Good Friday morning, I'm Anna Palmer and welcome to your Politico Playbook Audio Briefing, sponsored by Chevron.

And I'm Jake Sherman. The national season is over. D.C.'s inability to win is wrenching for this city.

What will make the sting of this loss go away? Time, maybe. Chicago had to wait a century to win a World Series.

Anna and Burgess Everett are out with some news this morning. There are increasing concerns about Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran's health.

He's supposed to return to Washington next Monday, but several Cochran insiders are skeptical

he'll come back next week, and some speculate he won't be back before the end of the year.

Here's some important context.

Cochran is chairman of the Appropriations Panel that plays a critical role in government

funding. If Cochran remains out of Washington, it'll cause a major headache for Senate Majority Leader

Mitch McConnell as he looks to pass a budget and tax reform legislation. It only takes three senators

to sink legislation. There are politics at play too. His seat is viewed as particularly

important given that the establishment

went all out for him to beat Senator Chris McDaniel in the 2014 Republican primary. He's up for

re-election in 2020, and Republicans are desperate to avoid a special election. The big story this

morning comes from Josh Dossi and Paul Demko, the two report that Trump plans to cut

health care subsidy payments to insurers, and what they

describe as his most aggressive move yet to undermine Obamacare after months of unsuccessful repeal

efforts on Capitol Hill. The subsidies are estimated to be worth $7 billion a year and are paid

out in monthly installments. It could be stopped almost immediately because Congress hasn't appropriated

funding for the program.

But here's the reality. Trump is now putting yet another item on Congress's lap. This is certain to push

Republicans to act on Capitol Hill. Why? Because, as the New York Times writes, insurance markets

...