Subject: POLITICO Huddle: HILL STILL STUCK IN DHS STALEMATE -- For DHS, CR only thing worse than missing the deadline -- REID MEETS WITH OBAMA -- Rand announcement beckons
From: "POLITICO Huddle" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2015 06:56:57 -0600

By Burgess Everett (@burgessev or 
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IMMIGRATION RULING'S NON-GAME CHANGER ON THE HILL - One would think that this week's injunction against President Barack Obama's immigration policy implementation might have changed things on Capitol Hill, where the battle over tying immigration riders to a DHS funding bill has brought everything to a halt. One would be wrong, per Manu Raju and me: "Rather than defusing the conflict on Capitol Hill by making it moot, conservative lawmakers and senior aides said Tuesday, the ruling by U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen makes it even clearer that Congress cannot allow Obama's actions to stand. 'The president has acted unconstitutionally, and it is the president - not Congress - who must back
 down,' said Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), an immigration hard-liner." 
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OFF THE HILL -- The ruling was significant: Today "was supposed to be the day that a part of President Obama&#39;s executive orders on immigration would take effect. The Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was to begin taking a larger pool of applicants who came to the U.S. at a young age. Coupled with a program for parents of citizens and lawful permanent residents (originally set to begin in May), the programs could have provided three-year work permits and deportation deferrals to more than four million undocumented immigrants. But none of that came to pass," reports National Journal's Rachel Roubein. 
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Big dreams for 54 senators: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell still faces unrealistic expectations about what exactly the Senate can do from conservative House members and outside groups. Unless six Democrats change their votes (or parties) the House's bill is simply not moving in the Senate, but the GOP leader continues to get flak from the base. "Mitch McConnell, what are you waiting for? No more dithering, no more lame excuses. It's time for the Senate to act," said ForAmerica's Brent Bozell. "It would be not just irresponsible but disgraceful for the Senate to fund his unconstitutional actions."

That in mind... "Don't count on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to play dealmaker in the fight over Department of Homeland Security funding," by Alex Bolton of The Hill. 
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High stakes for DHS - If you work on Capitol Hill, there's a good chance you've seen DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson making the rounds. He's been visiting privately with lawmakers in both parties, trying to impress on them that a continuing resolution funding bill isn't going to solve any of his problems, David Nather and Seung Min Kim report. "In reality, a continuing resolution is just about the worst way that Congress could solve the funding problem, short of actually shutting the department down. Customs and Border Protection wouldn't be able to upgrade its mobile video systems to patrol the Rio Grande Valley. The Federal Emergency Management Agency wouldn't be able to write the grants that
 pay the salaries of state and local emergency management officials. It might also have to cancel a series of training workshops next month." 
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REID FINALLY GETS HIS W.H. MEETING: Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid missed his first chance to hang with President Barack Obama at the White House after his exercise injury, then missed the president at Democrats' retreat. But today it's a one-on-one pow-wow between Obama and one of his closest congressional allies at 2:15 p.m. in Oval Office. It shouldn't be awkward: We've been told that the two men have been communicating by phone pretty frequently as Senate Democrats devised their filibuster of the House's DHS bill.

DEMOCRATAS VISITAN LA ISLA DE CUBA: Both House and Senate Democrats got the heck out of Washington this week to head down to Havana, Niels Lesniewski reports. As Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi arrived with her House delegation, a trio of Democratic senators were leaving the island that's become the subject of a big political food fight in Congress. Still, Sen. Amy Klobuchar "said she thought there would be a 'very good chance' of seeing an ambassador confirmed ... 'I just don't think there will be the support to knock that down and to stop that from happening.'" 
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REWARDING BAD BEHAVIOR: Northerners complaining about D.C.'s snow response is as old a cliche as D.C. itself, and yet here goes the Washington Post rewarding Ben Goodman, a former aide to Rep. Mike Michaud, with the lead quote on a front page story. "If DC had the snow Boston did, we&#39;d be shut down until June." 
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WEDNESDAY COMES BUT ONCE A WEEK. Welcome to the Huddle, your play-by-play guide to everything Capitol Hill, where all is quiet this week. Let's keep it that way. Please send tips to 
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TODAY IN CONGRESS - A well-deserved recess continues.

TUESDAY'S MOST CLICKED LINK: The lovey-dovey story of Rep. Tulsi Gabbard's engagement.

SENATE THREE-PACK -- The map: I'm a bit biased covering the Senate and all, but the battle for the upper chamber may be more intriguing than the presidential race in 2016. Democrats' start the cycle with a map made for a comeback -- but their candidates' ranks are a little top-heavy. All starters, no bench, reports Tarini Parti. "In states Democrats are depending on to retake the Senate, top-level candidates are sparse, unwilling to run or more interested in seeking state office than going to Washington. As a result, Democrats are embracing a slew of well-known but failed candidates - former governors, senators and also-rans spurned by voters the last time they were on the ballot - or being
 forced to rely on candidates with little political experience." 
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Florida: DNC Chair and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz is seriously considering running for Marco Rubio's seat if he goes national and leaves the Senate, our already productive colleague Marc Caputo reports. She's even spoken to Rep. Alan Grayson about it: "'I would not run against Debbie Wasserman Schultz out of respect and admiration for her,' Grayson said ... 'She would be almost impossible to beat in a Democratic primary anyway.'" 
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Nevada: Jon Ralston picks over who is most likely to face Harry Reid if the Democratic leader follows through on 2016 reelection run. Putting aside Gov. Brian Sandoval and Rep. Joe Heck -- who seem like they won't get in -- Ralson zeroes in on state Senate Majority Leader Michael Roberson. "For clues to who Team Reid thinks is most likely, you don't have to look far. As regularly as the NRSC sends out those fusillades against Reid, the state Democratic Party is cyberbashing a man most people in the state do not know ... Roberson declined to comment for this piece. But he wants to run and, sources tell me, already is consolidating the Establishment support to make the campaign after the
 Legislature ends in June." 
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RAND'S ZERO-HOUR: NYT's Jeremy Peters reports that Sen. Rand Paul's presidential announcement is less than two months away. "Senator Rand Paul is eyeing April 7 as the day he will announce his plans to run for president, people close to him said, a step that would position him ahead of his potential Republican rivals as a declared candidate and allow him to begin raising money directly for his campaign 10 months before the Iowa caucuses ... Only his family's doubts could change his mind at this point." 
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BROTHERLY LOVE KINGMAKER - Are you an ambitious Democrat planning on heading to Philly for the Democratic convention next year? Better get to know Rep. Bob Brady. "He wouldn't be the one you'd see on cable TV talking up the city. But the people who really know how Philadelphia beat out Brooklyn and Columbus know it wouldn't have happened without Brady's behind-the-scenes legwork, a quiet orchestration of meetings and phone calls and getting influentials on board. 'I'm a workhorse; some people are show horses,'" he tells Katie Glueck. 
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STAFF SHUFFLES: Bryan Wood, the legislative director for Rep. Robert Hurt, is moving to the Financial Services Committee next week. Per Politico Pro's Elana Schor, former Senate EPW and House Oversight staffer Kristina Moore joined FTI Consulting.

TUESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Ari Mittleman was the first to answer that William Henry Harrison and Ronald Reagan were both born in February. We also REALLY appreciated your angry tirades about how it's not really called President's Day. We stored those emails in a special folder that looks a lot like a trash can.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Ari has today's question: On the one-year anniversary of the Sochi Olympics, &lrm;name the founder of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus who is still in the Congress and has traveled to the country more than any other member. The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. Email me at 
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