Thursday's Mini-Report, 3.9.17

Today's edition of quick hits:* This is not what grown-up legislating looks like: "Two key House committees have approved a Republican proposal to revise the Affordable Care Act, giving the bill its first victories amid a backlash that both Republican leaders and President Trump are trying to tamp down."* Muslim ban: "Washington state will file for a restraining order against President Trump's revamped travel ban -- a move which could foreshadow a potential legal showdown between the administration and a wave of challenges to the controversial executive order."* WikiLeaks "is considering releasing more CIA hacking tools if internet security professionals can first help make sure the cyber weapons can't be used any further, the group's founder, Julian Assange, said Thursday."* Questions in need of answers: "Several members of the Senate panel investigating alleged Russian interference in the presidential election viewed documents at Central Intelligence Agency headquarters on Wednesday and left with more questions than answers, according to Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the intelligence committee."* Fresh evidence that the process is not going well for the GOP: "A Republican House committee chair said he would like White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer to keep his nose out of Congress' business on Obamacare repeal, highlighting the tensions between the two branches as they try to come to an agreement on the best path forward."* Welcome candor: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is rarely a man of many words, but this quote may take the cake. When asked if he thinks Mexico will pay for President Donald Trump's border wall with Mexico Thursday, McConnell summed it up in two syllables. 'Uh, no,' he said."* A key position: "President Trump ended a circuitous search for the government's top advocate before the Supreme Court by nominating Washington lawyer Noel J. Francisco as the next solicitor general."* Alabama's Judiciary Committee yesterday "instructed Special Counsel Jack Sharman to resume his impeachment investigation of Gov. Robert Bentley."* It was a 12-9 vote: "President Trump's controversial pick to serve as U.S. ambassador to Israel earned the support of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday with all but one Democrat opposed to his nomination. David M. Friedman's bid to serve as the next ambassador to Israel will now go to the full Senate."* Nigel Farage "visited the Ecuadorian embassy in west London on Thursday, where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been living since he claimed asylum in 2012.... Approached by BuzzFeed News as he left to get into a car waiting round the corner, Farage said he couldn't remember what he had been doing in the building."Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.