Trump and the GOP take White House victory laps

HOUSE REPUBLICANS PASS BILL TO REPEAL OBAMACARE

Recovering from an embarrassment just six weeks ago, House Republicans today barely managed to pass a new bill to repeal and replace Obamacare. It was 217 to 213 with no votes to spare.

In a Rose Garden celebration Speaker Paul Ryan gave President Trump credit for what the GOP calls "the beginning of the end of Obamacare." But Democrats jeered the measure, and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said, "You have every provision of this bill tattooed on your forehead. You will glow in the dark." We hear more from Margot Sanger-Katz, who reports for the New York Times.

TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDER STOPS SHORT ON "RELIGIOUS LIBERTY"

President Trump today made a gesture toward his base of support, which includes some 81% of white, evangelical Christians. At a National Prayer Day Celebration in the White House Rose Garden, he signed yet another executive order, announcing, "Under my administration, free speech does not end at the steps of the cathedral, or the synagogue – or any other house of worship. We are giving our churches their voices back."

Staff writer Emma Green, who covers religion and culture at the Atlantic, says the executive order addresses two basic issues but does not change the law.