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Conservative House Republicans, enraged by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office’s findings that Obamacare’s repeal would leave millions without health care coverage, failed Wednesday in a bid to cut the agency’s budget and staff, a move that would have dramatically weakened its effectiveness. The House rejected, 309-116, an effort by four conservative Republicans, including Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., to eliminate the CBO’s Budget Analysis Division. (Siripurapu, 7/26)

“We rely on CBO’s analysts to provide, fair, impartial, and fact-based analysis. Without that analysis, Congress could not do its work or stay within the very budget constraints we set up for ourselves in law,” Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Va.) and Ranking Member Richard Neal (D-Ma.) wrote in a “dear colleague” letter opposing the amendments. (Elis, 7/26)

Republican lawmakers have blocked a vote on a bill that would have allowed Veterans Affairs doctors to recommend medical marijuana as a pain treatment in states where the drug is legal. The House Rules Committee stopped a proposed “Veterans Equal Access” amendment from moving to debate on the House floor by keeping the measure out of the House’s proposed VA funding bill for next year. (Kime, 7/26)