Subject: POLITICO Huddle: How Senate leaders finally maneuvered a confirmation vote for Loretta Lynch – Ted Cruz is often heard, but rarely seen in the Senate
From: "POLITICO Huddle" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 22 Apr 2015 05:27:53 -0600

By Lauren French (
mailto:[email-masked] 
[email-masked]  & @laurennfrench)

HOW LYNCH GOT HER VOTE. From Manu Raju and Burgess Everett, "It took six weeks, but Democratic leaders ended up cutting a face-saving deal Tuesday that will clear the way for the trafficking bill and Lynch's confirmation... The solution announced Tuesday is so technical that it's unlikely to make a mark on the rest of the Congress or the campaign trail next year: The restitution fund now has two revenue streams, one from traffickers and another from the federal government's general fund. The money from traffickers can't be used for medical procedures, while the general fund money is subject to Hyde Amendment restrictions on abortion, like all other federal spending."

"The deal was negotiated by the lead GOP sponsor of the bill, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas, and two members of the Democratic leadership, Sen. Patty Murray of Washington and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. While [Sen. Amy] Klobuchar was kept apprised of the discussions, leaders took control of the talks after it was apparent that the Minnesota Democrat was perhaps overly eager to end the partisan impasse." 
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HEARD BUT NOT SEEN. From Austin Wright, "Ted Cruz came to Washington two-and-a-half years ago pledging to be the anti-senator. But he's been more like the no-show senator. The Texas Republican seriously lags most of his colleagues in attending hearings and casting votes in what has been a Senate career long on rhetoric and short on Senate business. He's skipped the vast majority of Armed Services Committee hearings, is below-average in attendance on his other major committees and ranks 97th during the first three months of this year in showing up for roll call votes on the Senate floor." 
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GOOD WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015, MORNING, and welcome to The Huddle, your play-by-play guide to everything Capitol Hill. Let me know what's going on at 
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[email-masked]  or at @laurennfrench on Twitter. Thanks for reading!

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The Senate will vote around 10:30 a.m. while the House has two scheduled votes at 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. At 10 a.m., the Republican leadership team will hold a media availability in the RNC lobby. Also at 10 a.m., the Democratic leaders Becerra, Clyburn and Crowley will hold a press conference.

AROUND THE HILL - Sen. Bernie Sanders will hold a 10 a.m. press conference on low wages on the East Front lawn. Also at 10 a.m., Reps. Mark Pocan and Schakowsky will introduce a bill banning fracking on public lands at the House Triangle. Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer will hold a pen and pad at 10:30 a.m.

At 10:45 a.m., Sens. Menendez, Booker, Whitehouse, Cardin, Markey and Blumenthal will introduce anti-drilling legislation in the Senate Studio. In B-318 of Rayburn, Reps. Sessions, Tiberi and Boustany will discuss TPPP at 10:45 a.m. At 11:30 a.m., Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi will unveil a new task force on "people-powered politics" in Studio A.

Sen. Lindsey Graham will hold a pen and pad on Iran at 1 p.m. in the Senate daily gallery. At noon, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee will discuss racial profiling at the House Triangle. At 2 p.m., members of the Congressional Black Caucus and Pelosi will discuss Loretta Lynch in Studio A. The Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues and Armenian American Organizations will hold a commemoration of the Armenian genocide at 6 p.m. in the Cannon Caucus Room.

TRANSITIONS. Sen. James Lankford has hired John Cuaderes as staff director for the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management and Stephanie Halcrow as a military legislative assistant. Halcrow recently retired from the Air Force and Cuaderes was formerly a deputy staff director for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

MUST-SEE TV: Sen. Cory Booker's new 'bromance' and Colorado buds: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ec62cb94c9910231e7ee380f169f480a5dacd21437898c824eccd69d1f171ac2 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ec62cb94c9910231e7ee380f169f480a5dacd21437898c824eccd69d1f171ac2 

REPUBLICANS SPLIT ON NSA BILL. Alex Byers and Kate Tummarello report, "Republicans are in a state of disarray on surveillance reform with Congress barreling toward a May 31 deadline to extend or curtail some of the National Security Agency's key powers. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr want to reauthorize the bulk collection of phone records - the most controversial program revealed by Edward Snowden's leaks. Presidential candidates Ted Cruz and Rand Paul want to effectively end it, as do many House Republicans. Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, who will be a key player in any legislation, hasn't decided what to do." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ec62cb94c9910231d11fc5a2b96575ea09bf20287d8f41b3a0df24d974a276ac 
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DEA CHIEF TO STEP DOWN. Mark Hosenball for Reuters reports, "The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration&#39;s chief will step down within weeks, the Obama administration said on Tuesday, as a congressional panel planned to examine whether DEA agents divulged secrets at sex parties that Colombian drug lords may have staged... Leonhart was grilled in a congressional hearing last week about the parties attended by prostitutes, which took place in Colombia between 2001 and 2005. U.S. officials said the DEA did not investigate the parties until years later." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ec62cb94c9910231f141328b2030dff82f646b8bc261ef903cd210a85b0df86a 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ec62cb94c9910231f141328b2030dff82f646b8bc261ef903cd210a85b0df86a 

CAPITOL POLICE: CONGRESSMAN CAN KEEP AR-15S IN OFFICE. The Washington Post's Perry Stein and Peter Hermann, "Lt. Kimberly Schneider, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Capitol Police, said members of Congress "may maintain firearms within the confines of their office." Not only that, Schneider said, members "and any employee or agent of any Member of Congress may transport" weapons within the Capitol grounds as long as the "firearms are unloaded and securely wrapped." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ec62cb94c99102311b18a680bcad461e2731b515cad94a20ba45264be764380a 
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......BUT HE COULD STILL FACE A FEDERAL PROBE. Via Reuters, "A Republican member of Congress who posed for a photo with an assault rifle in his office could face investigation for violating the District of Columbia's gun laws, the city&#39;s attorney general's office said on Tuesday. Representative Ken Buck, of Colorado, on Thursday

tweeted a picture of himself and Representative Trey Gowdy, a Republican from South Carolina, holding an AR-15 rifle." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ec62cb94c991023189e9c604af3a4320696b58821ae1e6e6ff1c970a447df107 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ec62cb94c991023189e9c604af3a4320696b58821ae1e6e6ff1c970a447df107 

TUESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Aaron S. Merkin was the first to correctly answer that it was Helen Thomas in 1962 that pushed for women to join the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner.

TODAY'S TRIVIA -Aaron has today's question. Who was the first president to bring the first professional baseball team to the White House for a visit? Be the first to email 
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