Subject: POLITICO Huddle: UNCERTAINTY AS SENATE DELAYS HEALTH CARE VOTE – White House meets with Flake challengers – HOUSE BUDGET MARKUP THIS WEEK – Heller’s district office burglarized
From: "POLITICO Huddle" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2017 05:59:59 -0600
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By Heather Caygle | 07/17/2017 07:58 AM EDT

With an assist from Scott Bland 
 
GOP DELAYS HEALTH CARE VOTE - Senate GOP leaders have shelved this week's planned health care vote as Sen. John McCain continues to recover from eye surgery, with no timeline for reviving the debate over the controversial Obamacare alternative. Without McCain, who is recovering in Arizona from surgery to remove a blood clot above his left eye, Senate GOP leaders are short of the 50 votes needed to even begin debate on their health care bill. 
 
"Privately, Republicans said the delay could be as little as a week as McCain recovers in Arizona, though others worried it could stretch for several weeks and jeopardize the entire repeal effort," Burgess and Seung Min report. "Clouding the timetable further, a new Congressional Budget Office estimate for the bill that was expected on Monday has also been delayed, Republicans said. It could come as early as Tuesday." 
 
"As soon as we have a full contingent of senators, we'll have that vote. It's important we do so," Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) said on NBC's "Meet the Press." But McCain's absence may be a moot point later in the week if other senators come out against the bill once the CBO score is released. Remember, three "no" votes kills the bill and Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) are already on record against debating the proposal. Burgess and SMK with the latest: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8697254e9bc95af7237bf5b2df23ccec65426aa1a15be4aa0f7e2ee3422fb82152011b2d580465105761133deefd0482d956840c2ce340ab 
 
Related: McCain's recovery could delay his return to D.C. by two weeks, Denise Grady and Robert Pear note for the New York Times. "The condition for which Senator John McCain had surgery on Friday may be more serious than initial descriptions have implied." 
 
Well that didn't go as planned: Republicans in the White House and Congress initially thought dismantling Obamacare would be done by President's Day in February, Nancy Cook and Burgess report this morning. "Few in the administration or Republican leadership expected the effort to stretch into the summer months, with another delay announced this weekend, eating into valuable time for lawmakers to tackle tax reform, nominations or spending bills." Read: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8697254e9bc95af7bc6f49ce58d95b47923be0d35bbaaef0574cada29b8d96a64df811d4fd0c5297df82bb37f8009dea8e500e4e793f4dac 
 
THE TOUGHEST JOB IN WASHINGTON - More than four years in as the Senate GOP's chief vote counter, Sen. John Cornyn faces his toughest gig yet: convincing at least 50 senators to get on board with a bill that impacts one-sixth of the U.S. economy and could result in more than 20 million fewer Americans having health insurance. "Though Cornyn keeps a literal whip on his desk, his style isn't heavy-handed; it's more gentle pushing and information-dispensing, senators say," Seung Min and Burgess write in a profile on the Texas Republican. "Cornyn acknowledges: 'If you try to strong-arm a senator, they're just as likely to push back or punch back.'"
 
Tweetdeck: We also learned that Cornyn, who is Capitol Hill famous for running his own Twitter account, doesn't generally block fellow users on the social media site. "I won't say I never have, but as a general rule, I don't," he told Seung Min and Burgess. (Huddle side note: He also has a pretty solid personal Instagram account.) Much more in their profile: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8697254e9bc95af70e522f7491f90358422feef8b2765ab94b1ae24bd50518802755550da8536d47a4238431671432cd9538068540f9187c 
 
FLAKE FEELING THE SQUEEZE - The White House has met with at least three actual or prospective primary challengers to Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake recently, Alex Isenstadt reports this morning. The move is a clear indication of President Donald Trump's "willingness to play hardball with lawmakers who cross him - even Republican incumbents." Former Arizona GOP Chairman Robert Graham, who's mulling a bid, met with top GOP donors on the topic in the spring, including Chris Bannon, younger brother to White House chief strategist Steve Bannon. And Trump continues to keep close tabs on Flake, asking for an update on his race as recently as last week. Much more: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8697254e9bc95af7a834adb37f64d0fd6fc0bba21d232098b35e04146dc4b9969fd108e8aff514b10a5a70b96f1f6b94c94b2c8e9cf4dd18 
 
YEAH, I SEE YOU MONDAY. Welcome to July 17 and thanks for reading POLITICO's Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill. 
 
FRIDAY'S MOST CLICKED: You guys really loved the infographic explaining what's new, changed and eliminated in the latest GOP health care draft, via Jason Millman, Sarah Frostenson and Lily Mihalik. View it: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8697254e9bc95af720c457b1b80219def12151bb65a1d7ae6212bfb630d40197373e051422a5c704a745526875b4606e4bd5e10eb725742c 
 
BUDGET MARKUP THIS WEEK - House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) confirmed Friday that the Budget Committee will mark up its contentious fiscal blueprint later this week. And while Budget Chairwoman Diane Black (R-Tenn.) thinks she has the votes in committee, how (and if) the resolution survives the House floor is the big question. "Approving a budget out of committee and then passing it on the floor typically takes two weeks - the precise amount of time left before August recess," our in-house expert Sarah Ferris notes. Remember, Republicans need to pass a budget this year to unlock a GOP-only tax reform bill. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8697254e9bc95af76fe58e303193b35d31c4c734490980ce3e332e1849668eb88590e577bedcb6592b521636c2b5856040f58a4ea039c276 
 
Coming attractions: And with all 12 appropriations bills expected to be finished in committee this week, GOP leaders are starting to test the appetite within the conference for voting on a package before August recess that combines all of those bills into one $1 trillion government funding package, Rachael, Sarah and Jen Scholtes report. "Though the bill would never pass the Senate in the face of Democratic opposition, the process would allow House Republicans to offer potentially hundreds of amendments, an exercise that excites members who are frustrated that they've had no input on how to fund the government." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8697254e9bc95af7b3b2fc17f8498f1957aee369f70d1fafb539592a094c44fc560d3f897c7c77a190e112cbd3f79be5f70382483e5d1314 
 
CAN YOU DO THAT? West Virginia GOP Rep. Alex Mooney has hired a sitting Maryland state senator as his chief of staff, Jake Zuckerman reports for the Charleston Gazette-Mail. "Republican Sen. Michael Hough was first elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 2010, and then the state Senate in 2014. Ted Dacey, Mooney's communications director, said Thursday that Hough started his new job in June." But it's unclear what will happen when Hough heads back to Annapolis in January for Maryland's legislative session. Mooney served in the Maryland legislature before moving to West Virginia in 2014 to run for the House. Read more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8697254e9bc95af7624f3c597eb5860cdf50c4dba8b62538cc241bde57188e490480ac54f6576d1ced2d44d6822c6b614a3263c6ffae9c26 
 
GOP CONSIDERS TYING DEBT CEILING TO VETS BILL - "Republicans are considering tying a must-pass increase in the federal debt limit to funding for a program that lets military veterans get medical care outside of Veterans Affairs facilities, people familiar with the idea said," Richard Rubin, Nick Timiraos and Kristina Peterson reported Friday afternoon. The Wall Street Journal: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8697254e9bc95af7ff99feceb6b2d277dc68e5f226d3c5dff4590854f0ab2d22f48ae86b92bff2537e708708e788613b95058ec3d49c6a88 
 
WARNER WANTS TO FOCUS ON TRUMP DIGITAL EFFORTS - Sen. Mark Warner, ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, says he wants the panel's Russia probe to focus more on the Trump campaign's digital efforts "because of the way false election stories about Hillary Clinton were circulated and targeted online," Bloomberg reports. "The ability to manipulate these search engines and some of these social media platforms is real, it's out there," Warner said on CNN Sunday. Mark Niquette and Alan Bjerga: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8697254e9bc95af70656b87d876d54126037f5eeeb7f566365858fe81732fd8a5e4833e7a015af3f972f026b6fc0f934dbfd2e96cf9b4ca3 
 
BURGLARY IN HELLER'S DISTRICT OFFICE - "Metro Police say they are investigating a Sunday morning burglary at U.S. Sen. Dean Heller's southwest Las Vegas office," Ricardo Torres-Cortez reports for the Las Vegas Sun. "Metro Lt. Patricia Spencer on Sunday night confirmed that 'entry did occur' at Heller's office, but only said that the investigation was ongoing." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8697254e9bc95af7107b93b5919169253d9a9843737eb952f10d8853023743adb99a751bf9d5e072d70f1f0811a149a27a7c00fcb876e422 
 
DONNELLY SELLING STOCK AFTER AP REPORT - Sen. Joe Donnelly, a long-time critic of outsourcing, is selling stock is his family's company after the AP reported that the business manufactures some products in Mexico. "The AP reported Thursday that Donnelly made at least $15,001 in dividends last year on as much as $50,000 of stock in Stewart Superior Corp., which used Mexican workers to produce dye for ink pads." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8697254e9bc95af7cfa856c5bb64c90a00e69320ca3bdfe54f04413bbb57c3b60c3e994b5ae54cb313fcb29083263aece539e46c84f86ac1 
 
Meanwhile, in GOP primary land: "I'm going to able to keep the race focused on Joe Donnelly because I don't have the baggage that [Rep.] Luke Messer does," Rep. Todd Rokita said of his GOP colleague and likely Senate primary challenger. CBS: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8697254e9bc95af7d6fb66b18e87252b9386563d692718133c6773ea984a0155c0c8bf626c870383f1a14e7cad50bbe00a4959a14bfbd655 
 
TODAY IN CONGRESS - The House meets at 12 p.m. with votes postponed until 6:30 p.m. Today's agenda: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8697254e9bc95af7f9e82811c71a9d785d8daa87724a0a842be690508219e65d8a38f38efbee51711b3fe9a167fc144e79f55b6a52bc6332 The Senate gavels in at 3 p.m. with a procedural vote related to Patrick Shanahan, deputy Defense secretary nominee, at 5:30 p.m. 
 
AROUND THE HILL - Welcome to fly-in day, where not much happens before early bird special hours. 
 
FRIDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - John Fund was first to correctly guess that famed World World II General George S. Patton's father lost his bid for the Senate in 1916 to Hiram Johnson, father of the California recall and Teddy Roosevelt's running mate in the 1912 presidential race. 
 
TODAY'S TRIVIA - As a young child, this now senator would hold his/her breath until passing out when angry. Who is the mystery senator and how did his/her family put a stop to the behavior? The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send answers my way: [email-masked] 
 
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