Subject: POLITICO Huddle : REPUBLICANS RUSHING TO RUBIO? – How Tim Scott chose Rubio – FLINT HEARING TODAY ON HILL – Kochs push on criminal justice reform – THE OBAMA-RYAN KABUKI SUMMIT – Vitter’s Obamacare crusade returns
From: "POLITICO Huddle" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 03 Feb 2016 07:11:13 -0600

02/03/2016 08:09 AM EDT

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

REPUBLICANS RUSHING TO RUBIO? Not on Capitol Hill, at least not just yet, according to POLITICO's Burgess Everett: "Mike Rounds got the call from Marco Rubio's campaign within hours of his big third-place finish in Iowa: Would the South Dakota senator consider an endorsement now that Rounds' pick, Mike Huckabee, dropped out? 'I told [the Rubio surrogate], 'We'll be happy to visit with you. ... But Rounds wasn't ready to commit; he wanted to speak to Huckabee first. Ditto for Arkansas Sen. John Boozman, another Huckabee backer on Capitol Hill."

--"After the Senate GOP's persona non grata, Ted Cruz, notched a commanding win in Iowa, there was growing sentiment Tuesday among Republican senators - a bellwether of the GOP establishment - that they need to coalesce behind a single candidate in the nominating contest to beat back Cruz and Donald Trump. But if Rubio was hoping for a stampede to his corner following South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott's key endorsement, it did not materialize on Tuesday ... The reluctance means that Republicans who've been clamoring for a consensus candidate to take on Cruz or Donald Trump will have to wait a little longer - probably at least until after New Hampshire, where Rubio needs to elbow aside the likes
 of Chris Christie, Bush and Kasich to maintain his momentum." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c29aca28c3ce7b94f1d41bf581081ca475876c8688786b3f5f2a8325118b9a52

--But some are starting to get persuaded. National Journal's Daniel Newhauser and Alex Rogers report that some Bush backers on Capitol Hill, like Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas), are rethinking their support and leaning toward Rubio. Sessions tells the pair: "I'm for endorsing Jeb Bush. But that was 10 months ago. He has since then not sold himself as well as he had wanted." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c29aca28c3ce7b949d5d83afe707ac8a118bc95dac633ad4dee1c0bb6ad632f9

@burgessev: Hatch says Bush didn't disappoint last night because no one expected him to do that well.

--WaPo's Paul Kane goes inside Sen. Tim Scott's thought process as the South Carolina Republican decided to endorse Rubio for president: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c29aca28c3ce7b9466e21db47c802919ed9cc9bba3015056223116030f2f89bf

FLINT HEARING PREVIEW: KEY LAPSES BY MICHIGAN OFFICIALS - The AP's Matthew Daly has the advance copy of testimony from top officials responding to the Flint water crisis: "Michigan should have required the city of Flint to treat its water for corrosion-causing elements after elevated lead levels were first discovered in the city's water a year ago, the state's top environmental regulator says in congressional testimony. State officials 'relied on technical compliance (with the law) instead of assuring safe drinking water,' says Keith Creagh, director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality."

--"He calls that a mistake. But state officials are not the only ones who made mistakes in Flint, Creagh says. All levels of government deserve blame in the Flint crisis, he says." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5909f4139c456d645bdd21b54b3d4cf45232f3d5e5218e22d340040505160db3

--Hearing begins at 9 a.m. in 2154 Rayburn. Over in the Senate, disagreements over how to handle the Flint crisis in connection with an energy bill remain, per Morning Consult: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5909f4139c456d6497c36ecc646c3b65ca05b4b555ba02156dbbd0ddf465a88c

KOCHS PUSH ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM - BuzzFeed News' Tarini Parti from Indian Wells, Calif.: "The momentum for criminal justice legislation is slowing down on Capitol Hill, but hundreds of miles away, Charles Koch - one of its biggest supporters - continued to aggressively make the case for it to pass this year, even as the billionaire becomes the face of one of the sticking points. 'The issue we've been working hard on is criminal justice reform, so if somebody makes one mistake, non-violent, it starts with this question: Do you have right to run your own life as long as you don't violate the rights of others and you're not bothering anybody?' Koch said to donors on Sunday at the winter
 meeting of the political network affiliated with the industrialist brothers, which drew about 500 attendees." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5909f4139c456d6418a2665b6d09803ac4b7fbda5adec81d07dcf84df713b311

HAPPY WEDNESDAY, Feb. 03, 2016 where we appreciate the strong selfie action from Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) in this CQ Roll Call photo: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5909f4139c456d64f728cfc27f4efcf1d2f0d950f546c69b597da1a04db65ac2 I'm taking over for the rest of the week, and I'm always at [email-masked] and on Twitter at @seungminkim.

My new followers include @apwillweissert and @anismuslimin.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The House is in at 10 a.m. with votes around 1:15 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. and then again between 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Votes are scheduled for the Encouraging Employee Ownership Act. The Senate is in at 9:30 a.m. and will continue working on the Energy Policy Modernization Act.

AROUND THE HILL - Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and a whole bunch of Senate Democrats will hold a forum on student debt at 9 a.m. in S-207. House Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) and other committee members will hold a news conference on the FAA reauthorization at 11:30 a.m. in HVC Studio A. Reps. Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich.), Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and others will hold a news conference following the Oversight Committee hearing on the Flint water crisis at 2 p.m. in HVC Studio A.

Just off the Hill, Heritage Action is hosting its third annual conservative policy summit featuring more than 20 lawmakers from Capitol Hill. The all-day event begins at 9 a.m. and will be held at the Heritage Foundation's Allison Auditorium, 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE. Speaker Paul Ryan is speaking at 9:10 a.m.; you can RSVP here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5909f4139c456d641ee5383bb3355b2fe1d132040fc8f2c916e8a77e2afe2c62 Preview of Ryan's remarks here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5909f4139c456d649fec8d36406e73f8336c2fb57ddde79bff97209cb10b7c16

And Hill conservatives, led by Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), will launch the Article I Project at 8 a.m. at Hillsdale College's Kirby Center, 227 Massachusetts Ave NE. Lee and Hensarling have an op-ed in National Review previewing their efforts here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5909f4139c456d64994ed7a33396bd34499ef0711bf7f59fd4fdd95ef1357b7d

CONGRATULATIONS ... to the members of the Senate Press Secretaries Association's 2016-17 executive board: President Ryan Taylor (Sen. Roger Wicker), Ashton Davies (Sen. Lamar Alexander), J.P. Freire (Sen. Orrin Hatch), Julia Krieger (Sen. Heidi Heitkamp), Katie Niederee (Sen. Jerry Moran), Neal Patel (Sen. Dean Heller), Rebecca Steele (Sen. Ron Wyden) and Megan Whittemore (Sen. David Perdue).

THE OBAMA-RYAN KABUKI SUMMIT - POLITICO's Edward-Isaac Dovere and Jake Sherman have the analysis: "At the White House on Tuesday, President Barack Obama resumed his own 2016 campaigning. Hosting Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) for their first meeting with GOP leaders in months - and the first formal meeting since Ryan took over the speakership in October - Obama and his aides spent a lot of time publicly talking about passing a legislative agenda, followed immediately and inevitably by complaining about Republicans obstructing that legislative agenda. In reality, the White House seemed most interested in the latter." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5909f4139c456d6493601afd9747b79032f8c53706516e0146a68c1d59b62b28

--The Obama administration is asking Congress for $1.1 billion in additional funding to battle opioid abuse - one of the issues raised during Obama's meeting with Ryan and McConnell on Tuesday. Gardiner Harris for the New York Times: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5909f4139c456d6401a20ff4ed6a6fe4b7ca2b532b6de45e9f673c7f812bceca And a quick rundown of other topics discussed, via Burgess and yours truly: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5909f4139c456d6439eec79078ac3b96b655c8d5426456b96db96e687f3057cb

--Ryan held a "budget and beer" get-together on Tuesday night to talk budget, which seems to have turned into a lively discussion: @MEPFuller -- 10:07 p.m. | Speaker Paul Ryan is *still* meeting with House Freedom Caucus members about the budget.

JUST ONE MORE OBAMACARE VOTE - Quite appropriately on Groundhog Day, House Republicans took one more whack at the health care law by trying to override Obama's veto of a bill to dismantle Obamacare and defund Planned Parenthood. Take it away, USA Today: "The 241-186 vote to override the veto fell short of the two-thirds needed, ensuring that the Affordable Care Act will remain in place at least through the final year of Obama's term ... Republican House leaders knew that they would lose the Obamacare vote, but they are hoping to use the issue to convince voters to elect a GOP president to help them overturn the 2010 heath care law in the next Congress." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5909f4139c456d64a833412528091f1e16c301500e068dbd927d1ec745819e00

THE VITTER AMENDMENT IS (SORT OF) BACK! Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) isn't letting his lame-duck status allow him to go out quietly - at least when it comes to Obamacare. CQ Roll Call's Niels Lesniewski reports: "Sen. David Vitter, R-La., is threatening to stall the Office of Personnel Management director's nomination from moving forward unless he receives information on congressional enrollment under the Affordable Care Act. In a Tuesday letter to OPM's acting director Beth F. Cobert, who is set to appear at a nomination hearing this week, Vitter asked that Cobert answer a series of questions and disclose correspondence relating to an OPM rule that allowed lawmakers and their staff to enroll
 in the District of Columbia's small business health insurance exchange." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5909f4139c456d64ba870cf29cb792ff68d9791b9fac7b82e6aa447928942abe

CHAKA FATTAH, JR. SENTENCED - From Julie Shaw of the Philadelphia Daily News: "Before being sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison and ordered to pay more than $1 million restitution to the clients and banks he defrauded, Chaka 'Chip' Fattah Jr. told the court that the government had gotten it wrong. That argument clearly went nowhere. U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle III ordered that the congressman's son be immediately taken into custody. He was hauled away while his father, U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), his mother, and a sister sat in the gallery." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5909f4139c456d6449c998331fd3b1eaa86c93a90326ff687ffc8a2adcdb83ba

TUESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - No one answered correctly, so I'm trying again.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Today's question via Shelby Boxenbaum: In November, Jenean Hampton made history when she became the first black statewide officeholder in Kentucky. In 1924, Emma Guy Cromwell became the first woman to win statewide election in Kentucky. But who was the first woman to run statewide in Kentucky? What year? And what position? The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. E-mail [email-masked]. 

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