Subject: POLITICO Huddle: REID’S FINAL CAMPAIGN – Warren allies could win on nominee – TPP’S FINAL STRETCH – House GOP-er flips on Ex-Im – WHO’S IMPERSONATING DURBIN?
From: "POLITICO Huddle" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 07 Jul 2015 05:21:52 -0600

By Seung Min Kim (
mailto:[email-masked] 
[email-masked]  or @seungminkim)

REID'S FINAL CAMPAIGN - The retiring Senate minority leader is determined to wrest control of the chamber back to Democrats in 2016, and my colleague Manu Raju reports that no detail is too small for Harry Reid to overlook: He's called potential candidates in New Hampshire, Florida, Maryland and Wisconsin, made fundraising trips to Canada and New York, and made an aggressive push to ensure his home state of Nevada stays in the Democratic column. More from Manu: "Reid helped persuade former Sen. Russ Feingold to run in Wisconsin and has called New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan as part of the party's full-court press to urge New Hampshire's governor to run in the state's marquee Senate race."

--"His political machine has kicked into high gear to save his own seat in Nevada, where Republicans on Monday enlisted a top-tier recruit, Rep. Joe Heck, against Reid's handpicked replacement, former state Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto ... Last week, he headlined a fundraiser for Cortez Masto in Las Vegas, along with one for the Nevada Democratic Party, which he has spent years building. In June and July, Reid lined up four trips for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Senate Majority PAC, including swings to New York, Chicago and Montreal."

--QOTD: Montana Sen. Jon Tester, the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, tells Manu re: Reid: "Harry is going to be involved up to his neck, you better believe it. He's a political animal." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=53710cdc5669958f39dcfd2fb8b4d47a295d1cfc3185e4dc97bc150e2ca0b14b 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=53710cdc5669958f39dcfd2fb8b4d47a295d1cfc3185e4dc97bc150e2ca0b14b 

TPP COULD FINISH THIS MONTH - The New York Times' Jonathan Weisman writes how the dozen countries hammering out one of the largest trade deals in history are eyeing a final round of talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership in July: "Outstanding controversies include access to Canada's agriculture market, Australian concerns over American pharmaceutical patent rules, Peru's rain forest management, Chinese components in Vietnamese textile exports and labor organizing rights in Vietnam and Mexico. The dispute over access to Canada's protected dairy and poultry markets is so fierce that some participants say they believe Canada could drop out of the talks."

--But not so fast on the Congress front, per Weisman: "Under terms set by Congress in trade negotiating legislation last month, a July 31 agreement could not be signed until Oct. 31 or more likely the beginning of November. Congress cannot begin considering it until December. Yet the Office of the United States Trade Representative is projecting confidence." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=53710cdc5669958fd340b3ed75642bd196670bed398686f4748e4eb5b41837cc 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=53710cdc5669958fd340b3ed75642bd196670bed398686f4748e4eb5b41837cc 

--The top negotiators are scheduled to meet in late July at the Westin Maui Resort & Spa in Hawaii. To my editors: I'm more than happy to take one for the team and go out there to cover those talks.

WARREN ALLIES TAKE ON SEC PICK -- POLITICO's Patrick Temple-West with the scoop: "Elizabeth Warren and her liberal allies appear to be on the verge of another victory in their battle to stop the White House from choosing financial regulators with ties to Wall Street. President Barack Obama was planning to nominate corporate attorney Keir Gumbs to fill a Democratic seat on the Securities and Exchange Commission last month, according to four sources familiar with the matter. But now that's on hold at least until August after activist groups aligned with Warren raised an outcry over Gumbs' work, including his advice to companies on how to dodge scrutiny from shareholder activists."

--"The White House will begin vetting additional candidates who don't have corporate relationships to fill the seat being vacated by Democrat Luis Aguilar, whose term expired last month, two people said. It's the latest attempt by the progressive movement that's coalesced around Warren to set a litmus test for financial regulatory jobs." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=53710cdc5669958fb6c8f719f70007ae98abc0604d3335b804294b3f6c7401ee 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=53710cdc5669958fb6c8f719f70007ae98abc0604d3335b804294b3f6c7401ee 

A DURBIN IMPERSONATOR? File this one under "Bizarre Political Story of the Day," from Reuters' Patricia Zengerle: "A forger sent a hoax letter to Russian media in an apparent bid to convince journalists that a senior U.S. lawmaker, Senator Richard Durbin, was trying to tell Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk how to run his government ... The hoaxer wrote to Yatsenyuk on what appeared to be U.S. Senate letterhead, claiming to be Durbin, the number two Democrat in the Senate, a leading American voice on Ukraine-related issues who traveled to Kiev in May to discuss Russian aggression."

--"Ben Marter, a spokesman for Durbin, said his office had told the CIA and the FBI about the letter. Marter said he first learned about it when he was contacted by Russian state-owned media asking for comment." The Reuters story: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=53710cdc5669958f156aa97e334ec2ab02bcebb2ef6cae4c565c7489713e9d9c 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=53710cdc5669958f156aa97e334ec2ab02bcebb2ef6cae4c565c7489713e9d9c  And the fake letter is here: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=53710cdc5669958faaca0bbcbe557ad1b9ce493e1a4e3f63af23c1f7c37646f6 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=53710cdc5669958faaca0bbcbe557ad1b9ce493e1a4e3f63af23c1f7c37646f6 

@BenMarter: Whoever forged it has a tenuous grasp of English. The fake letterhead is a giveaway too -- we don't say 'ASSISTANT MINORITY LEADER'

WELCOME TO TUESDAY, JULY 7, 2015 and you're reading The Huddle, where it is Tuesday everywhere else in the world but the Senate, whose Tuesday is actually Wednesday (meaning no lunches today). Reach me at 
mailto:[email-masked] 
[email-masked]  and please follow me on Twitter at @seungminkim.

My new followers include @chadvictory and @carriegraceh.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The House is in at 2 p.m. and will vote on a handful of suspensions at 6:30 p.m. The Senate is back at 2:30 and will begin working on an education reform bill. At 5:30 p.m., they'll vote on the confirmation of Kara Farnandez Stoll to be a U.S. circuit judge for the Federal Circuit.

AROUND THE HILL - House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer holds his weekly pen-and-pad with reporters at 11 a.m. in H-144. Sen. John McCain, along with Gen. Larry Spencer, the vice chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, is holding a ceremony to honor 2nd Lt. John R. Pedevillano of the U.S. Air Force at 12:15 p.m. in 220 Russell.

Meanwhile, Senate Dems are headed to the White House to meet with President Barack Obama at 6:15 p.m. We're guessing the Iran nuclear talks will be a key topic of discussion.

SNEAK PEEK - The Environmental Defense Action Fund is launching a six-figure ad buy later today thanking a handful of Democratic senators for backing a chemical safety reform bill. The campaign includes television and print ads boosting Tom Carper and Chris Coons in Delaware, Cory Booker in New Jersey, Tom Udall in New Mexico, Jeff Merkley in Oregon, and Sheldon Whitehouse in Rhode Island. Check out one of the ads, designed for Merkley, here: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=53710cdc5669958fbbb8f6fa039fe7dc7bc389a9814b5dda92d4445bf431af8a 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=53710cdc5669958fbbb8f6fa039fe7dc7bc389a9814b5dda92d4445bf431af8a 

CLUB FOR GROWTH ALERT - Congress is sure to face a renewed fight over the Export-Import Bank later this month, when its backers are expected to try to attach a renewal of the bank's charter to a must-pass highway bill. And now Ex-Im fans can now count another GOP lawmaker on their side, per the Los Angeles Times' Noah Bierman: "For months, Rep. Steve Knight (R-Palmdale) has appeared on a prominent list of congressmen who opposed the Export-Import Bank. That position won him the admiration of Tea Party groups and other conservatives, who abhor the bank as an example of crony capitalism and have made its destruction their top goal."

--"So it was a big surprise this weekend when Knight was quoted in a Los Angeles Daily News column saying that letting the bank&#39;s charter lapse would put 'American jobs at risk.' When asked for a clarification Monday, his office issued an even stronger statement of support, arguing that small businesses in his district depend on the bank." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=53710cdc5669958f5c5f3210d859be799d40f4c6f0ea894474ac0b9fa5681775 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=53710cdc5669958f5c5f3210d859be799d40f4c6f0ea894474ac0b9fa5681775 

WHITE HOUSE: THUMBS DOWN ON EDUCATION BILLS - Both chambers of Congress are set this month to take up a major rewrite of the long-expired No Child Left Behind law (the Senate's version being a tad more bipartisan than the House, which conservatives also hated). But the Obama administration is already throwing some cold water on both measures, per the AP: "Cecilia Munoz, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, says neither bill has sufficient accountability to ensure that all children get the resources they need to succeed."

--"She, however, stopped short of saying President Barack Obama would veto the bipartisan Senate bill sponsored by Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. ... The Alexander-Murray bill would retain reading and math tests outlined in No Child Left Behind - but in a significant move, it shifts to the states decisions about how to use those tests to measure school performance." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=53710cdc5669958f07c36a4b6243216b405b39618561039ee0cbb3d13482b2c8 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=53710cdc5669958f07c36a4b6243216b405b39618561039ee0cbb3d13482b2c8 

INDICTMENT IN TESTER GUN CASE - Hannah Hess for CQ Roll Call: "A federal court has indicted a Montana woman for allegedly shipping a .22 handgun and ammunition to Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont. Cathleen Roselyn Cantlon, 56, pleaded not guilty on June 29 to charges of interstate mailing of a firearm and ammunition and possession of a firearm and ammunition by a person who has been committed to a mental institution."

--"On May 18, staff at the Senate mail facility in Landover, Md., discovered that a package addressed to "Homeland Security Sentoe Johns Tester" contained dangerous items including a handgun, knife, and some form of liquid, according to court documents." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=53710cdc5669958f7af41eac12592ef49d4d2628fb2f9bf73741e8ac43838749 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=53710cdc5669958f7af41eac12592ef49d4d2628fb2f9bf73741e8ac43838749 

TUESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Joseph Poupard was the first person to correctly identify Cuba's minor league baseball affiliates: Havana Cubans (Washington Senators) and the Sugar Kings (Cincinnati Reds).

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Joseph has today's question: How many times have there been presidential oath "do-overs," and which presidents took the mulligan? Please answer both parts. The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. E-mail 
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