House Speaker Paul Ryan Says "No Doubt" Healthcare Plan Will Pass and More in Politics Today

It’s difficult to stay up-to-date on what’s happening in this country and to break through the clutter, so we’re here to make it easier. Here’s what we at Countable are reading today:

1. "House Speaker Paul Ryan: ‘No doubt’ Republican health care plan will pass"

"Facing a conservative revolt within his party over the newly proposed repeal and replace health care plan, House Speaker Paul Ryan predicted today that the House Republicans' American Health Care Act unveiled Monday will pass into law."

"While it takes only 21 House Republicans to kill the bill or force leadership into changes, the Wisconsin Republican remained confident."

"“I have no doubt we'll pass this because we're going to keep our promises," Ryan said, adding every Republican from Congress to the president “made a promise to the American people and the promise we made to the American people is we're going to repeal and replace Obamacare.””

Read more at ABC News.

2. "U.S. general says Russia deploys cruise missile, threatens NATO"

"Russia has deployed a land-based cruise missile that violates the "spirit and intent" of an arms control treaty and poses a threat to NATO, Vice Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff General Paul Selva said on Wednesday."

"It was the first public accusation by the U.S. military of the deployment after reports said last month that Russia had secretly deployed the ground-launched SSC-8 cruise missile that Moscow has been developing and testing for several years, despite U.S. complaints that it violated sections of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty."

Read more at Reuters.

3. "U.S. puts troops on the ground in Syria to blunt Turkish campaign"

"The U.S. and Russia have found themselves teaming up for the first time in the war in Syria -- against a country both call an ally: Turkey."

"The U.S. and Russia moved this week to block a threatened drive by Turkey to seize Manbij, a town in northern Syria about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Turkish border. A U.S. deployment and a Russian-brokered deal with Syrian forces created buffer zones that headed off any Turkish campaign against the Kurdish forces who hold the town -- seen by Washington as key allies against Islamic State and by Turkey as terrorists."

Read more at Bloomberg.

4. "CIA contractors likely source of latest WikiLeaks release: U.S. officials"

"CIA contractors likely breached security and handed over documents about the agency's use of hacking tools to anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials told Reuters on Wednesday."

"Two officials speaking on condition of anonymity said intelligence agencies have been aware since the end of last year of the breach, which led to WikiLeaks releasing thousands of pages on Tuesday."

Read more at Reuters.

5. "‘You’re stuck with me,’ FBI Director says, citing no plans to leave job"

"The FBI director has no plans to leave the post before the end of his 10-year term."

""You're stuck with me for about 6 1/2 years," James Comey said at a cyber conference in Boston on Wednesday, urging conference organizers to invite him to speak again."

"In recent days, NPR and other news outlets have reported Comey pressed the Justice Department without success to issue a public denial of President Trump's tweet that the FBI and President Barack Obama wiretapped his phones at Trump Tower."

Read more at NPR.

— Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr / Creative Commons)