- What Are Work Requirements For?: Politicians have long debated “the practical and moral utility of requiring people to work in order to receive government benefits.” Now, a last-minute provision added to the GOP health-care bill would impose these requirements on Medicaid enrollees. (Vann R. Newkirk II)
- Facts Are Stubborn: In a new interview with Time, Donald Trump “flaunted his elastic relationship with truth,” writes Yoni Appelbaum. The president has the freedom to surround himself with people and information that support his beliefs, but “sooner or later, the truth catches up.”
- Reconfiguring the Republicans: Trump wants to make the GOP a “worker’s party” for blue-collar Americans of all races. This goal, however, would require him to attract more support from working-class minority voters. Can he do that? (Ronald Brownstein)
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Snapshot
Police officers in Westminster hold flowers given to them by well-wishers the morning after an attack in London. Hannah McKay / Reuters
What We’re Reading
More on Trump and Russia: On Wednesday night, CNN reported that the FBI has information suggesting Trump associates “communicated with suspected Russian operatives to possibly coordinate the release of information damaging to Hillary Clinton’s campaign.” On Thursday, the White House dismissed the story.
A President’s Self-Evaluation: In his Time interview, Trump brushed aside criticism that he doesn’t always adhere to facts and evidence: “I’m a very instinctual person, but my instinct turns out to be right.” (Michael Scherer)
When a ‘City’s Students Vanish’: On February 15, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided a section of Las Cruces, New Mexico, a city near the U.S.-Mexico border. The next day, 2,100 of the public school district’s students missed class. (Jonathan Blitzer, The New Yorker)
A Rock and a Hard Place: Rich Lowry offers a gloomy forecast for Republicans in Congress: If the new health-care bill becomes law, they’ll spend years working to fix it. But if it doesn’t, “the rest of President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda may sink with it.” (Politico)
