House passes drug pricing bill…

Current rules prohibit the Department of Health and Human Services from negotiating drug prices on behalf of Medicare — the federal government’s health insurance plan for the elderly. Private insurers use pharmacy benefit managers to negotiate drug rebates from pharmaceutical manufacturers in exchange for better coverage.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates Pelosi’s bill, if enacted, would save Medicare $456 billion over a decade but also keep eight new drugs from coming to the U.S. market.

Senate confirms another “not qualified” person to the federal bench…

Republicans in the Senate on Wednesday confirmed Trump judicial nominee Lawrence VanDyke to a lifetime appointment as a federal judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In a near party-line 51-44 vote, every Republican except Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) voted in VanDyke’s favor, while every Democrat voted against.