Subject: POLITICO Huddle – Warren avoids the spotlight, Congress gets serious about the Web, Reid forces Hagel test vote Friday, Pelosi bids farewell to chief, Rubio hawks water bottles, GOP turns tables on Lew, Who has authority to end Saturday mail?, trivia
From: "POLITICO Huddle" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2013 07:31:08 -0600

By Scott Wong (
mailto:[email-masked] 
[email-masked]  or @scottwongDC)

WARREN AVOIDS THE SPOTLIGHT - FOR NOW - Kate Nocera and Patrick Reis report for The hometown paper: "When the newest senators lunched together for the first time last November, their biggest star immediately tried to flee. As a flock of reporters approached Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat turned and engaged fellow freshman Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), in a fake conversation. 'Pretend to talk to me ... talk, talk, talk,' Warren said to Baldwin, grabbing her arm as the two fled into the lunch's private confines. The duck-and-cover move ran contrary to her Senate campaign, which featured a headline speech at the Democratic National Convention, guest spots with Rachel Maddow, "The Daily
 Show" and all the other trappings of a national media moment.

-- "But it was also a harbinger of things to come: Since taking office, Warren has kept the lowest of profiles, speaking only to select Massachusetts media outlets while shutting out the national press save for a smattering of interviews, most notably with the liberal-friendly Huffington Post. For a left-leaning icon and national media darling, the role of silent senator is a sharp departure from her rousing campaign and outspoken consumer advocacy. It's the same tactic used by other first-term senators who entered the chamber to great fanfare, including former New York Sen. Hillary Clinton. ...

-- "[I]n a statement her chief of staff Mindy Myers said that the senator is 'working hard to advocate for the hardworking families in Massachusetts.' By picking her battles and flying under the radar, Warren is working to convert her campaign star-power into a reputation as a serious legislator among her Senate colleagues." 
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CONGRESS FINALLY GETS SERIOUS ABOUT INTERNET -- Bloomberg Businessweek's Brendan Greeley reports that the U.S. Congress may be the last place where it's still cool to pretend you don't know what the Internet is. Unfortunately, that includes people who are supposed to regulate it. At a December 2011 meeting, several members jokingly admitted they didn't understand the technology they were supposed to regulate.Out of the 535 members of Congress, only five - Rep. Jared Polis, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, Rep Bob Goodlatte, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, and Rep. Darrell Issa - are recognized as being fluent in the language of the web. Wary of finding themselves on the wrong side of the next SOPA, Congressional
 Luddites are finally beginning to take the Web seriously and scrambling to become tech literate. In an interview with Greeley, Tim Lordan, executive Director of the Internet Education Foundation, said some members are still impatient for easy answers to hard questions. "They want to get to the meat of it." He says "'Which way should I vote?' Well, It's complicated." 
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USA TODAY, A1 HEADLINE: "Airlines agree to be Valentines: American, US Airways agree to be world's biggest." See front page here: 
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GOP DRAGS OUT NOMINATIONS FIGHT, REID FORCES HAGEL TEST VOTE FRIDAY - Manu Raju and Tim Mak report for POLITICO: "Senate Republicans see the writing on the wall: Chuck Hagel will get his job at the Pentagon, and John Brennan will soon be headed to Langley. But that doesn't mean they won't drag out the proceedings to extract every possible concession they can get and weaken the nominees and the White House in the process. Harry Reid knows this and has had enough. In an attempt to get Hagel installed as secretary of defense before next week's recess, the majority leader set up a Friday vote to cut off debate, setting up a crucial 60-vote test. If Reid can find five Republicans to join the 55
 members of the Democratic Caucus, the Senate could approve Hagel quickly - possibly Saturday or earlier.

-- "But if he can't, the White House could be forced to recalibrate its strategy as the nomination drags out into late February. And that could give the GOP more time to mount opposition to Hagel's nomination, which has been targeted because of the former Nebraska senator's past comments on Iran, Iraq and Israel and his shaky performance at his confirmation hearings. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who previously opposed a filibuster on a defense secretary nominee, is now among those Republicans warning they may block Hagel until the White House coughs up more information over last September's Benghazi attacks." 
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PELOSI BIDS FAREWELL TO CHIEF OF STAFF - House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi hosted a reception in the Rayburn Room of the Capitol Wednesday evening to bid farewell to her longtime Chief of Staff John Lawrence, who with 38 years is believed to be the longest serving House staffer. "Over nearly four decades serving the Congress, John always kept his sights and his vision fixed firmly on the future," Pelosi said at the reception.Lawrence led Pelosi's staff for eight years through the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform legislation, among other notable legislative accomplishments of Pelosi's speakership.Others who paid tribute included John Boehner, Harry Reid
 and Rep. George Miller to whom Lawrence served as an aide for decades. Pelosi and Boehner presented Lawrence with the John W. McCormack Award of Excellence.The award, named after for Speaker McCormack, recognizes long-time employees of the U.S. House of Representatives who have displayed dedication and bipartisanship. As speaker, Pelosi had honored then-House Republican Leader John Boehner's late Chief of Staff, Paula T. Nowakowski with the same award, which was noted by an emotional Speaker Boehner at the private reception.

AFTER GAFFE, RUBIO HAWKS WATER BOTTLES TO RAISE CASH - Marc Caputo writes for the Miami Herald: "The Republican savior is trying to turn water into campaign wine. After last night&#39;s weird moment of thirst during Rubio&#39;s State of the Union rebuttal (SOTUr), he started hawking water bottles for his PAC, Reclaim America. In return for $25, it&#39;s offering water bottles emblazoned with 'RUBIO' in big red letters along with the name of the committee&#39;s website, reclaimamericapac.com." 
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--Rubio's tweet: "Quench your thirst for conservative leadership? Order a bottle now 
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pic.twitter.com/jrxWrOvd 
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# tcot
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# SOTU
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# gop"

-- POLITICO's Maggie Haberman finds that most political strategists believe Rubio's water flap shall pass:
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-- And CNN tells our own Dylan Byers that it was only joking when its chyron asked if Rubio's sip of water was a "Career ender":
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LIBERAL DEMS PUSH BACK ON REID'S SEQUESTER PLAN - Alex Bolton writes in The Hill: "A large group of liberal Democrats are pushing back against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's plan to replace the sequester with an even balance of spending cuts and tax revenues.They want the package to raise substantially more through taxes and cut less in spending. Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, has sided with President Obama in supporting a 50-50 split of spending cuts and tax revenues to stop the $85 billion sequester due to take effect March 1.However, a significant portion of Reid's caucus argues the split should be 80-20, with tax increases making up the bulk of the package. They contend Reid and
 Obama are negotiating with themselves by agreeing upfront to a 1-1 ratio of tax increases and spending cuts.A group of 15 to 20 progressive Democrats met Monday evening to discuss its concerns over the 1-1 ratio supported by Reid and Obama, according to lawmakers who were in attendance."
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SCHAKOWSKY: WHY I'M RISING - Rep. Jan Schakowsky, who recently met rape victims in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, writes in a POLITICO op-ed: "One in three women across the planet will be raped, beaten, or otherwise sexually assaulted in her lifetime. Whether it happens in India or Indiana, rape, sexual assault, and gender-based violence are unacceptable. I'm rising today because women's rights are human rights, and our rights are threatened every day. ... We've seen ongoing efforts by Republicans in Congress to restrict women's access to reproductive health care and birth control. They blocked Violence Against Women Act reauthorization last year and voted down a bill to ensure that
 women receive equal pay for equal work. We've even seen an effort to redefine rape. ... We must reauthorize VAWA. We also need to pass my legislation, the International Violence Against Women Act, which would require a comprehensive U.S. strategy to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls internationally." 
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HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY, IT'S FEBRUARY 14, 2013. Welcome to The Huddle, your play-by-play preview of the day's congressional news. Send tips, suggestions, comments, complaints and corrections to 
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[email-masked] . If you don&#39;t already, please follow me on Twitter @scottwongDC.

My new followers include but are not limited to @Marshall_Cohen and @DavidBrinton.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The Senate meets at 10 a.m. and resumes consideration of the nomination of former Sen. Chuck Hagel to be secretary of Defense. A cloture vote is expected Friday. The House meets at 10:00 a.m. with first and last votes expected between 2:45 and 3:45 p.m.

AROUND THE HILL - Congressional leaders unveil GAO 2013 High Risk List at 9:30 a.m. in Rayburn 2247. Sens. Barbara Boxer and Bernie Sanders speak on climate change legislation at 11 a.m. in Dirksen 406. Speaker John Boehner holds an on-camera briefing with reporters at 11:15 a.m. in HVC Studio A. Reps. Robert Pittenger and Patrick Murphy speak on entitlement reform at 12:30 p.m. in HVC Studio A. Rep. Raul Grijalva speaks on the environmental impacts of the Keystone XL pipeline at 12:30 p.m. at the House Triangle.

Sen. Jack Reed speaks about presidential nominations at 1 p.m. in the Senate Studio. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Pat Toomey, and Reps. Joe Pitts, Earl Blumenauer and Danny Davis introduce the Shaheen-Kirk Sugar Reform Act at 1:15 p.m. in SVC-209. Sens. Dick Durbin, Lamar Alexander and Mike Enzi reintroduce the Marketplace Fairness Act at 2:15 p.m. in SVC 200/201. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi holds an on-camera briefing at 2:30 p.m. in HVC Studio A.

UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANT TO SENATORS: 'WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO WITH ME?' - The AP reports: "Lawmakers who are shaping the fate of the millions of people in the U.S. illegally were told by one Wednesday that it's time to rewrite immigration laws so that they, too, can live the American dream. 'What do you want to do with me?' an emotional Jose Antonio Vargas demanded of senators. 'How do you define American?' The first Senate hearing on immigration policy this year pointed toward an emerging bipartisan consensus that the nation's 11 million illegal immigrants should be offered a path to citizenship.

-- "But passionate divisions over the issue also surfaced as one Republican decried amnesty and shouting protesters interrupted the proceedings. 'You really mean that we're not going to have enforcement, but we've got to have amnesty first,' said Sen. Jeff Sessions, a top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano rejected the argument that border security must be the focus before a comprehensive immigration package or any pathway to legalization can be done. 'Too often the border security refrain simply serves as an excuse,' she said. ... But for all of the division and polarization in Washington, the hearing produced evidence of bipartisan
 agreement to fix what all agree is a broken system - and finally dispense with an wrenching issue that has bedeviled lawmakers for years." 
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-- Four Senate Democrats in the bipartisan Gang of Eight working on an immigration reform deal briefed President Obama on the status of their talks, reports Roll Call's Humberto Sanchez. "'The senators said the bipartisan negotiations were progressing well and that both sides were working together in good faith,' [an] aide said. 'The senators said they remain confident that a bipartisan bill could be agreed to in the coming weeks.'" 
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-- Conservative Rep. Dana Rohrabacher apparently got into a heated exchange with an illegal immigrant in his office, reports The Hill's Mike Lillis.
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GOP TURNS TABLES ON LEW -- Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank writes: "President Obama won reelection in part by beating up on his opponent for receiving big corporate payouts in exchange for dubious work and for socking away money in tax havens such as the Cayman Islands. So it's a bit, well, rich that Obama chose as his new Treasury secretary a man who received a big corporate payout for dubious work and who socked away money in the Cayman Islands.This awkward fact pattern forced a role reversal Wednesday on Capitol Hill, as Obama's nominee, Jack Lew, came before the Senate Finance Committee for his confirmation hearing. Republicans expressed outrage about his compensation and his
 investment - in other words, giving him the Mitt Romney treatment. And Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), an outspoken foe of offshore tax havens, helped Lew defend himself.In Washington, where you stand on an issue depends on where you sit.

--"Lew, who was White House chief of staff while Obama's campaign was pummeling Romney over his pay and taxes, received a $945,000 bonus in January 2009 after a brief tenure at Citigroup - just as the bank announced huge losses and took a taxpayer bailout. Lew also invested $56,000 in a Citigroup venture-capital fund registered in the Cayman Islands - registered in the very building, in fact, that Obama labeled 'the largest tax scam in the world.'" 
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LAWMAKERS QUESTION POST OFFICE'S AUTHORITY TO END SATURDAY MAIL - Ron Nixon writes in the New York Times: "During a hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Patrick R. Donahoe, the postmaster general, asked Congress to give the Postal Service permission to run its own health plan for employees and retirees, modify a Congressional mandate that requires the agency to pay $5.5 billion a year into its fund for future employee health benefits, and end Saturday mail delivery. Mr. Donahoe said the changes would allow the agency to save $20 billion by 2016. Ending Saturday mail delivery would save the Postal Service about $2 billion annually, according to its
 estimates. ... But Senators Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Carl Levin of Michigan, both Democrats, did question whether the agency had the legal authority to make the Saturday change. And both senators said they were not satisfied with the legal justification given by Mr. Donahoe, who said that the agency could end Saturday delivery without Congressional approval." 
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-- A new Gallup poll finds that six in 10 Americans support spiking Saturday mail delivery: 
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PELOSI OPEN TO PIECEMEAL APPROACH TO GUN CONTROL - The Huffington Post's Sam Stein sits down with the minority leader: "Stuck in the minority, Pelosi lacks control over what bills come to the House floor. But her imprint will be felt on both immigration and gun legislation, if only because they will almost certainly require Democratic votes for passage. Pointing to the four major strands of reform -- universal background checks, a federal trafficking statute, a ban on high-capacity magazines and limits on the sales of certain assault weapons -- Pelosi concluded, 'I don't know that there is any view that they would all be in the same bill.' 
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DEMS SCRAMBLE TO BUILD SUPPORT FOR MINIMUM-WAGE HIKE -- Kristina Petersen writes in the Wall Street Journal: "President Barack Obama&#39;s call to raise the federal minimum wage touched off a scramble Wednesday among Democratic allies to build support for the proposal, which many welcomed but hadn&#39;t expected, as leading Republicans said that mandating a wage increase would harm businesses. Mr. Obama hadn&#39;t alerted Democrats in Congress that he planned to propose a higher minimum wage in his State of the Union address ... The approach reflected a contrast to the considerable advance work the White House conducted before proposing other challenging measures, such as new gun
 regulations. Mr. Obama called for raising the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour, from $7.25 today, and to link additional increases to inflation. The idea met resistance among Republican leaders in the House and Senate, who worried that it would add costs to businesses, which would then hire fewer workers." 
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WEDNESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Keith Kennedy was first to correctly answer that former New Jersey Sen. Nick Brady had formed a foundation that raised funds to complete the stalled "Mountains and Clouds" sculpture that occupies the Hart Senate Building.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Mark Rosenberg, inspired by Sen. Tom Coburn&#39;s facial hair, offers today's question: The last president to sport a beard was Howard Taft. Who suggested that Abe Lincoln grow a beard and when? First to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. Email me at 
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