Subject: POLITICO Huddle, presented by Honda: John Boehner is going big – Senate grants Obama a weeklong reprieve on Iran – McConnell’s Senate still marked by gridlock
From: "POLITICO Huddle" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 20 Mar 2015 05:49:53 -0600

By Lauren French (
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[email-masked]  or @laurennfrench)

SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER'S NEWEST TACK IS TO GO BIG. From Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan, "Over the next week, the Ohio Republican and his top lieutenants plan to jam two big-ticket items through the House - a show of strength for a leadership team stung by a string a defeats and facing doubts about whether it even can govern. First, to get a budget approved, the Republican leaders intend to employ a parliamentary maneuver to boost defense spending by $20 billion without any corresponding spending cuts. They're betting the move will help break a stalemate between fiscal hardliners and defense hawks. Within days of that, the GOP leaders will try to pass a permanent fix to the "Sustainable
 Growth Rate," a formula by which the federal government reimburses doctors who serve Medicare patients." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46bc2bfa9b30a7f3e409c58f7eae5b6e3de11676e24f58ddf74b3848b58b5d99 
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SENATE GIVES OBAMA ANOTHER WEEK ON IRAN. Burgess Everett reports, "The Senate will give President Barack Obama a few more weeks of breathing room as he seeks to lock down a political agreement with Iran on its nuclear program. After negotiating all week, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker and Robert Menendez, the committee's top Democrat, said they will wait until mid-April before voting on legislation that would allow Congress to weigh in on a nuclear deal with Iran." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46bc2bfa9b30a7f3f4629a8d8ba06d8ac465b5f406fe0d92503029c3e334a849 
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MCCONNELL'S SENATE, NOT LESS GRIDLOCKED THAN BEFORE. Jennifer Steinhauer reports for the New York Times, "When he became majority leader, propelled by sweeping Republican victories last year, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky vowed to run a more productive and traditional Senate than his Democratic predecessor, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada. In some ways, that has come to pass. Democrats have been given greater opportunity to amend bills than Republicans had when Mr. Reid had a majority. Mr. McConnell promised there would be no government shutdown, and he averted one over funding the Department of Homeland Security. And, occasionally, senators now have to work on Fridays. But when it comes
 to the central role of a Senate leader - getting things done - Mr. McConnell has been impeded by internal struggles in his party and the hostility that awaits him across the aisle." 
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GOOD MORNING, and welcome to The Huddle, and a very happy Friday to you all. Did anyone catch the baby tigers in Longworth yesterday? Now that was some news we could have used. Make sure to send tips, suggestions, comments, complaints and corrections to 
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[email-masked]  and please follow along on Twitter at @laurennfrench. The wonderful Burgess Everett will be taking over on Monday so CC him on any news at 
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TODAY IN CONGRESS - Nada.

AROUND THE HILL - Not much.

** Honda's commitment to building fuel-efficient products, creating jobs and innovating here in America continues with the new HondaJet. With Honda Aircraft Company world headquarters right here in the U.S., we're proud to strengthen the American economy and employ a skilled workforce. Learn more at 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46bc2bfa9b30a7f35cd272fe2f6ecdc9df910b3da0880136264ff685502d9018 
HondaInAmerica.com/HondaJet  **

PUTIN SLAPS SANCTIONS ON U.S. LAWMAKERS. From Russia Today, "A fresh sanctions list issued by Moscow includes about 200 people known for their anti-Russian positions and actions, such as US Deputy National Security Advisor Caroline Atkinson and firebrand Arizona Senator John McCain...The new list includes mostly politicians, civil servants and other public figures known for their openly anti-Russian activities. About 60 people on the list are from the United States. Among these are Deputy National Security Advisor Caroline Atkinson, presidential advisers Daniel Pfeiffer and Benjamin Rhodes, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, Chairman of the
 Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Robert Menendes and Senators John McCain, Daniel Coats and Mary Landrieu." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46bc2bfa9b30a7f3233b66685d3b6b8129643063acbc09a63a279af747d07b4f 
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MCCAIN'S REACTION: "While I suppose this means I'll spend this Easter in Sedona rather than Siberia, I couldn't be more proud of being sanctioned by Vladimir Putin for standing up for freedom and human rights for the Russian people and against Putin's deadly aggression in Ukraine."

SCALISE SKIPS SELMA FOR POSH RETREAT. From your Huddle author, "Instead of joining the 50th-anniversary civil rights event in Selma this month, House Republican Whip Steve Scalise chose to attend a posh conference funded by the American Enterprise Institute. The Louisiana Republican has come under intense scrutiny since it was reported that as a state legislator he spoke at a conference connected with notorious Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. After those reports, senior African-American lawmakers called on Scalise to attend the March events in Selma, Alabama, which commemorated the voting rights protests there in 1965."

VAN HOLLEN LIBERALS UP ON SOCIAL SECURITY. From the Washington Post's Rachel Weiner, "Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who has been accused by progressive groups of being in favor of cuts to Social Security, announced his backing Wednesday for a bill that would expand the program.Van Hollen, who is running to replace retiring Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, supported past budget negotiations based on the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles plan, which would have offered stingier Social Security cost-of-living-adjustments and raised the retirement age." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46bc2bfa9b30a7f394391a3d42f314904e44c43c1513a41e59401afb6dd994dd 
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DEM LAWMAKER: TRADE BRIEFINGS ARE 'BULLSHIT.' From the Hill's Kevin Cirilli, "Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) on Thursday accused the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) of "baffling" Democrats "with bullshit" in an effort to advance President Obama&#39;s trade agenda. Pocan's remarks, which were triggered by a debate over whether the U.S. enjoys a trade surplus with free-trade partners, mark the latest escalation in a fight between liberals and the White House office over President Obama's trade agenda." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46bc2bfa9b30a7f37b566f6d2b491d55e39a085ddf82816d63df315c5450074c 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46bc2bfa9b30a7f37b566f6d2b491d55e39a085ddf82816d63df315c5450074c 

GOP PREPARES ATTACK ON NET NEUTRALITY. From Tony Romm, "Republicans are trying to transform the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules into the same sort of drawn-out controversy as Benghazi and Obamacare - providing a new springboard for sustained political attacks on the White House. GOP lawmakers have floated the theory that the Obama administration secretly directed the FCC to adopt heavy-handed government regulation of the Internet, hijacking the deliberations of the independent agency." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46bc2bfa9b30a7f3a4bb4c80750180efb363f05a60963e2a1981c41f0af38aa6 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46bc2bfa9b30a7f3a4bb4c80750180efb363f05a60963e2a1981c41f0af38aa6 

BLAST FROM THE PAST, via @ghostsofdc: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46bc2bfa9b30a7f363203ccfd601de3a5609b733cf3ad3e14863fc72199866ec 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46bc2bfa9b30a7f363203ccfd601de3a5609b733cf3ad3e14863fc72199866ec 

NEWARK MAYOR IN CORY BOOKER'S SHADOW. Although Newark Mayor Ras Baraka doesn't get as much attention as Cory Booker did and clearly lags in the Twitter competition (Baraka has 4,900 followers; Booker has 1.5 million), Baraka has found opportunities in a Chris Christie-generated crisis and is starting to make his mark in transforming Newark. Read more about what Baraka has to say about the New Jersey politicians who have clambered their way to national prominence: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46bc2bfa9b30a7f3d18390d6e6cce5388f5ae310b01c85db11e61790f795e391 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46bc2bfa9b30a7f3d18390d6e6cce5388f5ae310b01c85db11e61790f795e391 

NEW TECH: The American Action Forum is rolling out some new hardware today called the "Regulation Rodeo." It allows users to search federal regulations by year or category instantly. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46bc2bfa9b30a7f3ec6c6bbe03b966887ca73f748be34a97cc5433298fb7df78 
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THURSDAY'S TRIVIA - Geoff Mealey was the first to correct guess Harry Truman was our puppy-hating president.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Geoff has today's question. Which U.S. President performed their "Piano Concerto #1" on the Tonight Show? The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day&#39;s Huddle. Email 
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GET HUDDLE emailed to your Blackberry, iPhone or other mobile device each morning. Just enter your email address where it says 'Sign Up.' 
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** Honda's commitment to building fuel-efficient products, creating jobs and innovating here in America continues with the new HondaJet. With Honda Aircraft Company world headquarters right here in the U.S., we're proud to strengthen the American economy and employ a skilled workforce.

Honda provides jobs for tens of thousands of people across America, with the Honda Aircraft Company alone employing over 1,000 workers. Our partnerships with various U.S. colleges are also helping create more opportunities for young Americans interested in manufacturing and engineering. In addition, Honda continues to invest millions in U.S. growth and innovation with the creation of the HondaJet-the fastest, highest-flying, most fuel-efficient jet in its class, developed right here in the U.S. 

For additional information about Honda's impact, the HondaJet and more, please visit 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=46bc2bfa9b30a7f35cd272fe2f6ecdc9df910b3da0880136264ff685502d9018 
HondaInAmerica.com/HondaJet  **

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