Here is what is trending in politics around Georgia and across the nation on Thursday.
1. Senate health care bill voted down
The bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act died on the Senate floor early Friday morning as three Republicans voted to no on the legislation. The promise to produce a bill that would repeal and replace Obamacare ground to a halt when senators Susan Collins, (Maine), Lisa Murkowski, (Alaska) and John McCain, (Arizona), voted no on the bill called a "skinny repeal" of the ACA. The bill, which Republican leaders said was more of a means to get to a compromise bill with the House than legislation they wanted to see as law, called for eliminating mandates to purchase health care insurance, a tax on medical devices and an increase in the amount a person can put into a Health Savings Account.
2. Legislation that will fund border wall passes
A bill that includes more than $1 billion to begin construction on Trump's southern border wall passed the House on Thursday. The spending package, which totals $827 billion, passed 235-192. Five Republicans voted against the bill, and five Democrats, including Georgia's Sanford Bishop, voted for it. The bill includes spending for defense and veterans programs, along with money for legislative branch operations and the Department of Energy.
3. Still waiting for the check
Officials in Georgia have not yet released public voter data to Trump's national commission on election integrity. According to the state's election officials, they are still waiting for payment of a $250 fee for the information. While some of the information is public record, the Georgia Secretary of State's office charges $250 to collect the information and put it on a computer disc.
4. Look for a book from Abrams
Stacey Abrams is writing a book. The Georgia gubernatorial candidate has a book deal with Henry Holt and Co. Her book, "Minority Leader: How to Lead from the Outside and Make Real Change," will be released in the spring of 2018. "This is a book about how potent and compelling being the minority can be and how it can transform your destiny when properly harnessed," Abrams said in a statement.
5. Scaramucci gives profanity-laced interview
Anthony Scaramucci, the new White House communications director, communicated a few choice words Thursday in an interview with The New Yorker. Scaramucci slammed Reince Priebus, Trump's chief of staff, and senior advisor Steve Bannon, in a profanity-laced interview. He also said he was going to fire three or four people on Friday adding, "I'll get to the person who leaked that (the news that Scaramucci had dinner with the president Wednesday night) to you. Reince Priebus—if you want to leak something—he'll be asked to resign very shortly." Late Thursday, Scaramucci tweeted that he could "sometimes use colorful language," and that he "made a mistake in trusting in a reporter. It won't happen again."
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