Subject: POLITICO Huddle: GOP SCOTUS BLOCKADE SHOWING EARLY CRACKS — Garland to make the rounds on the Hill — GETS THE N.Y. TIMES TREATMENT — Aaron Schock still in limbo — SEN. KAINE BREAKS OUT HIS HARMONICA FOR ST. PATRICK’S DAY
From: "POLITICO Huddle" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 17 Mar 2016 07:01:27 -0600

03/17/2016 08:59 AM EDT

By Rachael Bade ([email-masked] or @RachaelMBade) 

GOP SUPREME COURT BLOCKADE SHOWING EARLY CRACKS. It didn't take long. My Senate colleagues Seung Min Kim and Burgess Everett report: "The Senate GOP's Supreme Court blockade cracked almost immediately after President Barack Obama unveiled his nominee - even as Mitch McConnell and his allies reiterated their vow not to hold any confirmation hearings before the November elections. A handful of GOP senators said they would at least meet with Merrick Garland, the chief justice of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals whom Obama nominated for the nation's highest court on Wednesday. Meanwhile, some Republicans acknowledged they could would move Garland's nomination during the lame-duck session,
 should their party lose both the White House and control of the Senate this fall."

Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, a Republican on the Judiciary Committee, gives his rational: "For those of us who are concerned about the direction of the court and wanting at least a more centrist figure than between him and somebody that President Clinton might nominate, I think the choice is clear - in a lame duck." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b6bc566db44a6a57ae71e9d2281f4ec71935979382732ea9a07775b1be4cd234 

REID DOES A SMALL VICTORY LAP. From a Wednesday afternoon press release from the Senate Minority Leader's office: "Republicans are backing down so quickly that they're already bargaining about what month they will fully cave and confirm Judge Garland... There is no question in my mind that Senator McConnell will back down from his position that the vacancy be filled by the 'next president.' Senator McConnell will cave and President Obama will fill this vacancy this year."

'BACK-CHANNEL MESSAGE'-WAS IT ALL BAKED IN? NPR's legal correspondent Nina Totenberg reported on Morning Edition that the GOP signaled Obama to go for Garland: "I'm told that the Republicans in the Senate actually sent some sort of a back-channel message to the White House that if it were Garland that they would confirm him if the Democrats prevail in the presidential election, that they would confirm him in the lame-duck session and that the whole caucus would be on board, that it wouldn't be a fight." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b6bc566db44a6a575005df3baa13997b1f2f577c46c7edaeee9297ba4da669bb 

MEET THE NOMINEE. Garland gets the N.Y. Times treatment: "On the bench, Judge Garland has a reputation as a moderate, admired by both Democrats and Republicans, who has come down on the government's side in a number of cases. He has not objected to the death penalty - he said it was 'settled law' in a 1995 confirmation hearing - and he deferred to the Bush administration on the rights of detainees at Guant&aacute;namo Bay, Cuba. He has been notably deferential to executive agencies and is seen as reluctant to second-guess experts. But Judge Garland's deference has limits. In 2004, he wrote an opinion that ruled for the Sierra Club in a case concerning the Environmental Protection Agency's
 approval of ozone control plans under the Clean Air Act. 'We agree with Sierra Club's principal contention that E.P.A. was not authorized to grant conditional approval to plans that did nothing more than promise to do tomorrow what the act requires today,' he wrote." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b6bc566db44a6a57ab9773dc87cd32b1159c2d51dffc4b69f1572defc1c53559 

GARLAND HITS THE HILL. More from our Senate-team duo: "Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland will head to Capitol Hill Thursday to begin his one-on-one meetings with senators, with Democrats vowing to jump-start a confirmation process that Republicans are adamant will never really begin... Garland is scheduled to meet with Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, then with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). Both sit-downs are ostensibly private meetings but will be used by Democrats as yet another high-profile forum to showcase the GOP blockade. Meanwhile, a handful of Senate Democrats will stand in front of the Supreme Court midday Thursday, holding
 an event pushing Republicans for a hearing and a vote in the next step of their "Do Your Job" campaign against Republicans." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b6bc566db44a6a576a5982e8921c1cd68649096dc78525de1cfe5c0d499e1fda 

GET YOUR GREEN ON, BAMAS. It's St. Patty's Day, 2016, and you're reading Huddle, where we're already plotting an early getaway to the Irish Times. Don't tell my editors. But do tell me your favorite Irish bar in town. Email: [email-masked] or on the Twitters: @RachaelMBade 

TODAY IN CONGRESS. The House returns at 9 a.m. for legislative business. First votes expected: 10:15-11:15 a.m. Last votes expected: 12:00-1:00 p.m. The Senate will convene at 9:30 a.m., and at about 1:45 p.m. will proceed to a vote on a resolution directing the Senate Legal Counsel to bring a civil action to enforce a subpoena of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

AROUND THE HILL. At 10 a.m., rescheduled from yesterday, Leader Harry Reid will speak at Center for American Progress Action Fund about Donald Trump, the GOP, and the Future of American Politics-and is also expected to discuss the new SCOTUS nominee. At 10:45 a.m., House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi holds her weekly press conference. At 11 a.m., the Rep. Mike Honda reintroduces the Reuniting Families Act at the House Triangle. 

At 11:30, Speaker Paul Ryan holds his weekly press conference on TV. At noon, Rep. John Conyers and the Rev. Al Sharpton at National Action Network will urge congressional action to resolve the Flint water crisis and will introduce legislation to reform the Michigan Emergency Financial Manager law at the House Triangle. Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) will meet Garland at 2:30 p.m. in Room 437 of the Russell Senate Office Building - don't forget the photo-op. 

"SCHOCK IN LIMBO AS FEDS STILL LOOM." The three amigos who dug up the dirt initially, Anna Palmer, Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan, have an update on the resigned congressman's case: "There have been a few random glimpses of the Illinois Republican since his abrupt departure from Capitol Hill... But the 34-year-old remains in legal limbo, awaiting clarity on his future from a grand jury that's been meeting in secret since last April to decide whether Schock should face federal charges. The protracted proceedings may be nearing completion, with an indictment coming as soon as this month, sources familiar with the case say. It's unclear what charges are being weighed, but Schock faced a
 exited the House." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b6bc566db44a6a572d72dc2cf6e15087e2a11b57038c545761fb2ee8735741ed 

SENATOR KAINE BREAKS OUT HIS HARMONICA FOR IRISH FESTIVITIES. Sen. Tim Kaine, honored at the American Ireland Fund annual gather at the National Building Museum last night, played harmonica with the band at the after-party. The night began early, with the Virginia Democrat racking his brain to decide which of his harmonicas to play. From @timkaine: "When you can't decide which harmonica to play at tonight's #AIFGalaDC16 #HarmonicaProblems @irlfunds pic.twitter.com/M3DTsSfEPR" Twit-pic: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b6bc566db44a6a57706ccde22cb64b025c8ee249149d4233723c7db4335825fe And it ended with him playing Wagon Wheel and Folsom Prison Blues with the 19th Street Band. Watch the video clips yourself: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b6bc566db44a6a578146130b6130bdf5bff68c9a2301701d96de41c3bd8a3d47 and http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b6bc566db44a6a57f842252f63dce5fd59814ad7635f658c26a70ebc81f859a1 (H/t Amy Dudley)

MARCH MADNESS, HILL-STYLE. Genevieve Fugere, a JD candidate at Georgetown Law and former senior legislative assistant for Rep. Mike McIntyre, writes in about a charity event she helped organize with lawmakers, which happened last night: "After a devastating buzzer-beater loss last year, the Hill's Angels returned to the court determined to defeat the Hoya Lawyas in the 29th annual Home Court basketball game benefitting the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless. The Hill's Angels, led by Senator Bob Casey (Penn.) and Rep. Huelskamp (Kans.), held a steady lead over the professors of the Georgetown University Law Center and emerged victorious with a score of 41-36. Senator Tim Scott (S.C.),
 Rep. Costello (Penn.) and Rep. Curbelo (Fla.) along with a number of staffers brought some true March Madness to the court. Over $646,000 was raised by the legal community in DC and the Georgetown Law students to support the Legal Clinic in their work to serve those struggling with homelessness and poverty in the nation's capitol."

SNEAK PEEK. Seung Min writes in: Ann Kirkpatrick, the Democrat running to oust veteran Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) this November, is releasing a new web ad that tries to tie McCain to Donald Trump over the volatile issue of immigration. The 1-minute ad revives the infamous "complete the danged fence" line from his 2010 campaign, and is pegged to Trump's rally this weekend in Phoenix ahead of the state's March 22 primary. "John McCain has been on every side of immigration," the narrator says. "And now he's pledging his loyalty to Donald Trump, whose costly plan will tear families apart and forcibly deport 11 million immigrants." The source declined to disclose the amount of money behind the
 ad. Watch the ad here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b6bc566db44a6a57a19d7ba6bf7a016617723022a99da65231e907ae15721d5d 

BOEHNER: PAUL RYAN FOR PRESIDENT. Patrick Temple-West and Jake Sherman: "Former Speaker John Boehner said Paul Ryan should be the Republican nominee for president if the party fails to choose a candidate on the first ballot. 'If we don't have a nominee who can win on the first ballot, I'm for none of the above,' Boehner said at the Futures Industry Association conference here. 'They all had a chance to win. None of them won. So I'm for none of the above. I'm for Paul Ryan to be our nominee.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b6bc566db44a6a57965f299f9e5d56395d4b3839c0b8f0c32b6f9ce82b3a15ff 

WEDNESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER: Greg Gervais was the first to answer that Kevin Johnson, Mayor of Sacramento was elected the same night as Barack Obama and dubbed himself "Little Barack" on national television right after the election. He is also married to a woman named Michelle, per Emma Mayberry, who answered correctly a bit later in the day but threw in that tidbit. 

TODAY'S TRIVIA: Comes from honorable mention Emma: Which two states have been simultaneously represented by a female governor and two female senators? Email me: [email-masked] 

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