Welcome to Wednesday, July 10th, micros and macros...

Should the ACA be struck down?

Lawyers from the Trump administration and a group of Republican states are facing off against a coalition of Democratic states and the House of Representatives in a case that could end the Affordable Care Act.

Arguments began Tuesday in front of a trio of 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals judges, two of whom were appointed by Republican presidents. Whatever the outcome, the case is likely to reach the conservative-majority Supreme Court.

In November, a federal district judge in Texas agreed with the red states and DOJ, ruling that because the ACA’s individual mandate is unconstitutional, the entire healthcare law is also illegal.

In March, the Trump administration submitted a filing to the 5th circuit court, writing "it is not urging that any portion of the district court's judgment be reversed."

In response, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said the administration's position was tantamount to an "all-out war on the health care of the American people."

Do you agree with the Trump administration that the ACA is illegal?

On the Radar

$15 Minimum Wage

Doubling the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025 would increase the pay of at least 17 million people and lift 1.3 million others out of poverty, but also put 1.3 million Americans out of work, a Congressional Budget Office report concludes.

The budget watchdog's report comes ahead of next week’s vote in the House on the Raise the Wage Act of 2019, which would increase the U.S. minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $15 in five annual steps through January 1, 2025.

Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, says the legislation “would benefit up to 95% of America’s low-wage workers.”

Michael Saltsman, managing director of the Employment Policies Institute, which is backed by the restaurant industry, argued that “[lifting] 1.3 million workers out of poverty at the expense of up to 3.7 million jobs is a terrible trade-off.”

Do you support raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour?

Under the Radar

#Unbanned

President Trump cannot block Twitter critics from his personal account, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled Tuesday. This affirms a lower court's ruling that Trump had been violating the Constitution by blocking critics of his viewpoints.

“The First Amendment does not permit a public official who utilizes a social media account for all manner of official purposes to exclude persons from an otherwise-open dialogue because they expressed views with which the official disagrees,” a panel of three Second Circuit judges wrote in a unanimous opinion.

The White House had argued that the president was using his @realDonaldTrump Twitter handle, not the official @POTUS45 government handle, and therefore has the right to block whomever he wants.

Should Trump be allowed to block his critics on Twitter?

Your Gov't At a Glance

The White House: President Trump in D.C.

At 11:10am EDT, the president will deliver remarks and sign an executive order on Advancing American Kidney Health at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center.
At 11:55am EDT, the president will return to the White House.

The House: In

Voting on a bill to lift per-country immigration limits.
Voting on a bill to remove gendered references to the president and "his" spouse be removed from the U.S. code.
Voting on a bill to make possession of toxins like ricin a crime.
Voting on a bill to reauthorize a program to help law enforcement officers in mental health crisis.

The Senate: In

Voting on the confirmation of three district court judges (Northern Florida, Western Pennsylvania, and Northern Indiana).
Taking procedural votes on the nominations of an assistant secretary of education and an assistant secretary of labor.