in June 2016, when lawmakers were discussing anti-corruption legislation, the report said.

The PAN officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report, which was published on Citizen Lab’s website: http://bit.ly/2sl8UiH.

Pena Nieto’s office said in a statement that it “categorically refuses to allow any of its agencies to carry out surveillance or intervention of communications” except for fighting organized crime or national security threats, and only with court authorization.

Mexico’s government purchased about $80 million worth of spyware from NSO Group, according to a report by the New York Times last week.

The spying allegations have added to the problems facing Pena Nieto, whose popularity has waned due to rising violence and signs of widespread corruption.

Among the previous targets who Citizen Lab identified were Carmen Aristegui, a journalist who in 2014 helped reveal that Pena Nieto’s wife had acquired a house from a major government contractor, as well as lawyers representing the families of 43 students who disappeared and were apparently massacred in 2014.

At least nine of the people who were targeted filed charges with authorities on June 19. On June 22, Pena Nieto promised a thorough investigation and insisted that Mexico was a democracy that tolerated critical voices.

The president’s office said in its latest statement that any new allegations would be added to the current investigation.

(Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Frank Jack Daniel)

Facing revolt on healthcare bill, U.S. Senate Republicans delay vote

Protesters demonstrate the Republican healthcare bill outside Republican Congressman Darrell Issa's office in Vista, California, June 27, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake

By Susan Cornwell and Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Senate Republican leaders postponed a vote on a healthcare overhaul on Tuesday after resistance from members of their own party, and President Donald Trump summoned Republican senators to the White House to urge them to break the impasse.

The delay put the future of a longtime top Republican priority in doubt amid concerns about the Senate bill from both moderate and conservative Republicans. With Democrats united in their opposition, Republicans can afford to lose only two votes among their own ranks in the Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had been pushing for a vote ahead of the July 4 recess that starts at the end of the week. The legislation would repeal major elements of Obamacare and shrink the Medicaid government healthcare program for the poor.

“We’re going to press on,” McConnell said after announcing the delay, adding that leaders would keep working to make senators “comfortable” with the bill. “We’re optimistic we’re going to get to a result that is better than the status quo.”

At the White House meeting with most of the 52 Republican senators, Trump said it was vital to reach agreement on the Senate healthcare measure because Obamacare was “melting down.”

“So we’re going to talk and we’re going to see what we can do. We’re getting very close,” Trump told the senators. But he added, “If we don’t get it done, it’s just going to be something that we’re not going to like, and that’s okay.”

McConnell, whose party has a razor-thin majority in the 100-member Senate, told reporters that Republican leaders would work through the week to win over the 50 senators needed to pass the bill, with a vote planned after the recess. Vice President Mike Pence could provide the crucial vote needed to break a tie.

“I think we can get 50 votes to yes by the end of the week,” Republican Senator Roger Wicker said after the White House meeting.

REPUBLICAN OPPOSITION GROWS

The House of Representatives last month passed its own version of a healthcare bill, but the Senate bill has been criticized from both the left and the right. Moderate Republicans worried millions of people would lose their insurance. Conservatives said the bill does not do enough to erase Obamacare.

The bill’s prospects were not helped by a Congressional Budget Office analysis on Monday saying it would cause 22 million Americans to lose insurance over the next decade, although it would reduce the federal deficit by $321 billion over that period.

The report prompted Senator Susan Collins, a Republican moderate, to say she could not support the bill as it stands. At least four conservative Republican senators said they were still opposed after the CBO analysis.

Three more Republicans, Rob Portman of Ohio, Jerry Moran of Kansas and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, said after the delay was announced that they oppose the current draft.

Portman and Capito cited the bill’s Medicaid cutbacks and how that would hurt efforts to combat the opioid epidemic that has taken a heavy toll in their states. The Medicaid program was expanded under former President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law.

“I think giving time to digest is a good thing,” Republican Senator Bob Corker said after the delay was announced.

“UNCERTAINTY” ON WALL STREET

U.S. stock prices fell, as the decision to postpone the vote added to investor worries about Trump’s ability to deliver on his promises of tax reform and deregulation, as well as changes to the health sector. Those expected changes have driven a rally in U.S. stocks this year.

The benchmark S&P 500 index closed down 0.8 percent, and the Dow Jones industrial average finished down 0.46 percent.

“The market likes certainty and now there’s uncertainty. What is this going to look like when this gets out of the next iteration?” said Peter Costa, president of trading firm Empire Executions Inc.

Passing the measure would be a win for Trump as he seeks to shift attention after weeks of questions over Russia’s role in last year’s U.S. presidential election.

McConnell has promised since 2010 that Republicans, who view Obamacare as a costly government intrusion, would destroy the law “root and branch” if they controlled Congress and the White House. Republicans worry a failure to deliver will cost them votes in next year’s congressional elections.

If the Senate passes a healthcare bill, it will either have to be approved by the House or the two chambers would reconcile the differences in a conference committee. Otherwise, the House could pass a new version and send it back to the Senate.

Lawmakers are expected to leave town by Friday for their July 4 holiday break, which runs all next week. The Senate returns to work on July 10, the House on July 11. Lawmakers then have three weeks in session before their month-long August recess.

(This story corrects Dow Jones industrial average’s percent loss in 16th paragraph.)

(Additional reporting by Yasmeen Abulateb, Amanda Becker, Eric Walsh, Susan Heavey and Tim Ahmann; Writing by John Whitesides and Frances Kerry; Editing by Leslie Adler)