Subject: POLITICO Huddle: SENATE NEARS BUDGET DEAL -- Dems relocate retreat -- POST-PELOSI 'INTRAPARTY WAR'? -- Pence targets Manchin over tax vote
From: "POLITICO Huddle" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 07 Feb 2018 06:52:49 -0600
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02/07/2018 07:51 AM EDT

By Nolan D. McCaskill ([email-masked] or @NolanDMcCaskill) 
 
HOUSE PASSES FUNDING BILL -- The House passed a stopgap bill Tuesday that would fund the government through March 23 and boost Pentagon spending through the remainder of the fiscal year. "The 'defense-only' approach was an easy win in the House, where droves of GOP conservatives and defense hawks have been begging Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and his leadership team for months to vote on just such a plan," Bres, Jennifer Scholtes and Sarah Ferris report. "But many of those same House Republicans acknowledged the bill is doomed in the Senate, since Democrats want any increases in defense and nondefense spending levels to be equal."
 
Indeed, the House bill is dead on arrival in the Senate. The upper chamber is expected to strip the extra defense funding to pass the legislation and send it back to the House for another vote. And while lawmakers and White House chief of staff John Kelly have said they don't expect another government shutdown this week, President Donald Trump has welcomed it. "I'd love to see a shutdown," the president said Tuesday, specifically if an immigration reform and border-security package isn't reached. Immigration, however, isn't tied to the current spending debate, and the White House has already backed off Trump's comment. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=04cefe79112598f8d7ad264ac50f0ecfe732cb2d7ec098e8cc86d11ef78992299e5c8fc49d5ac353a8cba84c76dcf5b1 
 
SENATE CLOSE TO CLINCHING ELUSIVE BUDGET DEAL -- The Senate is nearing a massive two-year budget deal that would increase spending levels for defense and domestic programs. Senate leaders Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) met Tuesday to discuss adding the deal to a must-pass spending bill this week. "Senate leaders appear poised to stick a budget deal -- forged with House Speaker Paul Ryan and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi -- into that funding bill and force the House to swallow it on Thursday, the current government funding deadline," Burgess and Sarah report. 
 
"The deal is expected to bust budget caps by $300 billion for both domestic and defense programs over the next two years," they write. "Agreeing to those figures would finally allow House and Senate appropriations chairmen to finish an omnibus spending package, ending the cycle of short-term government funding bills, at least for a few months. The must-pass spending bill could become a catch-all for other stalled policy priorities, such as the debt ceiling increase and the $81 billion disaster aid package that has languished in the Senate for weeks."
 
"But if the bipartisan deal falls through," The New York Times warns, "lawmakers have no clear plan to keep the government open past Thursday, with the parties disagreeing over spending priorities and the president lobbing verbal bombs from the White House." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=04cefe79112598f8c77ac2d6d36b56ef59cecb4fe0b4f0c68d916d26f3f7af87b6ed0eb0a8b1e7ff4297e6b9e6125163 
 
DEM RETREAT RELOCATED -- With negotiations ongoing and another House vote expected to keep the government running, House Democrats have relocated their Maryland congressional retreat to a familiar location: Capitol Hill. "Given the pressing issues Congress will likely vote on over the next three days, House Democrats will hold their [retreat] at the U.S. Capitol," a spokeswoman for the House Democratic Caucus said in a statement late Tuesday. "The annual retreat is a big event for each party ... and canceling the reservation for several hundred lawmakers, family and staff comes at a heavy price," Paul Kane reports for The Washington Post. "Democrats were slated to spend Wednesday through
 Friday at the Hyatt Regency in Cambridge, Md."
 
"It's unclear what on Democrats' retreat schedule will change -- or if they'll be able to recoup any of the costs for canceling the off-site event at the last minute," Heather reports. But former Vice President Joe Biden is still expected to speak to the caucus today. Other speakers include fired U.S. attorney Preet Bharara, DNC Chairman Tom Perez, former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe and former Attorney General Eric Holder. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=04cefe79112598f8523ce2ae9a39f3138de2be02b1414af26eaad4b0ab133d0a64692044eb7da75e6b5ad295c6d4599c 
 
Related: "Inside Biden's 2018 -- and possibly 2020 -- plans," by Edward Isaac-Dovere: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=04cefe79112598f82220a51c1402a296ee3055527d51cd62140d3009bb492d96601fb57480441fa3210063919404fa13 and "Democratic Group Targets All-G.O.P. States to Attack Gerrymandering," from The New York Times' Alexander Burns: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=04cefe79112598f88bad9bb94228a85c1fb6860f0a171181176f9871929f5dd6903bf5f6f8804176635c2bb12b2a3c9d 
 
HAPPY WEDNESDAY. Thanks for reading Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Feb. 7.
 
TUESDAY'S MOST CLICKED: Roll Call's report on the sudden death of Sean Murphy, Rep. Tom Cole's (R-Okla.) chief of staff, was the winner.
 
TRUMP UNLIKELY TO EXTEND DACA DEADLINE -- President Donald Trump told lawmakers in September they would have until March 5 to find a legislative solution to protect undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children. White House chief of staff John Kelly said Tuesday that deadline is unlikely to change. That date, however, is less firm since the administration began taking DACA renewals following a January court order. Kelly also said he would advise the president against signing a short-term fix, though he acknowledged to three Capitol Hill reporters, "I'm not the president."
 
Kelly called the White House's four-pillar immigration framework "generous." Despite its proposed cuts to legal immigration and request for border wall and security funding, it offers a pathway to citizenship for nearly 2 million immigrants, well beyond the 690,000 current DACA recipients. Kelly suggested some who are eligible never registered because they "were too afraid to sign up," while others "were too lazy to get off their asses." "Advocates of immigration reform have said in the past that many ... did not apply for DACA because they did not meet the age or educational requirements, could not afford the application fees ranging from $400 to $500, or feared sharing personal
 information with the federal government," The Washington Post reports. 
 
Related read: "Democrats confront Kelly over DACA comments in closed-door meeting," from CNN's Tal Kopan: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=04cefe79112598f8792e983676e751852cae6e28f9769a74617890c00bba2ea4f8d9ec9bc843afc6d3ccf5f6c4ebc42f 
 
TRUMP REVIEWING DEMOCRATIC MEMO -- Trump met with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Tuesday to discuss a classified memo Democrats say will counter allegations that the FBI abused its spying powers while investigating the Trump campaign in 2016. White House chief of staff John Kelly told reporters the president has reviewed the memo, the Democratic rebuttal to the Republican memo released last week. The House Intelligence Committee voted unanimously Monday to publicly release the Democratic version. Trump is expected to allow its public release but will likely redact parts of it. Republicans say whatever Trump does is up to him. 
 
DEMS SEE 'INTRAPARTY WAR' IN POST-PELOSI ERA -- Republicans and Democrats see signs of a Democratic wave this November, but if Democrats fail to retake the House, it could mean war -- "an intraparty war." Assuming House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) would leave on her own or face pressure to step down, "her exit would trigger a messy battle between the party's old guard ... and the party's younger members," Heather and Bres report. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) vs. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.) is "a generational showdown that's been put off for years, but one that Democrats might not be able to be avoid much longer."
 
Hoyer, the 78-year-old minority whip, has been the No. 2 Democrat since 2003. Crowley, 55, has only been in leadership since 2013. "Right now, it's a toss up who would get the job in a post-Pelosi world," they write. "A shakeup at the top of the Democratic Caucus is also likely to set off a scramble further down the leadership chain as members clamor for spots that haven't been open, or whose occupants have been hand-picked by Pelosi -- for years." If either Hoyer or Crowley became minority leader, the No. 2 would likely be a Congressional Black Caucus member. Much, much more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=04cefe79112598f8b274f3979f9e1a9fb569fd9ab1e445b5e50b60f0fe9c61c7ad9e444151ac26e7c18b0f690ae5da93 
 
HOUSE CLEARS ANTI-SEXUAL HARASSMENT PACKAGE -- The House approved a bipartisan legislative package Tuesday that reshapes the chamber's system for handling workplace misconduct. The package includes a resolution establishing an Office of Employee Advocacy to represent victims of alleged workplace misconduct and a bill requiring lawmakers to pay for their own harassment settlements. The bill, which now heads to the Senate, "also eliminates the requirement for Hill employees alleging harassment to submit to counseling and mediation before pursuing a claim with workplace misconduct adjudicators at the Capitol's Office of Compliance," Elana reports. More: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=04cefe79112598f88bad521f3c95b06475242d856f6a2dfd95be0e34d8df834c4c813b7c72d67c68278f5908ab22309c 
 
PENCE PLOTS REVENGE AGAINST MANCHIN -- Vice President Mike Pence thought he had Sen. Joe Manchin's (D-W.Va.) vote on the tax bill, but Manchin voted "no," and Pence won't let voters forget. Pence's "Joe voted no" line is already featured in an ad for Senate Republicans. "Manchin, meanwhile, is furious that Pence has used the misunderstanding as the pretext to tear down his bipartisan credentials, claiming he would never commit to vote for a bill that had not yet been written and that Pence and the White House never really tried to work with him," Burgess and Matthew Nussbaum report. 
 
"The conflict marks perhaps the rockiest period of Manchin's reelection campaign and imperils his relationship with the White House," they write. Trump still seeks Manchin's input on some issues, but Pence isn't backing down and is expected to return to West Virginia before April. "[H]aving the disciplined Pence attacking Manchin in his backyard is an ominous development for a Democratic senator whose state backed Trump by more than 40 points in 2016." Manchin signed a pledge Tuesday not to campaign against fellow senators and wants them to do the same. 
 
PAWLENTY LEAVING FINANCIAL SERVICES ROUNDTABLE -- Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty will step down as CEO of the Financial Services Roundtable next month "to begin my next chapter," he said in a memo to members obtained by POLITICO. "Pawlenty plans to hold a meeting in Minneapolis next week with donors and political operatives as he considers running for governor again," Zachary Warmbrodt and Daniel Strauss report. "In and outside the state Pawlenty has received encouragement to run for governor. Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton has decided not to seek a third term, and there's no clear frontrunner in the GOP primary." Pawlenty ruled out a Senate run last month but said he was "interested in
 continuing to serve." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=04cefe79112598f80debe4ecbfc32e36ecf558662fd86c9a19e8c19d1dde24d2602575237a48c35e1ee1fb11a6eba859 
 
FOR YOUR RADAR -- Republican members of the Senate Finance Committee will meet with President Donald Trump at the White House at 2:15 p.m. 
 
TODAY IN CONGRESS -- The House gavels in at 9 a.m. Today's agenda: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=04cefe79112598f8cff5c4d52552c704f1cae20a1b1e079555b7828c5cf144adc3d3f908925d479a4fa9323b1c2ed79c The Senate meets at 11:30 a.m. to resume consideration of a defense appropriations bill. Today's agenda: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=04cefe79112598f8444fbf48b7fe66f5e86270f0d3e91b65a7ed517eb8b22d84cb396a21a9714c1485f1a13c1f522cb6 
 
AROUND THE HILL -- Sens. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) will join Independent Women's Forum President Carrie Lukas and an aide to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on a conference call at 9 a.m. to discuss increasing access to paid leave without growing government. The call-in number is 888-452-4005, and the passcode is 5253282.
 
Sens. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) will hold a news conference to introduce legislation that would require unaccompanied immigrant children to be represented by government-appointed counsel during removal proceedings and subsequent appeals at 9:45 a.m. in SVC-200.
 
Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) will hold a news conference to announce a bipartisan resolution that would establish a special Senate committee to investigate the U.S. Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics at 11 a.m. in the Senate Radio/TV Gallery.
 
Sens. James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Angus King (I-Maine.) will hold a news conference with evangelical leaders on immigration and DACA at 11:30 a.m. in 430 Dirksen.
 
Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) will hold a news conference on a GOP tax law report that shows working people are receiving few or no benefits at 2:15 p.m. in the Senate Radio/TV Gallery.
 
TUESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER -- Nicholas Monck was first to correctly guess that Hiram Fong (R-Hawaii) and Frank Church (D-Idaho) were the only senators in their parties to win reelection to the Senate in their respective states. Others include Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), George McGill (D-Kans.) and John Warner (R-Va.).
 
TODAY'S TRIVIA -- Nicholas with today's question: How many current U.S. senators have graduated from law school? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your best guess my way: [email-masked].
 
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