Subject: POLITICO Huddle: ADIEU PARIS, BONJOUR JAMES COMEY – White House orders agencies to ignore Dem oversight requests – HOUSE RUSSIA PROBE PUTS WITNESS INTERVIEWS ON HOLD – Trump administration asks Supreme Court to reinstate travel ban
From: "POLITICO Huddle" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 02 Jun 2017 05:55:56 -0600
List-Id: <1376319_6673447.xt.local>

06/02/2017 07:54 AM EDT

By Austin Wright ([email-masked] or @abwrig) 

With assists from Kyle Cheney and Elana Schor

ADIEU, PARIS - President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate pact is largely splitting Congress along partisan lines. Yesterday's announcement won praise from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (the decision puts "families and jobs ahead of left-wing ideology") and denunciation from Minority Leader Chuck Schumer ("one of the worst policy moves made in the 21st century"). But there were a few lawmakers on both sides who bucked the party line:

-- Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia: "I do not believe that the Paris Agreement ensures a balance between our environment and the economy. To find that balance, we should seek agreements that prioritize the protection of the American consumer as well as energy-producing states like West Virginia, while also incentivizing the development of advanced fossil energy technologies." 

-- Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine: "Climate change requires a global approach. I'm disappointed in the president's decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement."

-- Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo of Florida: "I'm very disappointed that we've withdrawn; that we have left our seat at the table vacant; that we have yielded leadership to countries like China, like Russia. I really hope this administration reconsiders and adopts a responsible environmental climate policy that promotes American innovation, job growth in this country, the jobs of the future, the jobs that young people who are graduating from college need."

WHERE THE TWO SIDES ARE COMING FROM - Lisa Mascaro of the Los Angeles Times sums up the congressional reaction: "Republicans are gambling that sticking with Trump will appeal to voters who hope for a resurgence of coal and oil industry jobs, as well as the GOP's traditional deep-pocketed allies, including the billionaire Koch brothers' network, who have railed against former President Obama's signature environmental accomplishment. ... But Democrats lambasted the withdrawal as a retreat from the world stage that will have reverberations in economic and foreign policy beyond the immediate climate change debate."

POLITICO's Andrew Restuccia and Matthew Nussbaum have the details of Trump's withdrawal from the climate agreement. Edward-Isaac Dovere writes that the nationalistic forces within the Trump administration have once again won out. And Nolan D. McCaskill and Lily Mihalik round up the reaction from lawmakers, business leaders and activists.

BONJOUR, JAMES COMEY - It's official: The former FBI director is scheduled to testify next Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee in one of the most highly anticipated events on Capitol Hill in years. Comey is expected to provide explosive testimony regarding allegations that Trump tried to get him to shut down the FBI's investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. Burgess Everett has the details: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c7747f1231534f7ce2ae2d2fd56bb5283a99a68416fd0da4bc6512f0824b06e170ecda70f6941b31927212c835984017

WELCOME TO FRIDAY, JUNE 2. And thanks for reading POLITICO's Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill. 

NEW THIS A.M. - WHITE HOUSE ORDERS AGENCIES TO IGNORE DEM OVERSIGHT REQUESTS. POLITICO's Burgess Everett and Josh Dawsey have the scoop: "The White House is telling federal agencies to blow off Democratic lawmakers' oversight requests, as Republicans fear the information could be weaponized against President Donald Trump. At meetings with top officials for various government departments this spring, Uttam Dhillon, a White House lawyer, told agencies not to cooperate with such requests from Democrats, according to Republican sources inside and outside the administration.

"It appears to be a formalization of a practice that had already taken hold, as Democrats have complained that their oversight letters requesting information from agencies have gone unanswered since January, and the Trump administration has not yet explained the rationale." More here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c7747f1231534f7c59935ca26e0134aadcbf12c104f0058da43a27d7834dfea5363a8f040bb5b21d602a008c294d38fc

BREAKING LAST NIGHT ... TRUMP ASKS SUPREME COURT TO REINSTATE TRAVEL BAN - Via POLITICO's Josh Gerstein: "Trump has asked the Supreme Court to revive his controversial travel ban executive order, hoping that the justices will give the green light to a policy repeatedly blocked by lower courts. In filings Thursday night, the Justice Department asked the high court to temporarily lift injunctions that bar officials from carrying out Trump's directive to suspend visa issuance to citizens of six majority-Muslim countries and halt the flow of refugees to the U.S. from across the globe." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c7747f1231534f7c4b8ad23a796a370cbd01d105249876b3f4da19e24c94fbf210f29c85207d2ea1a1902ce53244adf7

POLITICO EXCLUSIVE ... HOUSE RUSSIA PROBE PUTS WITNESS INTERVIEWS ON HOLD - The embattled House investigation into Russia's election meddling is once again beset by sniping and strategy disagreements, with Democrats now blocking key witness interviews, according to two sources familiar with the probe. The House Intelligence Committee was set to interview 10 witnesses this month. But the committee has put the interviews on hold after the panel's top Democrat objected, the two sources said. A third source said the panel wasn't yet ready to conduct the interviews, since some of the witnesses have not fully complied with the committee's requests for documents.

The interviews would have included former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser Carter Page and longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone, who both say they're eager to appear before the panel, along with former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. There's more here, via your host, John Bresnahan and Kyle Cheney: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c7747f1231534f7c176ff5f350d5da2bf41d5f074fdd2b0b126d42accf247e609ef55f6a7080738b795de5e0289edc06

MEANWHILE ... DEVIN NUNES STRIKES AGAIN - The House Intelligence Committee chairman has said he's stepped aside from the panel's Russia investigation, but he is still involved in a major way, continuing to hold the power to issue subpoenas. And his decision Wednesday to issue three subpoenas related to the issue of unmasking led to a sharp rebuke yesterday from his panel's top Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff of California.

Schiff took to the airwaves to blast Nunes, saying he was only informed of his fellow Californian's subpoenas the night before they went out, adding that they were "part of the White House's desire to shift attention away from the Russia probe and onto the issue of unmasking." Schiff called Nunes' decision to issue the subpoenas "a violation" of his decision to step aside from the Russia probe, adding on MSNBC that he believes Nunes' power to issue subpoenas related to the probe should be relinquished to Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas), who is leading the investigation in Nunes' place.

Nunes fired back on Twitter, writing: "Seeing a lot of fake news from media elites and others who have no interest in violations of Americans' civil liberties via unmaskings." We have more on the dust-up here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c7747f1231534f7c22ec8e922c1005e35df4599af0317b68b7f95cb339ad8d73b4e47d5fa23e4c2f23958afaf13bc1b2

KOCH-BACKED GROUPS TARGET HOUSE GOP ON TAXES: Freedom Partners and Americans for Prosperity, two conservative groups supported by Charles and David Koch's network, today are launching a six-figure digital ad campaign urging voters to sign a petition that asks House Republicans to support their guiding principles for the GOP's forthcoming tax bill. The core asks include the end of "special interest tax credits and deductions for businesses and individuals," fewer income brackets, and the end of the alternative minimum tax, as outlined in a summary you can check out here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c7747f1231534f7caef01df21893cc33da402c5527a816022b7b8be5247e39783353e7c3c2945144c1cc78d9228044d8

OTHER HILL NEWS:

-- Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) is reversing himself and no longer believes comedian Kathy Griffin should take part in a July event with him, following the outcry over Griffin's photo of a faux-beheaded President Trump. Burgess: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c7747f1231534f7ccc55a275a383af37acc3bd1e1e76622d8b533211cafa474de20563e5bd913e686327663f04f9507d

-- Rep. Steve Knight (R-Calif.) was mocked, jeered and interrupted over his vote to repeal Obamacare at a town hall in his California district yesterday. Rachael Bade was there: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c7747f1231534f7c52ebc844c4c83b624d075debcd356b22d7efbedd9f297c26adf003db7b1953ee29f2e812638b2875

-- Democratic Sens. Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Franken are raising the issue of whether Attorney General Jeff Sessions committed perjury in testimony before the Senate amid reports that investigators are looking into whether Sessions had a third, undisclosed meeting with Russia's ambassador last year. Seung Min Kim: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c7747f1231534f7c2ea4892afa9226681af666015e7bd86f0a784388f6e47b2cf13f2a708d23ae579f3293d257afe6c5

TODAY IN CONGRESS - House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi holds her weekly press conference at 10 a.m. in the Capitol Visitor Center. The House and Senate return next week.

THURSDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER(S) - Yes, there are two winners today because of the ambiguity of yesterday's question. Allen Wiseley was the first to correctly guess that Newton, Mass., was the first city in America governed by an *elected* black mayor, governor and president, after Mayor Setti Warren took office in 2010, while Gov. Deval Patrick and President Barack Obama were in office.

But Buffalo, N.Y., actually achieved that milestone a year earlier when you count the tenure of Gov. David Paterson, who assumed the office in 2008 upon the resignation of Eliot Spitzer. When Obama was inaugurated in 2009, Paterson was governor, and Byron Brown, the mayor of Buffalo, was wrapping up his first term. Sandy Maisel was the first to guess Buffalo correctly.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Courtesy of Sandy: Which is the only state to elect two non-major party governors since 1940? Send answers to [email-masked]

CORRECTION - A few of you pointed this out. Yesterday's edition of Huddle incorrectly characterized the GOP primary between Josh Mandel and Michael Gibbons. They're running for the GOP nomination to challenge Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, not for the gubernatorial nomination to succeed John Kasich. 

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