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Senate Republican leaders this week narrowly averted an intra-party battle over ObamaCare by again promising to get a repeal bill to the president’s desk through budget reconciliation. But the use of reconciliation — a budget tool that allows bills to bypass the Senate’s 60-vote threshold — is still a matter of debate among Republicans in Congress. (Ferris, 8/3)

The House’s passage of a measure last week that would give the government more power to fire poor performers at the Department of Veterans Affairs was poisonous for federal employee unions and Democrats. But the bill contains a little-noticed change that lawmakers in both parties have clamored for, particularly after last year’s coverup of long wait times for veterans needing medical care. The measure would give whistleblowers some of the strongest protections in history — and make sure that supervisors who punish them for reporting wrongdoing are themselves punished. (Rein, 8/3)

Kitty Westin’s activism is fueled by grief, so for 15 years, since the death of her oldest daughter, Anna, she’s worked tirelessly as an advocate for people struggling with eating disorders. “Anna died from an eating disorder,” Westin said. “One of the issues we faced near the end of her life was getting our insurance company to authorize the treatment she needed. Eating disorders are a serious mental illness, but they are treatable if people struggling with them have access to high-quality care. Our insurance company denied Anna that coverage, and lack of education about her disease only added to her suffering.” On Tuesday, when the Anna Westin Act, a bill designed to help combat eating disorders through education and enhanced insurance coverage, was introduced in the U.S. Senate, Westin felt a mix of emotions. (Steiner, 7/31)