ADDICTION President Trump cites his brother’s alcoholism in a speech on the opioid epidemic. “[H]e had a problem with alcohol. And he would tell me ‘don’t drink, don’t drink.’ He was substantially older and I listened to him.” http://cvote.it/2lj8SEK
BUDGET VICTORY House Republicans narrowly passed a budget. This will enable the GOP to later pass a tax cut with a simple majority vote. http://cvote.it/2lluqR5
CHILD TAX CREDIT Sen. Marco Rubio, R-FL, says he will vote against the tax bill if the child tax credit isn’t expanded. “I’m not going to vote for an increase on the middle class. But we’re not going to get to that point.” http://cvote.it/2ll7Qbg
ABOUT TIME President Trump should have fired IRS Commissioner John Koskinen on day one. But now that the Tea Party suits have been settled, Trump has selected David Kautter to replace Koskinen. http://cvote.it/2ljuJvV
JUDGES, JUDGES, JUDGES The Senate Judiciary Committee approved two federal appeals court nominees. Both times, every single Democrat on the committee voted no. http://cvote.it/2llCAck
RACE TO 2020 How Democrats lost touch in Macomb County, a northern suburb of Detroit, that twice voted for Barack Obama before swinging to Trump by 48,000 votes. http://cvote.it/2lkm2RW
GET TO WORK With tax reform and critical nomination fights, Sen. David Perdue, R-GA, says the Senate should adopt a 24/7 schedule. http://cvote.it/2lhpQDD
500 YEARS Monday will mark the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. It’s worth recalling that Catholic reforms began before Martin Luther. http://cvote.it/2lhr81r
CHINA CRACKDOWN President Xi Jinping of China seeks to tighten his government’s controls on religion in the communist country. http://cvote.it/2ljRzDP
LIFE “The world needs to know that I don’t ‘suffer’ from Down syndrome,” said Bridget Brown, who met with Pope Francis last week. http://cvote.it/2llBIo4
SAINT OF THE DAY Blessed Bartholomew of Vicenza – http://cvote.it/dailysaint
DAILY MASS READINGS “Lord, teach me your statutes.” (Ps 119:68) – http://cvote.it/Daily-Readings
DEVOTION 10 reasons to love and honor Mary. http://cvote.it/2ljXyZd