House GOP probe CVS Caremark for potential antitrust violations

 House Republicans want to know whether pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) CVS Caremark violated federal antitrust laws by threatening independent pharmacies to keep them from using money-saving tools outside the PBM’s network. 

In a letter to CVS obtained by The Hill, House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) asked the company for documents and communications about pharmaceutical hubs, a type of digital pharmacy service that can streamline the process of accessing and managing complex, high-cost specialty medications for patients. 

Jordan expressed concern that CVS prevents independent pharmacies from participating in hub arrangements, because the company wants to head off potential competition. If an independent pharmacy works with a hub outside the PBM, it could be excluded from the PBMs network. 

Pharmaceutical hubs are often sponsored by drugmakers, and they serve as go-betweens for the manufacturers and specialty pharmacies to assist patients. 

“By foreclosing a pharmacy’s access to pharmaceutical hubs, a PBM can choke off would-be competitors before they enter the market and lower prices for consumers,” Jordan wrote. 

“If CVS Caremark is eliminating opportunities for patients to access such services through an independent pharmacist, this practice raises significant concerns for patient welfare and innovation across the nation,” he wrote. 

PBMs are the drug industry intermediaries, and have come under increasing scrutiny by lawmakers and regulators. PBMs negotiate the terms and conditions for access to prescription drugs for hundreds of millions of Americans. 

PBMs negotiate prices with drug companies, pay pharmacies and create formularies that determine which drugs patients can access and how much they cost.  

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5037786-house-republicans-launch-investigation-into-cvs-caremark-for-potential-antitrust-violations/

Tulsi Gabbard is the strong, intelligent leader our intelligence community needs

 When Americans overwhelmingly re-elected President Trump last month, they sent a clear message: it’s time for real change. This mandate for change demands we fix our broken institutions, and there’s no better place to start than the intelligence community.  

Thankfully, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence, embodies the kind of leadership needed to uphold the Constitution, restore accountability and transparency, dismantle the corruption of intelligence agencies, and refocus their mission on protecting the American people — not targeting them.  

Gabbard’s life has been one of service and sacrifice. As a lieutenant colonel with more than 20 years in the U.S. Army Reserves, she has seen firsthand the cost of war and the critical role of intelligence in national security. She has handled highly classified information and led troops on deployments. She understands the gravity of safeguarding American lives. 

Her public service didn’t stop on the battlefield. In 2012, Gabbard became a U.S. congresswoman promising to honor her fellow service members’ sacrifices. As a member of the House Armed Services, Homeland Security and Foreign Affairs committees, she developed an intimate understanding of the intelligence community’s role in defending our homeland. Her credentials are strong.

What sets Gabbard apart is her willingness to challenge the status quo. She has been an outspoken critic of abuses within the intelligence community, especially under the Biden-Harris administration. Consider the shocking revelations in April 2023, when the Justice Department’s Inspector General testified on the staggering number of improper and mistaken searches conducted by intelligence agencies. These abuses are not mere technical errors — they represent a blatant disregard for the privacy and constitutional rights of Americans.  

We cannot allow the intelligence community to operate without accountability or transparency. Gabbard understands this better than anyone. Like Trump, she has firsthand experience with the gross overreach and politicization of our national security apparatus, which has become more concerned with silencing dissenting voices than with protecting Americans and America’s national security interests. As director of national intelligence, she will ensure that these agencies serve the people — not political agendas.  

A director of national intelligence must rise above partisanship, and Gabbard has proven she’s up to the task. Earlier this year, she made the bold decision to become a registered Republican, stating that the Democratic Party she once belonged to had become “unrecognizable” after becoming driven by lies, endless wars and woke ideologies.  

This decision wasn’t made lightly, but it underscores Gabbard’s commitment to putting her country above politics. She has shown time and again that she will do what’s right for America, regardless of any political consequences.

Under Gabbard’s leadership, the intelligence community will return to its rightful purpose: defending the American people and upholding their constitutional freedoms. Together, Trump and Gabbard will implement reforms that ensure these agencies operate transparently and without any foreign influence from our adversaries. 

The challenges we face — both at home and abroad — require leaders of unparalleled strength, integrity and vision. Gabbard is that leader. With her at the helm of our intelligence community, we can begin to restore the trust of the American people and secure a safer, freer future for our nation.

The time for change is now, and there is no doubt in my mind that Gabbard is the woman to deliver it.

Marsha Blackburn is the senior senator from Tennessee.

https://thehill.com/opinion/5037106-tulsi-gabbard-dni-reform/

Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions

 The Senate is pushing toward a vote on legislation that would provide full Social Security benefits to millions of people, setting up potential passage in the final days of the lame-duck Congress.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Thursday he would begin the process for a final vote on the bill, known as the Social Security Fairness Act, which would eliminate policies that currently limit Social Security payouts for roughly 2.8 million people.

Schumer said the bill would “ensure Americans are not erroneously denied their well-earned Social Security benefits simply because they chose at some point to work in their careers in public service.”

The legislation passed the House on a bipartisan vote, and a Senate version of the bill introduced last year gained 62 cosponsors. But the bill still needs support from at least 60 senators to pass Congress. It would then head to President Biden.

At least one GOP senator who signed onto similar legislation last year, Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana, said he was still “weighing” whether to vote for the bill next week.

“Nothing ever gets paid for, so if it’s further indebtedness, I don’t know,” he said.

Decades in the making, the bill would repeal two federal policies — the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset — that broadly reduce payments to two groups of Social Security recipients: people who also receive a pension from a job that is not covered by Social Security and surviving spouses of Social Security recipients who receive a government pension of their own.

The bill would add more strain on the Social Security Trust funds, which were already estimated to be unable to pay out full benefits beginning in 2035. It would add an estimated $195 billion to federal deficits over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget also estimates that if passed, the policy would hasten the Social Security program’s insolvency date by about half a year as well as reduce lifetime Social Security benefits by an additional $25,000 for a typical dual-income couple retiring in 2033.

Sen. John Thune, the no. 2 Republican in leadership, acknowledged that the policy has strong bipartisan support, but said some Republicans also want to see it “fixed in the context of a broader Social Security reform effort.”

Conservatives have opposed the bill, decrying its cost.

“Even for something that people consider to be a good cause, it shows a lack of concern for the future of the country, so I think it would be a big mistake,” said Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky.

Still, other Republicans have pushed Schumer to bring it up for a vote.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said last month that the current federal limitations “penalize families across the country who worked a public service job for part of their career with a separate pension. We’re talking about police officers, firefighters, teachers, and other public employees who are punished for serving their communities.”

He predicted the bill would pass.

https://thehill.com/homenews/ap/ap-business/ap-senate-begins-final-push-to-expand-social-security-benefits-for-millions-of-people-2/

NJ rep wants approval for state, local authorities to ‘safely take down drones’

 Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) called for federal law enforcement agencies, led by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, to authorize state and local authorities to “safety take down drones” after sightings in the state.  

“The fact that the federal agencies responsible for briefing the public have not come forward in a clear way is unacceptable,” he said during a news conference Friday morning. “It’s totally and completely unacceptable that you have all this drone activity going on that people are seeing with their own eyes.”

He cited 11 confirmed sightings of unauthorized in Morris County alone in the last month, and also mentioned Sen. Andy Kim’s (D-N.J.) personal experience seeing a drone Thursday night in Hunterdon County.  

“I understand why so many in our community and our state are concerned,” Gottheimer said. 

He attempted to ease suspicions, saying there was no concern for an imminent threat to public safety or national security. 

Amid the sightings and circulating news, Gottheimer posted on X Thursday night to announce a new legislation “to invest in radar technology that allows local law enforcement to monitor and ensure the safety of drone activity.” 

The drones in New Jersey were first reportedly spotted last month, with the majority of sightings in Hunterdon and Morris counties in the northern and central regions of the state

According to a Tuesday report by local newspaper the Staten Island Advance, there have also been reported drone sightings in Staten Island in New York City. And on Friday, former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said he’d seen drones in the sky on Thursday night.

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5039255-nj-josh-gottheimer-drone-sightings/

Larry Hogan says he also spotted drones

Maryland’s former Gov. Larry Hogan (R ) said he saw drones outside of his home last night, adding to reports of sightings in New Jersey, New York and a U.S. air base in Germany. 

“Last night, beginning at around 9:45 pm, I personally witnessed (and videoed) what appeared to be dozens of large drones in the sky above my residence in Davidsonville, Maryland (25 miles from our nation’s capital),” he detailed in a statement on the social platform X.

“ I observed the activity for approximately 45 minutes,” he added.

Hogan admitted he didn’t know if the observation was a threat to public safety or national security. 

“But the public is growing increasingly concerned and frustrated with the complete lack of transparency and the dismissive attitude of the federal government,” Hogan wrote.

“The government has the ability to track these from their point of origin but has mounted a negligent response. People are rightfully clamoring for answers, but aren’t getting any.”

His response echoes concerns from Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) who called on the Federal Aviation Administration and other agencies to investigate who or what was behind the drone activity.

Law enforcement in Bowie, Md., also noted the drones flying over the state.

“We are being told that neither the White House, the military, the FBI, or Homeland Security have any idea what they are, where they came from, or who has launched or is controlling them–and that they pose no threat,” Hogan said.

“That response is entirely unacceptable. I join with the growing bipartisan chorus of leaders demanding that the federal government immediately address this issue.”

The Pentagon said there was no evidence any foreign country was behind the mysterious drones.

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5039361-larry-hogan-says-he-also-spotted-drones/

'NJ governor asks Biden for more federal resources on drone sightings'

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) asked President Biden for more federal resources to respond to the mysterious drone sightings in the Garden State over the past few weeks.

“While I am sincerely grateful for your administration’s leadership in addressing this concerning issue, it has become apparent that more resources are needed to fully understand what is behind this activity,” Murphy wrote in a Thursday letter to the president.

“New Jersey residents deserve more concrete information about these UAS sightings and what is causing them,” he wrote in the letter, using an acronym for unmanned aircraft systems. “The continued reporting of UAS activity has raised more questions than answers and prompted an outcropping of conspiracy theories on social media and other online platforms.”

Murphy requested additional assistance from the federal government, with current laws restricting what local and state law officials can do about the large drones spotted flying above New Jersey’s skies.

Apart from New Jersey, sightings of drones have been reported in nearby states of New York and Maryland. Senators representing New Jersey and New York have issued a letter directed to the Federal Aviation Administration, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, asking for a briefing on the matter that has alarmed residents in their states.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said there’s no evidence of public safety or national security threats, but added that the federal government is working on identifying what those drones are.

“We haven’t seen any indication thus far that there’s a public safety risk,” Kirby said Thursday, comments he received criticism for.

The Defense Department said there has been no evidence that those drones are “the work of an adversary” or because of the work of a foreign entity.

Murphy said the FBI is working with state officials to discover the source of the unidentified drones.

Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) did a patrol Thursday night, during which he witnessed “multiple unexplained and unidentified” drones.

Apart from sending the letter to Biden, Murphy also directed another Thursday letter, this one to congressional leaders, asking them to “empower state and local law enforcement entities with the ability to use advanced detection and mitigation technology.”

Murphy also said in the letter that Sens. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) “have bipartisan legislation — ‘Safeguarding the Homeland from the Threats Posed by Unmanned Aircraft Systems Act of 2023’ — that would help accomplish these goals.” 

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5039387-nj-governor-asks-biden-for-more-federal-resources-on-drone-sightings/

Texas bill would allow bitcoin to be used for taxes, donations

• Pennsylvania also has a proposed Bitcoin bill
• President-elect Donald Trump calling for lighter restrictions
• The bill could be a precedent for the U.S. Treasury

A bill that has been introduced in the Texas Legislature would allow residents to use bitcoin to pay their taxes and make other political contributions and charitable donations.

The Texas Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act already has bipartisan support, according to one of the bill’s sponsors. If passed, the bill could set a precedent for the remainder of the country and for the U.S. Treasury. The proposed law would allow Texas to begin building a bitcoin reserve by allowing fees, contributions and taxes to be paid using cryptocurrency.

The reserve would be held for a minimum of five years.

Texas Republican Rep. Giovanni Capriglione told NewsNation that cryptocurrency is creating new jobs in the state and that bitcoin has created an ecosystem around the state.

Several other states are also considering similar bills that would increase the use of cryptocurrency among residents. Pennsylvania introduced a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve bill last month and discussions are ongoing in 10 states about cryptocurrency legislation.

The proposed legislation as President-elect Donald Trump is set to take office with a crypto-friendly administration. Prices of bitcoin have more than doubled and are up by more than 45% since Nov. 5. Trump has called for lighter regulations regarding cryptocurrency and plans to have a crypto czar as part of his administration.

The Texas Legislature will begin its new session on Jan. 14, less than a week before Trump’s inauguration.

https://thehill.com/homenews/5039273-texas-bitcoin-taxes/