BREAKING: Republican leaders struggling to win GOP votes with hours left before the vote.

ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES: TransCanada Receives Presidential Permit for Keystone XL.

MILLENNIAL WOMEN RESPOND: ‘Tomi Lahren Doesn’t Speak for Us’

DON’T TREAD ON ME: At Least One Freedom Caucus Member Revolts After Trump Ultimatum.

This is what Rep. Thomas Massie tweeted moments ago: “If Exec branch tells Legislative branch “when 2 vote” “how 2 vote” & “what it will b allowed 2 work on if vote fails,” is that a republic?”

If Exec branch tells Legislative branch “when 2 vote” “how 2 vote” & “what it will b allowed 2 work on if vote fails,” is that a republic?
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) March 24, 2017

Should other members of the Caucus share Massie’s sentiment and feel compelled to join him, Trump’s last ditch gamble for a successful vote after the close on Friday, may yet backfire bigly.

Trump ran on keeping the popular parts of ObamaCare while getting rid of the unpopular parts which made it kinda-sorta-temporarily hold together. Ryan’s bill is an attempt to give Trump what he promised, even though the math doesn’t add up and it isn’t what his Republican caucus has been promising to do since 2010 — all in a way that might squeak through the Senate via reconciliation.

If the execution to date has been a hot mess, that’s because the plan was a hot mess from the concept stage.

CUE WORLD’S SMALLEST VIOLIN: Just like her mother, Chelsea Clinton never gets a break.

The studious interest in Chelsea’s next move is understandable coming from the right, which has always hated the Clintons and no doubt welcomes the distraction Chelsea offers from the president’s dismal approval ratings and damning intelligence hearings. Bill, Hillary and Chelsea have long been enthusiasm-boosters for the Republicans, and they’re reluctant to give them up.

But the laser-focused Chelsea vitriol is perplexing when it comes from the left. Shouldn’t such first-daughter hatred be reserved for Ivanka? Wouldn’t their attention be better spent on potential 2018 and 2020 candidates who have already declared their interest? Aren’t there bigger battles to fight — and aren’t they glad that such a prominent Democratic figure is registering her dissent with the current administration?

Tweeting pablum hardly rises to the level of “dissent.” And if the unaccomplished daughter of a President who left office almost two decades ago and of a two-time presidential loser, counts as “such a prominent Democratic figure,” then the Democrats have bigger worries than than who deserves the most “first-daughter hatred.”

OF COURSE IT WAS: Ukraine’s leader calls killing of Putin critic a Russian terror act.

A former Russian lawmaker and Kremlin critic who fled to Ukraine last year was shot dead Thursday in Kiev — a killing that Ukraine’s President called a “Russian state terrorist act.”

Denis Voronenkov, who’d been a Communist member of Russia’s lower legislative house before he left, was fatally shot outside a hotel in broad daylight, officials said.

Voronenkov becomes the latest in a string of Russian critics of President Vladimir Putin and the Russian government who were killed or injured in mysterious circumstances.

Vladimir Lenin — the founder of the Soviet Union which taught Putin to be the “sword and shield” of the State — said, “The purpose of terrorism is to terrify.”

GOOD LORD: Maryland Man Was on Mission to ‘Kill as Many Black Men’ as Possible in NYC, Prosecutor Says.

WINNING: Team Trump is already kicking butt at the United Nations.

According to the group UN Watch, in the decade since its inception, the council condemned Israel 68 times, compared to 67 condemnations of all other countries combined.

No wonder Secretary of State Rex Tillerson wrote recently to UN supporters that unless the council in Geneva ends its bias — and stops admitting serious human rights violators as members — the United States will walk.

And guess what: In other UN corners, such pressure is already showing results.

A UN agency called the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia recently issued a hefty report denouncing Israel’s “apartheid.”

It was written by Richard Falk, a 9/11 truther who in the past also accused America and Israel of responsibility for the Boston Marathon bombing.

Last week, Haley, who’s been outspoken about anti-Israel bias since arriving in New York, demanded that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres remove the agency’s report from the UN website.

He did. Then the director of that agency, Jordanian national Rima Khalaf, resigned.

And with that, a bit of Israel-bashing was gone.

But fighting the UN’s obsession with the Jewish state is just the start.

The UN is usually where mediocrities go to have their careers put on life support, but Haley has proven to be an inspired — and energetic — choice.

REMAIN CALM AND VOTE NO:

The question Republican Congressmen need to ask themselves this morning is, “Who is the constituency for this bill?”

Odds are, Mr. or Mrs. Congressperson, it isn’t the voters who elected you, nor is it Democrats who would prefer something even closer to single-payer.

WIKILEAKS: CIA tools could infiltrate MacBooks, iPhones.

Armed with a fresh set of leaked documents, WikiLeaks said Thursday that the US Central Intelligence Agency has developed tools to infect Apple products like iPhones and MacBooks.

The tools, which date from between 2009 and 2013, are unlikely to affect current Apple hardware. They show a spy agency attempting to crack into some of the most locked-down consumer electronics devices available, using hacking methods that require the agency to directly access the products.

CNET is unable to verify whether the documents are real or have been altered.

The safe assumption has always been that if someone has your device, they can gain access.

MICHAEL WALSH: In Wake of Latest Muslim Attack, Reuters Smears… Marine Le Pen.

But of course.

HMM: Senate votes to kill FCC’s broadband privacy rules.

The Senate’s 50-48 vote Thursday on a resolution of disapproval would roll back Federal Communications Commission rules requiring broadband providers to receive opt-in customer permission to share sensitive personal information, including web-browsing history, geolocation, and financial details with third parties. The FCC approved the regulations just five months ago.

Thursday’s vote was largely along party lines, with Republicans voting to kill the FCC’s privacy rules and Democrats voting to keep them.

[ Further reading: How the new age of antivirus software will protect your PC ]
The Senate’s resolution, which now heads to the House of Representatives for consideration, would allow broadband providers to collect and sell a “gold mine of data” about customers, said Senator Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat.

“Your mobile broadband provider knows how you move about your day through information about your geolocation and internet activity through your mobile device,” he said. The Senate resolution “will take consumers out of this driver’s seat and place the collection and use of their information behind a veil of secrecy.”

But critics of the rules say they are expensive to ISPs and subject them to tough privacy regulations not imposed on web-based companies like Google and Facebook.

You can choose not to use Facebook or Google, but there’s no escaping having to use an ISP.

FASTER, PLEASE: U.K. Police Make ‘Significant’ Arrests in London Terror-Attack Investigation.

Mark Rowley, the U.K.’s top counterterror policeman, said in a morning press conference that there was no evidence of further threats but that investigators were trying to determine whether the attacker acted on his own or had accomplices.

“Our determination is to understand if either he acted totally alone, inspired perhaps by terrorist propaganda, or if other people have encouraged, supported or directed him,” he said.

With the two overnight arrests, nine people were now in custody, and one woman was released on bail overnight, he said. Police have seized 2,700 items from searches, including what Mr. Rowley described as “massive amounts” of computer data.

The question is whether an attack at the heart of British government will be enough to shake Britain loose from her cultural complacency.

THE ART OF THE DEAL? Trump’s ultimatum: If vote fails, Obamacare stays.

Budget Director Mick Mulvaney has just laid down a gauntlet to House Republicans on behalf of President Trump: pass this bill, or Obamacare remains in place.

Members of the conservative Freedom Caucus want more concessions but, according to Mulvaney, Trump will not negotiate further.

The president demanded a vote tomorrow, and now it appears he will get it. He is all but daring Republicans to vote no.

Nancy Pelosi didn’t allow a final vote on ObamaCare until she knew, privately, that she had enough to win. Is the GOP leadership or caucus that disciplined?

OF COURSE THEY ARE: Liberals Suddenly Incensed About Budget Process Obama Blew Off For Eight Years.

EVEN THEN? Millennials Don’t Consider Themselves Adults Until 30.

CHAOS ON THE HILL: Health Care Vote Canceled After GOP Leaders Fail to Win Support.

House Republican leaders abruptly postponed a planned vote on the GOP health care bill Thursday as they struggled to find sufficient support to pass it. GOP lawmakers have been told procedural votes on the bill will still be held tonight and that a full vote on the measure could take place Friday.

The move to delay the vote came after House conservatives said there was no deal struck on the bill following a meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House Thursday. According to the NBC vote count, GOP leaders were still at least eight votes short of winning enough backing for passage.

Rep. Mark Meadows R.-N.C., chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, told reporters that there was no deal after the meeting, but added he was still hopeful one can be struck.

“I am very hopeful we can find a way to yes,” Meadows said.

Both houses found a way to yes last year, when they were certain President Obama would veto their full repeal bill.

VIDEO: Obama’s DHS Secretary Shocks an MSNBC Panel When He Says Trump Could ‘Be a Great President’

THUGGERY: Former Russian lawmaker shot dead in Ukraine.

A former Russian lawmaker who became a vociferous critic of Moscow following his recent move to Ukraine was shot and killed in Kiev Thursday, prompting another war of words between the two countries.

Denis Voronenkov, who testified to Ukrainian investigators and criticized Russian policies after his move to Kiev last fall, was shot dead by an unidentified gunman near the entrance of an upscale hotel in the Ukrainian capital.

During the attack, Voronenkov’s bodyguard, who fired back, was wounded. Both were hospitalized but Ukrainian officials said the gunman, who they claimed was a Ukrainian citizen, later died from wounds in his chest and head.

Footage following the exchange of gunfire showed the three men lying on the sidewalk. Voronenkov’s bodyguard, a Ukrainian security services officer, was seen rolling on the ground and then being helped to an ambulance by paramedics.

The killing prompted an angry exchange between the two countries whose relations have soured badly in recent years following Russia’s annexation of the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine and the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Weak regimes can’t abide critics.

CICADAPOCALYPSE: What you need to know.

TOLERANCE: Princeton Seminary Retracts Award to Tim Keller — Over Women and LGBT Pastors.

HEY, BIG SPENDER: Navy Needs As Much As $150B Extra to ‘Jump-Start’ Path to 355 Ships; Would Buy Mostly DDGs, SSNs, Carriers.

Threats shrink and grow, but the oceans never get any smaller.

HMM: Nunes apologizes to House Intel Committee, member says.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes apologized to committee members Thursday, a Democrat on the panel told reporters, coming the day after Nunes told the public and the President that communications of him and associates may have been collected by intelligence agencies before telling Democratic members of the committee.

Rep. Jackie Speier, a California Democrat , said Nunes apologized at their meeting Thursday morning. Nunes also promised to provide the same information he’s viewed to the committee members but did not offer a specific timeline.

“Apologize for what?” the wise man once asked.

BRIDGET JOHNSON: Black Caucus Gives Trump ‘We Have a Lot to Lose’ Policy Blueprint.

The White House said that during the closed-door meeting “the participants discussed various issues pertaining to the African American community, including the president’s commitment to improving conditions for distressed communities.”

“The president voiced his desire to work with the CBC to improve educational and economic opportunities, enhance public safety, reduce the cost of prescription drugs, and invest in infrastructure,” the readout added.

“Throughout my campaign I pledged to focus on improving conditions for African-American citizens, this means more to me than anybody can understand,” Trump said when the press pool was briefly allowed in the meeting room.

The CBC tweeted afterward that Richmond told Trump his comments about President Obama and inner cities were “hurtful” to the African-American community and that Carson, one of two Muslim members of Congress, told Trump “he is Muslim & Muslims shouldn’t be treated differently and #MuslimBan is not who we are.”

If that tweet is any indication, the CBC isn’t just unwilling to meet Trump halfway, they aren’t even much interested in honest negotiations.

JD TUCKER: Just repeal.

The net result of full repeal would be to allow the consumer-driven market to push competition and force insurance companies to compete. It amuses me when people say, “But repeal will only make the health insurance executives richer!” As Trump would say… “Wrong!” They love having millions of Americans who would never willingly purchase health insurance being forced to by it by their government overlords.

Get government out of health insurance and premiums will go down for a vast majority of Americans. Allow the free market economy and the crowdfunding power of 2017 (plus charities, family, and community) to help those who need it the most. Government’s only role should be as the absolute last resort. Just repeal it.

ObamaCare is a rickety structure that will eventually collapse under its own weight, but will collapse even sooner if you pull out a few of its support beams — which is what Paul Ryan’s AHCA does.

The former result would be the fault of Obama/Reid/Pelosi. The latter would be pinned, and rightly so, on Trump/McConnell/Ryan.