The Note: Waiting for the CBO score

— -- Trump's first 100 days with ABC’s RICK KLEIN and VERONICA STRACQUALURSI

Day No. 53

The big story: There hasn’t been a CBO score this hotly anticipated since, well, the last time Congress was poised to act on a major health care overhaul. While the Trump administration is setting things up to basically ignore it – hello, “alternative facts” – there are other realities that will be impossible to ignore. With town-hall heat continuing, Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas – no squishy moderate – came up with a catchy and stark warning about electoral consequences, raising the possibility of losing control of Congress next year: “Do not walk the plank and vote for a bill that cannot pass the Senate and then have to face the consequences of that vote,” Cotton said on ABC News’ “This Week” Sunday. Then there is President Trump’s “insurance for everybody” promise, and related guarantees that will be as impossible to keep as President Obama’s much-maligned statement that you could keep your doctor. “I firmly believe that nobody will be worse off financially in the process that we’re going through,” Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price said Sunday. House Speaker Paul Ryan wouldn’t even go there when asked how many people would lose coverage: “I can’t answer that question,” the Wisconsin Republican said.

The sleeper story: It’s been a week since the Trump White House punted to Congress rather than provide evidence to back up what President Trump alleged about President Obama’s ordering his phones tapped. Congress is now doing what the president said he wanted done, and the noise on that front will only get louder. Letters are flying demanding evidence from federal agencies, with a public hearing on Russia ties coming next week. It’s only a matter of time before FBI Director James Comey is put on the record on Capitol Hill. GOP Sen. John McCain of Arizona is making clear the choices ahead for the president: “Either retract or to provide the information that the American people deserve,” he told CNN. The president may be counting on other news to crowd out his unsubstantiated allegation, but putting this on Congress may actually ensure it doesn’t disappear. “I think there’s a lot more shoes to drop,” McCain said.

The shiny story: Yes, President Trump had the right and power to oust U.S. attorneys who were holdovers from the Obama years. No, that doesn’t mean he had to do it this way, and at this time. The circumstances of the dismissals, particularly surrounding that of Preet Bharara, an aggressive anti-corruption prosecutor and a model for a character on Showtime’s “Billions,” gives the White House a new set of high-profile enemies. Bharara’s Tweet on Sunday – “By the way, now I know what the Moreland Commission must have felt like” – looks like a hint that he was digging in to something involving the Trump administration. (The Moreland Commission was an anti-corruption probe launched by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in New York, only to be abruptly shut down before it completed its work. Bharara’s Southern District of New York would have authority over Trump Tower, as well as Fox News headquarters.) Once again, the usual business of governing is anything but business as usual under the Trump administration.

TLDR: The Congressional Budget Office is expected to release its “scoring” of the House GOP health care plan this week.

Photo of the day: America is under attack and the Trump Hotel in NYC is completely destroyed. So begins the cold open of “SNL” in which Alec Baldwin returned to the show to play Commander-in-Chief Donald Trump as he deals with an alien attack on the United States. At one point in the sketch, Baldwin’s Trump is asked, "Where are you getting this information?" "From a very reputable source: infowars," Baldwin-Trump replies.

NOTABLES

--CBO expected to release report on GOP health care bill: As President Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan grapple to keep their own party on board with the Obamacare alternative they unveiled last week, Democratic lawmakers are decrying the proposed law as a blow to lower-income Americans. In the end, the bill's success may hinge on the math. The Congressional Budget Office is expected to release its assessment of the GOP's plan, the American Health Care Act, as early as today. The nonpartisan report will include an estimate of the law's cost and statistics on how many Americans will lose coverage under the new plan. ABC’s ERIN DOOLEY has more: http://abcn.ws/2mD3xqp

--Trump budget chief: President is focused on health care, not insurance coverage: White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said critics of the new GOP health care bill should not be too “worried about getting people coverage.” Rather, the Republican bill and President Trump are focused on getting people affordable health care, Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney told ABC's GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS. "The bill actually helps a great many people," Mulvaney said on "This Week" on Sunday. "It helps people get health care instead of just coverage." ABC's RILEY BEGGIN has more: http://abcn.ws/2mWFNP8

--Republican senator: GOP risks losing House majority if health bill approved: Republican Sen. Tom Cotton said GOP members of the House should not "walk the plank" by approving the Republican health care bill, warning that it could cost the party the House majority and put the entire GOP agenda at risk, ABC's ALI DUKAKIS reports. "I would say to my friends in the House of Representatives with whom I serve, 'Do not walk the plank and vote for a bill that cannot pass the Senate and then have to face the consequences of that vote," Cotton told ABC's GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS on "This Week" Sunday. http://abcn.ws/2mWZF4M

--On GMA - Kellyanne Conway on the Trump wiretapping claim: Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, said this morning that she doesn’t have "any evidence" supporting President Trump's explosive wiretapping claim against his predecessor, though adding that she's glad the House Intelligence Committee is investigating the allegation. “The answer is I don’t have any evidence and I’m very happy that the House intelligence committee are investigating,” Conway said today on “Good Morning America,” ABC’s MICHAEL EDISON HAYDEN notes. http://abcn.ws/2nlkW5F

Speed read with ABC’s ADAM KELSEY

Democrats, some Republicans, condemn Preet Bharara being 'fired.' Following Preet Bharara's announcement Saturday that he was "fired" from his position as the most prominent U.S. attorney in the nation, condemnation over his dismissal came quickly from Democrat -- and even some Republican -- officials. Bharara's announcement came a day after the Department of Justice asked all U.S. attorneys except two remaining as holdovers from the Obama administration to step down. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who frequently battled with Trump online on behalf of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, fired off a storm of tweets this weekend questioning the motives of the president in removing Bharara from his post, write ABC's DAVID CAPLAN and MICHAEL EDISON HAYDEN. http://abcn.ws/2meWcLg

Top Democrat: Trump's dismissal of US attorney Preet Bharara raises 'a lot of questions.' The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee said there “very well may be” a connection between the Justice Department's dismissal of Preet Bharara as U.S. attorney and a watchdogs’ letter just days before asking Bharara to investigate whether President Trump's businesses are receiving financial benefits from foreign governments. Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings told ABC's GEORGE STEPHANOPOLOUS that Trump has the prerogative to dismiss U.S. attorneys, who are appointed by the president, but he said he is “curious” about the decision on Bharara, writes ABC's JOY LIN. http://abcn.ws/2mWR022

Top Dem doesn't expect to see 'evidence' of Trump wiretap claims. The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, said on "This Week" Sunday that he doesn't "expect we're going to see any evidence" of President Trump's explosive wiretapping claims against his predecessor, adding that the unproven claim damages the president’s credibility. President Trump claimed in a series of tweets last weekend that President Obama had ordered phones to be tapped at Trump Tower at the end of the 2016 campaign, ABC's MICHAEL EDISON HAYDEN notes. The president has so far failed to provide any evidence to back up his claim, while calling on Congress to investigate the allegation. http://abcn.ws/2mPKYQw

Demorat: Trump 'enthusiastic' about call for Medicare to negotiate drug prices. Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings said President Trump in recent meetings was "enthusiastic" about proposals to lower drug prices by having Medicare negotiate with pharmaceutical companies and by importing less costly medicines from Canada or other foreign countries. Cummings said he met three times over the past week with the president about drug prices. “He was also enthusiastic about another proposal … and that is the importation of drugs from places like Canada and other foreign countries,” Cummings told ABC's GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS on "This Week” on Sunday, notes ABC's QUINN SCANLAN. http://abcn.ws/2mzp164

Republican Congressman draws fire for racially-charged tweet. Rep. Steve King -- an Iowa Republican known for his sometimes provocative rhetoric -- drew fire on social media Sunday after tweeting, "we can't restore our civilization with somebody else's babies." In the post, King appeared to promote Geert Wilders, a right-wing Dutch politician who has vowed to "de-Islamize" the Netherlands if elected prime minister. ABC’s ERIN DOOLEY notes, his fellow Republicans immediately sounded off. MORE: http://abcn.ws/2lSiNkM

Intruder nearly reached White House entrance, complaint says. An intruder scaled a White House fence Friday night and allegedly made it close to the South Portico entrance before he was apprehended, according to court documents. The individual, later identified as Jonathan Tuan-Anh Tran, 26, of Milpitas, California, scaled the South Grounds fence at the White House at approximately 11:38 p.m., according to the U.S. Secret Service. The intruder, who was carrying a backpack, was arrested by Secret Service officers, who also searched the backpack as a precautionary measure, ABC’s KATHERINE FAULDERS and JACK DATE reports. The president, who had no public events Friday night, was at the White House at the time. http://abcn.ws/2mMSprP

In the Note's inbox

New ethics watchdog in town. A new, non-partisan ethics organization American Oversight launched today hoping to hold the Trump administration accountable. “Right now, there’s a perfect storm of corruption and scandal brewing. President Trump is creating a culture of impunity across his administration and yet Congress refuses to fulfill its constitutional responsibility of conducting oversight,” said Executive Director of American Oversight Austin Evers. Today, the group asked the DOJ and the National Archives and Records Administration to investigate the use of messaging apps and non-governmental email to conduct government affairs. More about the group here: https://www.americanoversight.org/

Who's tweeting?

@GStephanopoulos: Just asked Kellyanne Conway on @GMA about evidence for further claims of wiretapping in Trump Tower, “No, I have no evidence...”

@PressSec: Tomorrow @POTUS will host his first cabinet meeting @WhiteHouse

@rickklein: Iowa GOP chair: "I do not agree with Congressman King's statement..."

@mikeallen: FLASH @Axios ... Trump plans to host Chinese President Xi at Mar-a-Lago next month for summit w/ vast implications https://www.axios.com/scoop-trump-to-host-xi-at-mar-a-lago-2312677366.html