Dr. Mehmet Oz, CMS administrator, will hold a White House press briefing on Tuesday.
The briefing is expected to begin after 1 p.m. EDT. Watch live in our video player above.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is facing questions about the Trump administration’s fragile or stalling diplomatic efforts around the world in back-to-back hearings on Capitol Hill for the first time since the Iran war began.
He testified that U.S. negotiators have seen signs that Iran’s new supreme leader has been engaged with negotiations despite not being seen publicly.
Also, Senate Republicans are meeting Tuesday to discuss next steps after the Justice Department said it would comply with a court order pausing the implementation of a $1.776 billion settlement fund designed to compensate President Donald Trump’s political allies.
Pressed by Democrats and Republicans on the status of negotiations with Tehran, Rubio tried to present a more optimistic view on the progress Washington has made with the Iranian regime.
“They have agreed to negotiate aspects of their nuclear program that just a month ago, just a year ago, they were refusing to even mention,” he said. But he added that it’s “not a guarantee that ultimately it will lead to a deal that’s acceptable” by Congress. He said these negotiations have been made difficult by the instability of Iran’s leadership.
Republicans offer first takes on Trump’s pick for intelligence chief
Some Republicans are voicing skepticism about the qualifications of President Donald Trump’s choice to serve as the acting director of national intelligence.
“I don’t see any evidence of qualifications for that job, but as you know, the Senate doesn’t have a role to play in acting (appointments,)” Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said of Trump’s choice, Bill Pulte.
“I do not know Mr. Pulte at all. I do not know if he has any intelligence or military background. I don’t even know if he has a security clearance. I know nothing about him at all,” said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.
Collins said she had not made a firm decision yet “because maybe there’s a lot in his background that is relevant to this important position.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said Pulte “doesn’t seem qualified.”
“Beyond his absence of apparent qualifications, maybe there’s something I don’t know about,” Cassidy said.
