Subject: POLITICO Huddle: TRUMP, GUNS AND MORE THIS WEEK – A Gang of Eight revival? – BROMANCE WATCH: KASICH AND PORTMAN – Inhofe’s weekend plane scare – SLOW GRIND TO A STOPGAP
From: "POLITICO Huddle" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 05 Jul 2016 05:59:55 -0600

07/05/2016 07:57 AM EDT

By Heather Caygle ([email-masked] or @heatherscope)

With assistance from Daniel Lippman 

TRUMP, GUNS AND MORE ON THE HILL- Welcome back, Huddle readers! The House is back today, the first full gathering since Democrats took over the chamber for a daylong sit-in a couple of weeks ago, with gun control votes later this week. Bres with more on what to expect: "The chamber will vote this week on an 'anti-terrorism' package that includes a gun-control proposal similar to that offered by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and already rejected by the Senate. ...The gulf between the two parties is huge - it will only widen in coming days. The House could end up voting on one or more gun bills that have already failed in the Senate, meaning all the dramatics and rhetoric that will take place
 this week are little more than a carnival show designed to rile up base voters." 

Bipartisan huddle tonight: House Speaker Paul Ryan declined an invitation to address the Democratic caucus but will meet privately tonight with Reps. John Lewis and John Larson, two of the sit-in leaders. 

Ryan's tough spot: "Gun violence and mass shootings are occurring at an alarming rate across the country and the American public favors some kind of action, according to recent polls. But the NRA and gun-rights supporters are critical factions within the GOP base, and they hold great sway with Ryan's rank-and-file members. Ryan and other top Republicans know they can't do anything that would alienate these voters only 125 days out from the November elections."

And Trump's back: Don't forget, Donald Trump will be on the Hill Thursday to meet separately with House and Senate Republicans. "I think you're going to see [Trump] in listening mode," a top House Republican told Bres. Much more on the House agenda this week: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=423501d48356b45b0d22f62bc24eefd2381567f46c70d6e22407c17ea750e1cd 

GETTING THE GANG BACK TOGETHER- A handful wistful lawmakers is eyeing a Gang of Eight revival with hopes of pushing an immigration overhaul in 2017. Seung Min and Burgess with the story, new this morning: "Lindsey Graham doesn't sugarcoat his prediction: Republicans are going to get thrashed in the November election, especially among Latinos. And it's going to trigger another run at immigration reform in Congress next year, the South Carolina senator says."

"Several influential lawmakers see another opening for immigration reform in 2017, especially if Hillary Clinton wins and the GOP takes another hit among Latinos. ...Gang of Eight leader Chuck Schumer is poised to become majority leader if Democrats take the Senate this year. And the New York senator already said immigration reform would be a top priority, most recently in an interview last week."

Your daily Graham: "I'll tell you what I'm going to do in 2017," Graham said in a recent interview. "I'm going to take the Gang of Eight bill out, dust it off and ask anybody and everybody who wants to work with me to make it better to do so." Read the story: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=423501d48356b45b92b12d3efc5b18fe16bbcd5fecb7c078cb2baf0e818ec917 

WE'RE BACK AT IT THIS TUESDAY, July 5. Good morning and thanks for reading POLITICO's Huddle, your play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill. I'm Heather, here to guide you through the week and hoping your July 4th was as fun as mine, despite cloud cover impeding my view of the fireworks show last night. 

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The House gavels in at noon for morning hour with votes on several noncontroversial bills starting at 6:30 p.m. The Senate meets in a pro forma session at 9:00 a.m. 

AROUND THE HILL- Sleepy staffers trying to recover from Fourth of July fun. 

BROMANCE WATCH: BUCKEYE STATE EDITION- "Sen. Rob Portman faces a grueling and costly reelection battle this fall, with Donald Trump causing him serious headaches from the top of the ticket. But the Ohio Republican is counting on some critical help from an old pal: John Kasich. The popular two-term governor of the Buckeye State has pledged to do whatever is needed to help Portman topple Democrat Ted Strickland in the marquee Senate contest. That means fundraising, campaign events, TV ads - basically anything Portman wants," reports Bres. 

Long-time bros: "The two go back decades in Ohio politics. Portman remained loyal to Kasich during the governor's failed bid for the GOP presidential nomination, despite heavy pressure to throw his support to Jeb Bush; Kasich gets a chance to repay that allegiance now. As for Kasich, it's another opportunity to stick a dagger in Strickland, the man he toppled in a bitter campaign six years ago to become governor. The enmity between them is still clearly visible." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=423501d48356b45b76a77df868ae2af2a625dc8e191f235a58cd91e33b555713 

TRUMP-ERNST 2016? Iowa GOP Sen. Joni Ernst is being considered for Donald Trump's No. 2 spot on the GOP presidential ticket following a "good conversation" between the two Monday. More from the Hill: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=423501d48356b45ba346016fbc90203c903f2e1eb18c6e6ea8587671812f6ab9 

Speaking of VP watch: Sen. Bob Corker will be campaigning with Trump in North Carolina today: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=423501d48356b45b73f4c30f06281e425d15f33a60e675291445f053acde22dd 

INHOFE IN FORCED PLANE LANDING-Sen. Jim Inhofe was forced to land his plane amid bad weather Sunday after a joy ride turned dangerous. It's also possible that he swerved off the runway while taxiing to avoid a deer, but that remains up in the air. Either way, the octogenarian, an avid flyer, is fine and was hanging with family the rest of the weekend, reports the AP. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=423501d48356b45b39d2bbd674700a6e0a850345ca7b17edcca30ed16826a55d 

Avid Hill followers know this isn't the first time Inhofe has made news for his flying antics. The AP: "In 2011, the senator ran afoul of the FAA when he landed a plane on a closed runway at a rural South Texas airport even though there was a giant yellow X and trucks on the runway. Workers on the ground scrambled to get out of the way."

EVERY DAY I'M HUSTLIN'-Turns out House Democrats are a little more generous with their staffers' paychecks than GOP members, according to Roll Call. "Democratic House members are spending more on staff than Republicans by about $150 per day, according to a Roll Call analysis of current voting members using House disbursement data made available by the Sunlight Foundation." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=423501d48356b45b4b234dd7fd3064bb36047e45d654a96e3cde55b13921e59b 

SENATORS WARN OF AFGHAN FAILURE- A CoDel of lawmakers including Sens. John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Ben Sasse and Joe Donnelly spent the holiday visiting with troops overseas and warning of the fallout from more staffing reductions. "The international military mission in Afghanistan will fail if troop levels are reduced further, with potentially dangerous repercussions for the rest of the world," the group said in Kabul Monday, reports Reuters. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=423501d48356b45be123354f5e365a10b35ccbb1794302857ea5585a62904304 

SLOW GRIND TO A STOPGAP -- House and Senate appropriators may be publicly cheering their good work on moving spending bills through committee but with little time left before the end of the fiscal year, everybody sees the writing on the wall: another stopgap bill to keep the government running past Sept. 30. Lawmakers are already deciding how long the continuing resolution should be, with some pushing just until December while others wanting the stopgap to last until March, heading off any potential lame duck shenanigans following the presidential election. 

It was supposed to be different this time: "Perhaps the biggest disappointment for those hoping for a successful appropriations process this year is that all the pieces were seemingly in place. Last year's bipartisan budget law established total spending levels...There was also leadership buy-in, with both Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan vowing to make passing spending bills a priority and evidence of the GOP's ability to govern." Ben Weyl and Matthew Nussbaum with the POLITICO Pro story: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=423501d48356b45bde065c4dcf39c9427929d57b24125caff592e973a3591978 

ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES- Zoe Baldwin starts today as director of government affairs at the Utility and Transportation Contractors Association. Previously, she worked for Sen. Cory Booker as projects director. 

Chris Spear is taking over as head of the American Trucking Associations starting July 9. Spear is currently vice president of government affairs at Hyundai and has previously worked for ATA and in several Hill offices, including for Sens. Tim Hutchinson, Mike Enzi and Alan Simpson.

FRIDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Andrew Brennan was the first to write in that Bound Brook and Morristown were the two New Jersey towns where Washington's army camped during Revolutionary War winters.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Shelby Boxenbaum brings us today's question: What state currently has the longest active streak of voting for the Democratic nominee? The first person to email me the correct answer gets a mention in Tuesday's Huddle.

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