Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Democrats Look To Force GOP Into Tougher Budget Votes
Top Democratic budget writers on Tuesday preemptively railed against the GOP鈥檚 yet-to-be-finalized spending blueprint even as they planned to force Republicans to cast more tough election year amendment votes on the budget. Senate Budget ranking member Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and his House counterpart, Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), want to use the budget process to make Republicans vote on things like minimum wage, sick leave and privatizing Medicare. (Bade, 4/14)
Monday鈥檚 session demonstrated that VA鈥檚 entrenched culture of retaliation against whistleblowers endures, a year after revelations exploded over poor service and the covering up of long patient wait times. The retaliation continues despite the solid efforts of the current VA secretary, who replaced one driven out by the scandal. (Davidson, 4/14)
