Subject: POLITICO Huddle, presented by the Coalition for Safe Affordable Food: GOP DOUBLES DOWN AGAINST PLANNED PARENTHOOD – Kerry chief in squeeze on Benghazi – IRAN FRENZY ON HILL TODAY -- Highway bill hits transpo metaphor
From: "POLITICO Huddle" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 2015 06:02:08 -0600

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

GOP DOUBLES DOWN AGAINST PLANNED PARENTHOOD - POLITICO's Rachael Bade and Jake Sherman: "Congress' planned crackdown on Planned Parenthood is looking increasingly real. Republican leaders are weighing a series of votes to defund Planned Parenthood - possibly beginning before the August recess - after the release of a second undercover sting video allegedly showing one of the abortion rights group's officials discussing the sale of fetal organs. The anti-Planned Parenthood drive extends to the House and Senate: The No. 2 Republican in each chamber said he expects votes to cut off federal funding for the group soon."

--"House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told reporters Tuesday he's anticipating amendments to strip the money over the course of the fall government funding debate. That's in addition to a spate of Hill hearings he said are aimed at learning 'the facts ... and what's truly is going on.' Meanwhile, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas said he expects lawmakers to offer a Planned Parenthood amendment to the highway bill, a major piece of must-pass legislation that's slated for consideration beginning this week." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=558db5633c33be5c1b435bf94f253d9bbd728aa3c90ecbf58f01d77f29ea105e 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=558db5633c33be5c1b435bf94f253d9bbd728aa3c90ecbf58f01d77f29ea105e 

--The Hill's Peter Sullivan and Sarah Ferris write about how the left is worried that the Planned Parenthood videos could spiral into a new ACORN-like scandal: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=558db5633c33be5cc2cb8a23460e6fb8ce4a400e38623f401c2f094925a18dda 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=558db5633c33be5cc2cb8a23460e6fb8ce4a400e38623f401c2f094925a18dda 

--POLITICO's Rachana Pradhan takes a look at the man behind the Planned Parenthood videos: "David Daleiden, the leader of the Center for Medical Progress, has clear ties to at least two organizations that have protested Planned Parenthood and its clinics for years. Those include Operation Rescue, which has long been criticized by abortion rights groups for its extreme tactics, and Live Action, which has similarly used undercover sting videos to accuse Planned Parenthood clinics of everything from racism and manipulative counseling to sex-selective abortion and infanticide." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0ddc08a2366e8ddf9ffb2c9d650dc0198bf53d376056a9d13af8b5ec05f183bf 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0ddc08a2366e8ddf9ffb2c9d650dc0198bf53d376056a9d13af8b5ec05f183bf 

INSERT DRIVING METAPHOR HERE - The Senate's highway bill runs into a ... speed bump? Roadblock? Is stalling? Niels Lesniewski for CQ Roll Call: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's highway deal with Sen. Barbara Boxer hit a pothole Tuesday, as Democrats helped torpedo a vote to advance the 1,030-page bill about an hour after senators received it. In a bizarre turn of events, Boxer ended up voting to filibuster bringing up a bill she helped negotiate, while saying she hopes to get on the bill by Wednesday. 'Keep our eye on the prize,' she said in floor remarks."

--"Minority Leader Harry Reid and Boxer had called for a delay so Democrats could read the mammoth bill, and senators blocked bringing it up, 41-56 vote, well shy of the 60 votes need to advance ... After the vote failed, McConnell said the Senate would have to be in session this weekend in an effort to complete the highway bill before the August recess, and Reid said he'd be 'fine' doing so." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0ddc08a2366e8ddfa9d010a038575983e07b2fedfd1ac14a928badd71d796af9 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0ddc08a2366e8ddfa9d010a038575983e07b2fedfd1ac14a928badd71d796af9 

KERRY CHIEF IN A SQUEEZE - Secretary of State John Kerry's chief of staff, Jon Finer, has quite the scheduling conflict next week: Go to a congressional hearing where Kerry is testifying on the Iran deal, or appear before the House Benghazi Committee. Ben Geman for National Journal: "The GOP-led panel may try and force Finer, Kerry&#39;s chief of staff, to testify next week, despite department objections that Finer is consumed with responding to questions and concerns from lawmakers in both chambers about the accord. Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, in a letter obtained by National Journal, told State on Tuesday that he has scheduled Finer&#39;s appearance next Tuesday, the same day as a
 House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on the nuclear deal with Kerry and other Cabinet officials."

-- Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat [on the Benghazi committee], noted that Finer has spent months on the Iran negotiations. 'This is either embarrassingly poor planning or a flimsy attempt by Republicans to scuttle the Iran deal,' Cummings said." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0ddc08a2366e8ddf119d0193b88027f178e3b8a9d8765679ddcd48630b04f398 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0ddc08a2366e8ddf119d0193b88027f178e3b8a9d8765679ddcd48630b04f398 

IRAN FRENZY HITS HILL TODAY - Susan Davis for USA Today has the preview: "Secretary of State John Kerry, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew lead the Obama administration&#39;s efforts against a likely push by many lawmakers to block the Iran agreement from taking effect. Kerry, Moniz and Lew will lead two classified briefings Wednesday with House and Senate members. The trio will appear publicly Thursday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0ddc08a2366e8ddf3d27934a20fbd0a0931762f6344af6952c56e38f258f6b1e 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0ddc08a2366e8ddf3d27934a20fbd0a0931762f6344af6952c56e38f258f6b1e 

HILL EYES 'SANCTUARY CITIES' CRACKDOWN - From your Huddle author: "A hush fell across the hearing room when Jim Steinle leaned forward to address the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. Just three weeks ago, his daughter Kathryn was killed in San Francisco in broad daylight, allegedly by an undocumented immigrant with a lengthy felony record, and he'd come to the Capitol to call for action in the wake of her death. While Steinle was careful to acknowledge that the nation's immigration laws were complicated, he made it clear that his family wants to see legislation 'to take these undocumented immigrant felons off our streets for good.'"

--"Lawmakers from both parties are heeding his call ... Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley is rolling out legislation targeting sanctuary cities which would block funding for cities and other local law enforcement agencies that decline to cooperate with federal immigration officials. Meanwhile, one influential Democrat - Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California - is working on a measure that would force local law-enforcement officials to work with the feds, which is causing concern for immigration advocates who say it would erode trust between immigrant communities and police." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0ddc08a2366e8ddfa7bad0f234b0eefe052622fc3786f2888bd72b649dcf7c48 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0ddc08a2366e8ddfa7bad0f234b0eefe052622fc3786f2888bd72b649dcf7c48 

--Fresh out this morning, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who represents San Francisco, and California Rep. Zoe Lofgren, the top Democrat on the House panel on immigration, are asking for a review of federal law enforcement policies that led to the release of Juan Francisco Lopez Sanchez, the undocumented immigrant now accused Steinle's death. The story: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0ddc08a2366e8ddfc27e757fa879acb642a6555d8fe544f7f56eb9f85ec05919 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0ddc08a2366e8ddfc27e757fa879acb642a6555d8fe544f7f56eb9f85ec05919 

** A message from the Coalition for Safe Affordable Food: Anti-GMO activists have been compared to anti-vaccine science-deniers. GMOs enable farmers to safeguard the environment by allowing them to produce higher yields on less land while limiting greenhouse gas emissions and pesticide use.Help support this safe, proven technology by telling your Representative to support the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0ddc08a2366e8ddff1fa06a25e24c56bc7f5e5581ee4833b9e4b58d7931572cf 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0ddc08a2366e8ddff1fa06a25e24c56bc7f5e5581ee4833b9e4b58d7931572cf  **

HALFWAY THERE. IT'S WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2015 and welcome to the Huddle. Send me news tips, Hill gossip, etc. at 
mailto:[email-masked] 
[email-masked]  and on Twitter at @seungminkim.

My new followers include @SpeakerBoehner and @stiles.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The House is in at 10 a.m. First votes around 1:15 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. and last votes are expected between 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., and the House is working on coal ash legislation. The Senate is in at 10 a.m., with a special Dem lunch from 12:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.

AROUND THE HILL - Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) will hold a news conference on the Export-Import Bank at 9:30 a.m. at House Triangle. House Democratic Caucus Chair Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) and Vice Chair Joe Crowley will hold a post-caucus avail at 10 a.m. in HVC-210 alcove. Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and other GOP leaders will hold a post-conference presser at 10 a.m. at the RNC lobby. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will discuss the minimum wage at 11 a.m. at Upper Senate Park. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Dan Coats (R-Ind.) and Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) will hold a press conference on cybersecurity at 11:30 a.m. at S-325.

Reps. John Conyers (D-Md.) and Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) will hold a press conference on their criminal reform bills at 11:45 a.m. at 2237 Rayburn. Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) will hold a news conference on the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act at noon at House Triangle. Becerra, Crowley, and Reps. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) and Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) will hold a press conference on Social Security at 1 p.m. at 234 Cannon.

2016 MUCKING UP HIGHWAY BILL? - From POLITICO's Burgess Everett: "Clumped together in the single digits in recent national polls, GOP Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Marco Rubio of Florida, Ted Cruz of Texas and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina sense an opportunity to get some much-needed traction in the must-pass legislation. And they're seizing it, with plans to tack on controversial proposals - or potentially hold up the entire bill if they don't get what they want. Paul is pushing an amendment to defund Planned Parenthood precisely at the moment the women's health group is under siege for videos showing officials discussing harvesting organs from aborted fetuses.

--"Graham is forcefully advocating revival of the defunct Export-Import Bank, which Rubio has barnstormed the country denouncing. And Cruz is urging the Senate to yank away employer contributions for congressional staffers' health plans under Obamacare, an idea pushed for years by Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) to the annoyance of many lawmakers." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0ddc08a2366e8ddfb0262f151937bdb49cb5580fce9c069a316c3a2bc4e3cbb2 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0ddc08a2366e8ddfb0262f151937bdb49cb5580fce9c069a316c3a2bc4e3cbb2 

'COLONEL SANDERS PAYS ME MORE THAN UNCLE SAM' - The Guardian posts this first-person perspective from Sontia Bailey, a cashier at the Capitol: "Every morning, senators make a pit-stop where I work to grab coffee, oatmeal and granola bars on their way to the Senate floor to give speeches and cast votes. They warmly greet me with 'Hey Sontia, how you doing?' as I ring them up. I always respond with a smile and say 'I'm fine, thank you.' ... The truth is that I'm far from fine - recently, my life took a tragic turn."

--"Even though I work full-time at the US Capitol, I only earn $10.59 an hour. Because the federal contractor that operates the cafe pays me so little, I had to pick-up a second job at KFC to make ends meet. It may be hard to believe, but Colonel Sanders actually pays me more than Uncle Sam does: I make $11 an hour at my fast food job ... I want the senators I serve to know that working two poverty-wage jobs has taken a terrible toll on my body and my health. Three weeks ago, I lost my baby boy. I had a miscarriage in my home at 3am." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0ddc08a2366e8ddf9e29c61d5189ce3530cf66c4659afbbd2cb47f2238beb592 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0ddc08a2366e8ddf9e29c61d5189ce3530cf66c4659afbbd2cb47f2238beb592 

HILL WOMEN PUSH GUN CONTROL - Bloomberg's Heidi Przybyla: "Gun control&#39;s weary warriors have been searching for a way to appeal to Republicans and give the issue a pulse in Congress. A couple of Midwestern women Democrats may have found a way to do it, by tying it to domestic violence. Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar and Michigan Representative Debbie Dingell are pressing legislation to take guns out of the hands of men who abuse women."

--"On Wednesday, Dingell will introduce a bill along with a Republican, Robert Dold of Illinois, similar to legislation Klobuchar reintroduced earlier this year seeking to prohibit abusive dating partners, individuals under a restraining order and convicted stalkers from buying or owning a gun." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0ddc08a2366e8ddf50d7c4827604193a042639d1278caeafbe508f146ac7d2dc 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0ddc08a2366e8ddf50d7c4827604193a042639d1278caeafbe508f146ac7d2dc 

LINDSEY'S MOVIE NIGHT - This is a pretty great dispatch from The Washington Post's Ed O'Keefe from the movie theaters in Chinatown: "Sen. Lindsey Graham&#39;s cellphone is still ringing hours after Donald Trump shared the number on national television. And he&#39;s still picking up. But he&#39;s not the only one: he&#39;s got another senator&#39;s kids on phone duty too. Graham (R-S.C.) was spotted Tuesday night at the movie theaters in Gallery Place in Washington on his way to a viewing of 'Minions,' an animated film, with Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) and her two young children."

--"Riding up the escalators to the theaters, Graham took out his cellphone and showed a Washington Post reporter that indeed, the calls are still coming. 'Half of the calls are saying, &#39;Keep it up,&#39;' he said." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0ddc08a2366e8ddfe6c903a4f8e543f6e620ff0977570df59630113aedc3a3c1 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0ddc08a2366e8ddfe6c903a4f8e543f6e620ff0977570df59630113aedc3a3c1 

TUESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Jon Deuser and Stewart Verdery answered within seconds of each other that Herbert Hoover was the last Republican president without a Bush or Nixon on the ticket. But the question was worded in a way that it could've been interpreted as a trick question; in that case, it would've been Gerald Ford. Thanks to Rick Robinson (and many, many others) for pointing that out.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Jon has today's question: This former congressman was identified as 'Elmer Fudd' by FBI agents as part of a sting operation into corruption charges. Who was he? The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. E-mail 
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[email-masked] .

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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** A message from the Coalition for Safe Affordable Food: Anti-GMO activists have been compared to anti-vaccine science-deniers. GMOs enable farmers to safeguard the environment by allowing them to produce higher yields on less land while limiting greenhouse gas emissions and pesticide use.Help support this safe, proven technology by telling your Representative to support the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0ddc08a2366e8ddff1fa06a25e24c56bc7f5e5581ee4833b9e4b58d7931572cf 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0ddc08a2366e8ddff1fa06a25e24c56bc7f5e5581ee4833b9e4b58d7931572cf  **

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