| | | | |  | | By Alice Miranda Ollstein | Presented by The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing | | 
A cloudy sky is seen above the Planned Parenthood Reproductive Health Services Center in St. Louis, Missouri. | Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images | COSTLY SAVINGS — President-elect Donald Trump’s close allies are sharpening their knives, eager to carve up the federal budget when they take power in January. And while much of what they will target for elimination remains a mystery, the shrink-the-government brigade has openly taken up a longstanding battle cry of social conservatives: defunding Planned Parenthood. Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the co-leaders of the vaguely defined “Department of Government Efficiency” that will be recommending cuts to the Trump administration, wrote in a November op-ed that they will “help end federal overspending by taking aim at” an array of programs, and specifically called out “nearly $300 million [going] to progressive groups like Planned Parenthood.” Anti-abortion activists and GOP lawmakers who have long pushed for defunding the network of clinics — including Speaker Mike Johnson, who called for it in a recent interview — are thrilled that it’s now in DOGE’s crosshairs. Many are urging their supporters to pressure Trump to follow through, arguing that slashing these federal funds dovetails with his campaign trail pledge to leave the regulation of abortion up to states. But the last time there was a concerted push on Capitol Hill to strip funding from Planned Parenthood, the Congressional Budget Office calculated that doing so would actually cost the government more than it saved — $130 million over 10 years to be exact. CBO found that eliminating the taxpayer dollars the group receives through Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and the Title X family planning program — none of which can be used for abortions under longstanding federal law — would save about $520 million over a decade, but cost about $650 million. That’s because “as much as 25 percent of the estimated 2.6 million clients served by Planned Parenthood would face reduced access to care,” the nonpartisan office said, particularly “services that help women avert pregnancies,” meaning “the number of births in the Medicaid program would increase by several thousand per year.” Essentially, subsidizing birth control is far cheaper than subsidizing births, so the cost of funding Planned Parenthood would be passed on — and surpassed — by the increased cost of funding Medicaid. CBO found that the Planned Parenthood patients who would be most affected by the cuts “reside in areas without access to other health care clinics or medical practitioners who serve low-income populations.” A mini version of this scenario played out during Trump’s first administration, when he implemented anti-abortion restrictions on the Title X program that prompted Planned Parenthood to quit the program, forfeiting tens of millions in annual federal funding. At the time, conservatives insisted other, better medical providers would fill the void, but few materialized. As a result, the program provided services to 844,083 fewer clients in 2019 — the first year Trump’s rules took effect — compared with the previous year, according to HHS. In particular, 225,688 fewer patients received oral contraceptives; 49,803 fewer received hormonal implants; and 86,008 fewer clients received intrauterine devices. Of course, many on the right want to defund Planned Parenthood for ideological reasons more than fiscal ones, and see $130 million as a small price to pay for dealing a blow to an organization they view as fundamentally immoral. And for some members of the emerging natalist wing of the GOP, an increase in births among low-income women who otherwise would have terminated their pregnancies is a feature, rather than a bug. But in a post-Roe environment in which doctors and clinics are moving out of states with abortion bans, exacerbating pre-existing provider shortages, medical care for those mothers and their babies is increasingly scarce — and costly (often to taxpayers) when available. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com. Or contact tonight’s author at aollstein@politico.com on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @AliceOllstein.
| | | | A message from The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing: Big Pharma’s patent abuse drives up drug prices and blocks competition – costing patients and the U.S. health care system billions. Patent thickets protect profits, not innovation, and extend monopolies on blockbuster drugs while millions of Americans struggle to afford their medications. This year, the Senate unanimously passed Cornyn-Blumenthal, a bipartisan solution to curb these anti-competitive tactics. Time is running out – Congress must pass Cornyn-Blumenthal and deliver relief to patients before it’s too late. Learn more. | | | | | — Three dead, others injured in a shooting at a private Christian school in Wisconsin: A youth opened fire at a private Christian school this morning in Wisconsin, killing two people in the final week before Christmas break. The shooter also died, police said. Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes offered no details on the victims but said other people were wounded at Abundant Life Christian School, a K-12 school with about 390 students. Police previously said a total of five people had died. Barnes said police were alerted shortly before 11 a.m. and did not fire their weapons when they rushed into the school. Barnes suggested the shooter died by suicide. — Former FBI informant pleads guilty to lying about phony bribery scheme involving the Bidens: A former FBI informant pleaded guilty today to lying about a phony bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden and his son Hunter that became central to the Republican impeachment inquiry in Congress. Alexander Smirnov entered his plea to a felony charge in connection with the bogus story, along with a tax evasion charge stemming from a separate indictment accusing him of concealing millions of dollars of income. Smirnov had been an informant for more than a decade when he made the explosive allegations about the Bidens in June 2020, after “expressing bias” about Joe Biden as a presidential candidate, prosecutors said. — Congress eyes March CR deadline: House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole told reporters today that a short-term government funding bill will go through mid-March. Asked if that meant there would be a March 14 deadline, Cole (R-Okla.) said, “Yeah,” before heading onto an elevator. The deadline comes as leadership is trying to finalize the government funding deal. Leadership initially told lawmakers to tentatively plan for a vote on Wednesday, but Cole noted that they could have to stay into town later if they can’t get text released today.
| | | | Billions in spending. Critical foreign aid. Immigration reform. The final weeks of 2024 could bring major policy changes. Inside Congress provides daily insights into how Congressional leaders are navigating these high-stakes issues. Subscribe today. | | | | | | | | | ON THE AIRWAVES — Opponents of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to lead HHS are buying tens of thousands of dollars in ads across the states of key Republican senators as he plans to meet with them this week. Protect Our Care, which has launched a Stop RFK War Room, has bought advertising slots — from digital ads to billboards — calling on constituents to urge their senators to oppose Kennedy’s nomination, leaders of the group told POLITICO. The group is targeting GOP senators it believes could be persuaded to vote against Kennedy’s confirmation: Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and the newly elected Jim Justice (R-W.Va.). AT THE PENTAGON — The Trump administration’s landing team will arrive at the Pentagon today and be led by Michael Duffey, a former deputy chief of staff at the agency during the president-elect’s first term, according to four people with knowledge of the decision and internal documents obtained by POLITICO. Duffey, who served in several roles in the first Trump administration, ensured the continuation in 2019 of Trump’s controversial hold on U.S. military aid to Ukraine after career officials raised questions about the legality of the move. That hold, which Duffey assisted with keeping in place while at the Office of Management and Budget, helped lead to Trump’s first impeachment. MEET THE PRESS — President-elect Donald Trump today promised to continue his siege against the media, pledging to move forward with more litigation after winning a $15 million settlement in a defamation suit against ABC. In his first press conference since winning back the presidency, Trump covered a wide range of issues including the polio vaccine and vaccine mandates, a pardon for New York City Mayor Eric Adams, New Jersey drone sightings, threats to first federal employees, Ron DeSantis’ Florida Senate pick, world leaders at his inauguration, his plans for tariffs, relationship with President Xi Jinping and the war in Ukraine.
| | | | A message from The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing:   | | | | | | | 
Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in the beginning of the active phase of a large scale naval exercise in the Kremlin on Sept. 10, 2024. | Alexander Kazakov/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP | THE NEXT STAGE — Russia has to prepare for war with NATO as well as complete its war against Ukraine, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov told the Defense Ministry today in a joint meeting with President Vladimir Putin. “The Ministry of Defense of Russia must be ready for any development of events, including a possible military conflict with NATO in Europe in the next decade,” Belousov said. The Russian comments come as United States President-elect Donald Trump called for a rapid end to the fighting, saying today: “We’re trying to get the war stopped, that horrible, horrible war that’s going on in Ukraine, Russia, Ukraine. We’re going to get a little progress, it’s a tough one, it’s a nasty one, it’s nasty.” But Moscow shows no sign of giving up the fight it launched over two years ago. Belousov said that Russia has taken the initiative in the fighting and aims to fully conquer Ukraine’s Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Donetsk regions by next year. He claimed that Ukrainian troops are exhausted and the Russian army has been rapidly advancing on all fronts. HAT IN THE RING — Bucharest Mayor Nicușor Dan will run as an independent in a 2025 rerun of Romania’s recently canceled presidential election, he announced at a press conference today. Dan, a 54-year-old mathematician and activist whose first name translates as “Little Nick,” is serving his second term as mayor of Bucharest. He founded and previously led a liberal party that gave rise to the Save Romania Union — currently the third-largest party in the parliament. In his first campaign for mayor in 2016, Dan promised to eliminate corruption, tax evasion and money laundering — the hallmarks of previous mayors, one of whom was even jailed for graft. He conveyed a similar message in announcing his candidacy today, noting the need to tackle corruption, give the country a direction and heal social and cultural divisions. O CANADA — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has lost his top minister. Chrystia Freeland, the deputy prime minister and finance minister, resigned hours before she was due to deliver a major speech about the country’s finances — and to share the Liberal government’s fiscal plan heading into a high-stakes election year. Freeland dropped the bombshell news in a letter to Trudeau in which she revealed apparent discord with the prime minister stretching back through the fall. Nobody else in Trudeau’s Cabinet matched the international profile of Freeland, who cultivated a global rolodex of business and political leaders over 30 years in journalism.
| | | | Write your own chapter in the new Washington. From the Lame Duck Congress Series to New Administration insights, POLITICO Pro delivers intelligence across 22+ policy areas to help you anticipate and navigate change. Discover how a Pro subscription empowers you. Learn more today. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | GUIDE TO GIFT GUIDES — If you’ve been doing some online shopping over the past month, you’ve probably encountered — whether you know it or not — hundreds of “affiliate links.” Most times that you click on a link from a gift guide or other third party service, and then buy something from a big online retailer, a percentage of what you spent is going back to the website or creator who directed you there in the first place. For example, if you see a pair of J Crew pants on Wirecutter that look good and then purchase them, some of the money that you spent is going back to Wirecutter. So how does this affect the retail market — and what fills up gift guides? Emilia Petrarca explains in her newsletter Shop Rat.
| | | |  On this date in 1973: President Richard Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon meet with Rev. Billy Graham and his wife Ruth in the White House after a worship service. | Charles Tasnadi/AP | Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here.
| | | | A message from The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing: Big Pharma’s patent abuse drives up drug prices and blocks competition – costing patients and the U.S. health care system billions. Patent thickets protect profits, not innovation, and extend monopolies on blockbuster drugs while millions of Americans struggle to afford their medications. This year, the Senate unanimously passed Cornyn-Blumenthal, a bipartisan solution to curb these anti-competitive tactics. Time is running out – Congress must pass Cornyn-Blumenthal and deliver relief to patients before it’s too late. Learn more. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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