Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) says Vice President Pence should oversee the Senate's debate on the GOP healthcare plan, pitching the idea as a solution to end the current stalemate in the House over replacing ObamaCare.

Paul suggested that a "firm commitment" that Pence would preside over the Senate — and be the one making decisions about what can be included in the bill — would help reassure conservative House members that their changes won't be stripped out by the Senate's parliamentarian.

Paul, speaking to reporters about what could help the House reach a deal, responded, "If President Trump and Vice President Pence made a public declaration that they are willing to make the vice president sit in the chair and have the vice president make the judgment on what is allowable under Senate rules."

The move, which Republican Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) has been pushing for weeks, would allow Pence to expand the scope of the legislation by effectively overruling the parliamentarian to bulk up the legislation with measures supported by conservatives.

"Are we going to let the parliamentarian decide what should be in the bill or are we going to let the vice president?" Paul questioned during a call with reporters.

Washington is bracing for President Trump’s executive order on climate change, which could be released any day.

The order is expected to disassemble President Obama’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan and end the moratorium on federal-land coal mining, steps that would make it all but impossible for the United States to reach its commitments to reduce carbon emissions under the 2015 international climate agreement reached in Paris.

The orders are expected to represent a wholesale overhaul of how the federal government deals with climate change and a major repudiation of Obama’s aggressive second-term global warming agenda.

Trump is said to be considering a broader order than originally thought. Sources said it could include other provisions aimed at climate regulations in general, oil and gas drilling rules and reducing the U.S.’s commitment in the Paris climate accord.

President Donald Trump met with the arch-conservative House Freedom Caucus at the White House Thursday to try to hammer out a deal on Obamacare repeal. A major question in the final negotiations? Whether or not maternity care and mammograms should be considered "essential" treatments covered by all health insurance policies under the Republican proposal. ("I wouldn't want to lose my mammograms," quipped Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), who supports scrapping the requirement. He apologized.)

The White House happily snapped a photo of the gathering that will go a long way toward deciding the future of women's health in America, and EMIILY's List, the group that works to elect pro-choice Democratic women to Congress, also blasted out a photo of the event to reporters. Notice anything?

Take our quiz to see how familiar you are with the GOP legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare.

For the past seven years, Republicans have talked about repealing the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama’s signature law. Critics dubbed it “Obamacare,” jeered about yet another entitlement and tried unsuccessfully to dismantle the law multiple times.

When Donald Trump took the White House in November – giving the GOP a trifecta, in charge of the House, Senate and Oval Office – planning began immediately to repeal and replace the law.

On Thursday, the House will vote on a GOP health care plan that Democrats pan as “Make America Sick Again” and some conservatives say is “Obamacare-lite.” On Wednesday night, tweaks were still being made to ensure its passage in the chamber.

But what exactly is in the bill? Does it eliminate Medicaid? Does it guarantee coverage for pre-existing conditions? Will it make your care more expensive? Take POLITICO’s quiz to see how much you really know about the legislation.

Former Vice President Joe Biden was at the Capitol on Wednesday to celebrate the anniversary of the Affordable Care Act and was greeted by an unexpected guest.

Biden is known for drawing crowds, so someone who wanted to meet him today lined up nice and early to make sure they were in his line of sight.

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“As soon as he saw the dog during the actual speech, he pointed at the dog, tapped his friend and then started like cracking up. Right towards the end, I, like, kind of signaled him, and he, like, gave me a wink to come over,” Sydney said.

“As soon as I told him his name was Biden, he started kissing the dog, which is like exactly what I expected Biden would do,” Sydney said.

Sydney said no one was as excited about Biden the pup as Biden the human.

“As soon as I told him, his face lit up.”

A 15-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted by multiple suspects, Chicago police said.

The incident was streamed on Facebook Live, the victim’s family said, where police say it was viewed by dozens of people in real time.

Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi tweeted Tuesday that police are “making good progress identifying persons of interest” in the assault on the teenager, which involved as many as five or six men or boys. The tweet mentioned that interviews are “ongoing” but police have yet to name any formal suspects or make any arrests.

“What’s even more disturbing, more than the fact that they did this, there were so many people that saw this and they didn’t pick up the phone and dial 911,” police Superintendent Eddie Johnson told WGN-TV. “That’s just not right and working on it and [trying] to bring it to a successful resolution.”

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So starting in April, Portland plans to try a new tactic. The city will hire a few panhandlers a day, pay them $10.68 an hour, the city’s minimum wage, and assign them to clean parks and public spaces.

The Portland city manager, Jon Jennings, said it was time to think of another solution and believes this one will help everyone. He hopes to eventually be able to convert some of the jobs into full-time work with the city, he said, and Portland’s parks will be more beautiful.

“It’s so they don’t feel the need to stand on a corner and ask for money, and they can move on to a life of productivity,” Mr. Jennings, who joined the city in 2015, said in an interview. “We are a city that really embraces people who, of no fault of their own, fall on hard times.”

The plan is more than a just stark reversal for Portland, the harbor city of 66,000 people about 100 miles north of Boston that is Maine’s economic hub. It is a small but significant shift from the disciplinary approach used by cities nationwide in dealing with panhandlers and homeless people.