ICYMI: Hope on health care and hope for baby Charlie

This week’s toughest deal:

Senate leadership ran into a roadblock early this week when the Obamacare bailout measure fell apart due to lack of support.

After switching to a “repeal and delay” approach, they’re STILL trying to get to “yes” on addressing Obamacare. The latest tack? Throwing billions of dollars ($200 billion, to be exact) at liberal Republicans to buy their votes.

“Inaction is not an option,” President Trump said about Obamacare in front of the entire Senate GOP Wednesday. And he’s getting backup from his party leadership.

Meanwhile, House conservatives are going to the mattresses for a fuller repeal, and the wrong Utah senator is under fire.

This week’s toughest senator:

In a rare break from partisanship, lawmakers have shown overwhelming support for John McCain, whose diagnosis of an aggressive brain cancer was announced Wednesday night.

The day after, the senator told his “sparring partners in Congress” that he’ll “be back soon.”

Sounds like Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy was right when he called McCain “tough as a boiled owl.”

This week’s salvage:

Even without a full repeal of Obamacare, there are ways to still forge free-market solutions in health care.

This week’s shakeup:

Sean Spicer is out as White House press secretary. He’ll be replaced by Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who will be overseen by new White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci.

This week’s insight:

“Why is it that we have so many Republicans who openly support every tenet of Obamacare in the first place?”

This week’s cash bonanza:

After several long, numbers-filled hours, the House Budget Committee is still marking up the 2018 budget resolution. Conservatives are having a hard time getting excited about it. And for very good reason.

On the other side of the Hill, the House rolled out its 2018 budget bill, and liberal Republicans have pushed back against a 5 percent welfare spending cut. Surprise, surprise.

Get ready for even more spending from the Senate.

With some help from the Joker, I break down both the health care fight and the budget battle in an episode of Capitol Hill Brief.

This week’s military blunder:

The House finally sent a defense spending bill to the Senate – one that looks the other way on radical Islamic terror.

This week’s death threats:

Someone reportedly taped a note to a Republican senator’s office door over the weekend, threatening to kill him if he voted for the current Obamacare bill.

And Dean Heller isn’t alone.

This week’s political history:

Five years after his passing, what can the late Andrew Breitbart tell us about the sorry state of the Obamacare repeal effort? A lot, actually.

This week’s weird history:

The Capitol Building is full of tiny doors. Here’s what they’re for.

This week’s hope:

Lawmakers have offered permanent resident status to the family of critically ill infant Charlie Gard, who has been denied treatment for his rare genetic condition by the British government.

This week’s election watch:

The Senate Conservatives Fund is sharpening its teeth to take out Republicans voting to keep Obamacare.

Ted Cruz is going to face a Republican primary challenger from the left. Meanwhile, Lone Star Governor Greg Abbott has put together a Texas-sized war chest for re-election, and Mitch McConnell’s pick for the Alabama Senate race is also rolling in cash.

On the Democrat side, “Kooky” Kamala Harris is set to meet with some of Hillary Clinton’s biggest rainmakers. A book tour has sparked rumors of a run by former VPOTUS Biden. And the DNC is reportedly trotting out a new slogan next week (which sounds awfully inspired by a national pizza chain).

The Trump administration is reportedly courting Kid Rock to run for Senate. But he’s going to have some serious competition if he runs.

Across the street:

Chief Justice John Roberts is drifting further left. And hard.

Off the Hill:

The NYT Best Seller list remains a liberal farce

Is H.R. McMaster talking trash about Trump behind his back?

Sally Kohn’s sad, sad defense of Islamofascist Linda Sarsour

How a front group for the Iranian regime infiltrated over three dozen U.S. colleges