EMAIL DETAILS

03/07/2016 08:40 AM EDT


By Seung Min Kim (skim@politico.com or @seungminkim)

PAUL RYAN'S TRUMP-SIZED HEADACHE - WaPo's Mike DeBonis and Kelsey Snell have the analysis: "When he was drafted into the speaker's chair four months ago, Ryan acknowledged the job would be difficult. But, thanks to Trump, it has become much worse than that. He has come to embody the party establishment's existential conflict: deeply wary of Trump's divisive antics but reluctant to reject him entirely. 'It's not nearly as complicated for us as it is for him,' said Peter Wehner, a Ryan friend and senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center who was among the first conservative thinkers to renounce Trump."

--"The expected complications of managing the House Republican majority have only been compounded by Trump's unexpected endurance. Ryan's attempts to sail above the presidential fray with an emphasis on big ideas and basic legislating have been undermined both by hard-line House conservatives and by an angry presidential front-runner who all but mocks the reverence for the party's leading 'ideas man.' ... House conservatives, meanwhile, are making it all but impossible for Ryan to strike a GOP consensus on spending ... Rep. Tom Marino (R-Pa.), one of the five congressional Republicans to have endorsed Trump, said conservatives are simply listening to voters. 'Overwhelmingly in my district,
people are tired of insiders,' he said." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7dcbd5555e8e9dfc73f85bb9c6a6bdce87b6cf418daa086a523e1c07c9e64265

NANCY REAGAN DIES AT 94 - The New York Times has the definitive obituary for the former first lady, written by Reagan biographer Lou Cannon: "Nancy Reagan, the influential and stylish wife of the 40th president of the United States who unabashedly put Ronald Reagan at the center of her life but became a political figure in her own right, died on Sunday at her home in Los Angeles ... The cause was congestive heart failure, according to a statement from Joanne Drake, a spokeswoman for Mrs. Reagan."

--"Mrs. Reagan was a fierce guardian of her husband's image, sometimes at the expense of her own, and during Mr. Reagan's improbable climb from a Hollywood acting career to the governorship of California and ultimately the White House, she was a trusted adviser. 'Without Nancy, there would have been no Governor Reagan, no President Reagan,' said Michael K. Deaver, a longtime aide and close friend of the Reagans who died in 2007." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7dcbd5555e8e9dfcd0bfb01c7cf3b36f6d4aa0cbe321b214af3957995259b5b5

Reaction from the Hill -

--Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.): "In many ways the Reagan love story was classic Hollywood, but it was unmistakably human too. Hands intertwined, Nancy and Ron rose to the pinnacle of political power, weathered cancer and personal heartbreak, and braved the depths of Alzheimer's cold embrace -- always together."

--Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.): "You didn't have to be a Reagan Republican to admire and respect Nancy Reagan. She was a tower of strength alongside her husband, had strong beliefs, and was not afraid to chart her own course politically. She persuaded her husband to support the Brady Law, and their advocacy was instrumental in helping us pass it."

--Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.): "Ronald Reagan could not have accomplished everything that he did without his wife Nancy. As first lady, she brought a sense of grace and dignity to the White House. She roused the country to redouble the fight against drugs. And she showed us all the meaning of devotion as she cared for President Reagan throughout his long goodbye."

--House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.): "In June 2009, as speaker and as a Californian, I was honored to welcome Mrs. Reagan to the Capitol and see her joy as we dedicated the statue of President Reagan in the Rotunda. I hope that it is a comfort to the entire Reagan family that so many around the world appreciate her life, mourn their loss and are praying for them at this sad time."

--Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.): "As a young woman, I always looked up to the first lady. She inspired girls like me to go after our dreams -- and reminded us that feminism is the ability to live the life we choose. Decades later, I've never forgotten her words. I carry them with me every day."

COMING ATTRACTIONS: RAND TO FORCE PAKISTAN VOTE - Your Huddle has the scoop with defense reporter extraordinaire Jeremy Herb: "Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) plans to force senators to vote on the State Department's approval of $700 million worth of fighter jets to Pakistan using an obscure Senate rule that hasn't been invoked in decades. The Obama administration cleared the sale of eight F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan last month."

--"The junior Kentucky senator is using a little-known provision in the Arms Export Control Act of 1976 that allows any member of the Senate to secure a floor vote to disapprove an arms sale. Under the law, the senator must introduce a resolution of disapproval, and then wait 10 days for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to act on the measure ... If the committee doesn't take up the measure after 10 days, the senator can move to discharge that resolution from the committee with a floor vote. That vote is primarily procedural, and not necessarily an up-or-down vote on the resolution's merits." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7dcbd5555e8e9dfcc9c9da5d4123d384305a9fd2f2924ac316f1e18f75cd8a84

HILL DEMS FRET OVER TRUMP'S RISE - Mike Lillis for The Hill: "Once convinced that a Trump nomination would be a godsend for their party, some are now warning that a general election fight against the billionaire tycoon will be anything but a cakewalk. Trump's unorthodox message and populist appeal, the Democrats warn, could erode their hold on working-class support and jeopardize their chances in a year when voter disenchantment with Washington is being felt nationwide."

--"'I've been saying for months that we should never take Trump lightly and that I do think he has appeal, to independents and blue-collar Democrats especially,' said Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.), former head of the House Democratic Caucus ... Citing Trump's seemingly Teflon candidacy, Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.) said the Democrats are facing 'a serious threat.' 'There's no dearth of issues that you can attach to Trump as a candidate that are problematic. But if what folks are just saying is, 'We don't care,' then that changes your strategy,' Grisham said." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7dcbd5555e8e9dfc787cc276e301cda1af730bc20c2ceaa9771ea90f897c2efa


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HAPPY MONDAY, March 7, 2016, and you're reading The Huddle, where your author has safely returned from Brazil and successfully avoided any Zika-ridden mosquitoes. Hit me up with Hill news, complaints, corrections or tips skim@politico.com, and please follow me on Twitter at @seungminkim.

My new followers include @kramos1841 and @annagalland.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The House is out this week. The Senate is in at 3 p.m. and will vote at 5:30 p.m. on cloture related to the opioids bill.

AROUND THE HILL - The halls, Ohio Clock, and press conference studios will be pretty empty today.

VETTING CONTINUES FOR SCOTUS NOMINEE - The New York Times adds to the ongoing shortlist: "President Obama is vetting Merrick B. Garland and Sri Srinivasan, federal appellate judges who have enjoyed substantial support from Republicans in the past, as potential nominees for a Supreme Court vacancy that has set off a brutal election-year fight ...The White House is also vetting Ketanji Brown Jackson, 45, a federal trial judge, according to The National Law Journal, which cited a lawyer who had been interviewed by the F.B.I."

--"Judge Jackson formerly served on the United States Sentencing Commission and is related by marriage to the House speaker, Paul D. Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin. Earlier [last] week, the president was reported to also be vetting Jane L. Kelly, another federal appeals court judge." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7dcbd5555e8e9dfc1428c35767c68510b909ab7b3c60d8ea2c30b552750e9401

--Meanwhile, Democrats continue to hammer Republicans over their pledge to block any proceedings for Obama's to-be-named nominee. Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, pens an op-ed for SCOTUSblog, noting that Justice Louis Brandeis - an open-government advocate - was the first Supreme Court nominee to undergo a public hearing nearly a century ago: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7dcbd5555e8e9dfc949391603cf772343624ebc9513c1f7c3160eba17af1bbbc Leahy uses that point to argue why Republicans should hold hearings, but constitutional law professor Josh Blackman points out that the reason why Brandeis required hearings was because of widespread anti-Semitism against the nominee, who was Jewish:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7dcbd5555e8e9dfcd15b75742333d73c83e4c4b9316a23805712b024127331a0

--Meanwhile, Vice President Joe Biden quips that Obama should pick Ted Cruz for the Supreme Court at the annual Gridiron Dinner on Saturday: "Look, I told Barack if you really, really want to remake the Supreme Court, nominate Cruz. Before you know it, you'll have eight vacancies." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7dcbd5555e8e9dfc19fae74500cbace59ed92e8ab80044d0d5b92cfd3eed8641

DEMS PREDICT POLITICAL BACKLASH OVER FLINT - Lauren French files this dispatch from Michigan: "House Democrats say the water contamination scandal in this predominantly African-American city puts a human face on what they call Republican misgovernance - and they're aiming to make it an election-year message to eat into the GOP's commanding House majority."

--"Their argument is that Republicans in Michigan cut the state budget so deeply, while dismissing local and federal regulations, that what happened in Flint was inevitable - and it's bound to happen on a national scale if the GOP is allowed to enact its budget and policies. 'What happened to Flint marks the battle line between Democrats and Republicans. You can't have a more vivid contrast,' said New York Rep. Steve Israel." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7dcbd5555e8e9dfc53c8aa1e5a33b4e35a10b6638fdfe84663aa96b17aabe0df

GYROCOPTER PILOT'S NEAR-MISS - The feds detail just how close Douglas Hughes - better known as Gyrocopter Man - got to another aircraft, per the AP's Alanna Durkin Richer: "In a court filing Friday, prosecutors said Douglas Hughes flew his one-person aircraft almost directly into the oncoming flight path of the 150-person Airbus turbojet last April. Hughes came within 1,400 yards of Delta Flight 1639, while safety rules require aircraft to remain separated by more than 3,000 yards." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7dcbd5555e8e9dfca11bb4f8c1aedb5af36fc72f4bd86e6c90b3ea20fbf8e95a

CRAIG LOSES APPEAL IN BATHROOM CASE - CQ Roll Call's Todd Ruger: "Former Idaho Sen. Larry E. Craig must pay $242,533 to the Treasury Department for using campaign money on legal representation in the aftermath of his 2007 guilty plea after a Minnesota airport bathroom sex sting ... The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected the argument from Craig's lawyers that the legal costs are no longer personal expenses when an arrest becomes politicized and an opponent uses the arrest for political reasons." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7dcbd5555e8e9dfcf6a494117458b1acd1e8535b1072203e4319b5eaa9171dbc

FRIDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Andrew Smith was the first to correctly respond that Jack R. Lousma is the former astronaut and "Leap Day Baby" who ran for Congress in the 1980s and previously helped set an earlier record for time in space. Lousma lost to Carl Levin in the 1984 Michigan Senate race.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Andrew has today's question: Michigan is in the batch of states next up in the primary schedule. In their quirky 2008 Democratic primary, which "individual" got the 2nd most votes? The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. E-mail skim@politico.com.

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