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03/03/2016 08:58 AM EDT


By Rachael Bade (rbade@politico.com or @RachaelMBade)

MCCONNELL, GRASSLEY RALLY CONSERVATIVE GROUPS FOR SUPREME COURT FIGHT. John Bresnahan ditches the House for the Senate for the day: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley met with representatives from dozens of conservative organizations on Wednesday to urge them to be ready for a long battle over an expected Supreme Court nomination by President Barack Obama. The meeting in the Capitol included a wide-range of right-wing organizations, such as the National Rifle Association, Heritage Action, the Judicial Crisis Network, and the National Right to Life, among others."

"All of the organizations have already jumped into the Supreme Court clash, or plan to do so soon, and all have huge stakes in the balance-of-power on the high court. For instance, the Judicial Crisis Network has begun a TV ad campaign exhorting Republicans to reject whoever Obama selects to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0d088cefef678738e10c14c435342c1db696bd5c9f1548c2c74b16c8f4036e15

SCOOP DU JOUR - "Justice Dept. grants immunity to staffer who set up Clinton email server," major scoop by The Washington Post's Adam Goldman: "The Justice Department has granted immunity to a former State Department staffer, who worked on Hillary Clinton's private email server, as part of a criminal investigation into the possible mishandling of classified information, according to a senior law enforcement official. The official said the FBI had secured the cooperation of Bryan Pagliano, who worked on Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign before setting up the server in her New York home in 2009. As the FBI looks to wrap up its investigation in the coming months, agents are likely to want
to interview Clinton and her senior aides about the decision to use a private server, how it was set up, and whether any of the participants knew they were sending classified information in emails, current and former officials said." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0d088cefef67873801a6af343cd56633a99b7bdbd733ebf0185759994676f06e

ALMOST THE WEEKEND. It's March 3, 2016. And this is Huddle, Politico's wrap of all things Congress. Always reachable here: rbade@politico.com or @rachaelmbade

TODAY IN CONGRESS: House meets at 9 a.m. with first votes expected between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. Last votes expected between 10:45 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. Senate back at 9:30 a.m.

AROUND THE HILL. At 10:45 a.m., House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi holds her weekly press conference. At 11:30 a.m., Speaker Paul Ryan holds his weekly press briefing. And at 12:30 p.m., Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, Leader-in-Waiting Chuck Schumer, Sen. Tom Udall and members of Congressional Black Caucus will talk SCOTUS vacancy.

NOT happening? A Senate Judiciary markup, which has been cancelled - and apparently escalated an ongoing spat between Chairman Chuck Grassley and Ranking Democrat Patrick Leahy's office. Leahy's office wrote in to Huddle to vents some frustration with this statement, accusing Grassley of partisanship: "The Senate Judiciary Committee has not had a business meeting since the untimely passing of Justice Scalia. Instead, the Chairman met only with the Republican members of the Committee last week in a back room of the Capitol without the press or even Democratic members present. That is not how the Senate Judiciary Committee should operate, especially when issues relating to our constitutional
duty are involved."

Grassley, conversely, in a release said he is managing the opioid bill on the floor this morning and said postponing due to floor duties "has been done routinely under both Democratic and Republican leadership, to allow processing some nominees and holding over legislation for next week." Grassley also said a hearing earlier this week was postponed at the Democrats' request for a similar reason. Regardless, the heightened tension is sure to only get more pointed as the weeks go by on SCOTUS debate.

Speaking of SCOTUS... Heads up to the Judiciary GOP! Generation Progress is taking a group of young people from around the country to deliver copies of "Schoolhouse Rock!" to the 11 members of the Senate Judiciary Committee who refuse to consider Obama's SCOTUS nominee - and they're plotting to make a scene. From the release: "A costumed Constitution will hand-deliver the videos to the eleven Senate offices alongside young people from across the country, and a video camera will be on hand to capture the drop-offs."

THE SENATOR HOLDING FLINT AID HOSTAGE. Tim Mak reports for The Daily Beast: "As Republican presidential hopefuls gather in Detroit for a critical post-Super Tuesday debate, Sen. Mike Lee is stalling plans to alleviate the nearby town's drinking water crisis... Lee is using a Senate tactic used to gum up the works known as a 'hold,' which is generally kept secret so the lawmaker can remain anonymous. But two senior Senate sources confirmed to The Daily Beast that Lee is behind the maneuver to stall an utterly uncontroversial provision."

"Privately the Utah Republican has relied on three reasons to justify his opposition to the legislation, all of which are procedural or philosophical. Lee doesn't like that the proposal is not being put through ... 'regular order'; has objections on how money from the stimulus is being repurposed for water infrastructure; and is concerned about the federal government getting involved in what he views as a local issue." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0d088cefef67873870bbc29552dd642c0f3e6bfdc41d494511623099fb31317c

MEANWHILE...

DEM FIELDTRIP - "Pelosi joining trip to Flint," per Darren Goode. "Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other House Democratic leaders will join a 25-member congressional delegation traveling to Flint on Friday, organizers announced today. The one-day trip led by Rep. Dan Kildee, whose district includes Flint, is the third in recent weeks by members of Congress. House Assistant Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn, House Democratic Chairman Xavier Becerra, House Democratic Vice Chairman Joe Crowley , leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Progressive Caucus and Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow are among those also making the trip Friday."

BUDGET WARS - "Paul Ryan Is Learning Why Being Speaker Sucks." Matt Fuller over at HuffPo: "Paul Ryan has said repeatedly that the most surprising aspect of being speaker is how much he likes the job... But conservatives have drawn a line on the Republican budget, insisting they won't support the overall $1.07 trillion spending number that was set at the end of October in a deal with Democrats. They want to go back to the number set under sequestration, $30 billion lower for fiscal 2017 -- an instinct that puts the GOP budget, as well as the regular appropriations process, in doubt..."

"Budget Committee Republicans, who have been haggling with Chairman Tom Price (R-Ga.) over the spending blueprint, appear close to a deal to at least advance the budget out of their committee, members told HuffPost. In return for voting for the $1.07 trillion number, the prospective deal would give Republicans the chance to vote for separate legislation that would cut spending by $30 billion over the next two years and more than $100 billion over the next decade, and give them a vote on a Balanced Budget Amendment. The specifics of that deal are still taking shape -- where do the cuts come from, how much exactly..." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0d088cefef6787388d51c3732b6470192c9498986bccd3111184a398825e7610

RYAN'S STAFF TALKED TO TRUMP CAMPAIGN. Jake Sherman reports: "Speaker Paul Ryan's office says they have been in touch with Republican front runner Donald Trump's campaign and they plan to reach out to all candidates to discuss the House GOP agenda soon. 'We have heard from the campaign, but the two have not yet spoken,' said Brendan buck, Ryan's spokesman. 'We expect the speaker to be in touch with all the remaining candidates soon to discuss our efforts to build a bold conservative policy agenda for 2017.'"

PROTESTS ACROSS THE STREET - "TEXAS ABORTION CASE DRAWS HUNDREDS TO SUPREME COURT." Including lawmakers who braved the chilled wind to protest for or against abortion rights, per Alex Gangitano for Roll Call: "Hundreds of protesters rallied in front of the court, while police struggled to keep traffic on First Street moving... At the rally, signs saying 'trapped,' '#teamlife' and images of abortions all meshed together. A line of pro-life supporters stood facing the court with red 'LIFE' stickers over their mouths. Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., stood in the crowd behind them and tried to talk over an abortions-right advocate speaking Spanish into a microphone... Rep. Louise M. Slaughter,
co-chairwoman of the Pro-Choice Caucus, told HOH... 'It is important that women have access as the Constitution gives them the right to have access,' the New York Democrat said." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0d088cefef678738d3d02bd7dd5cfdf3dfeb0676f60ed4db805bf87d17678216

CLICKER -- SPOTTED on Washington Life's annual "Young and the Guest List: Rising Stars 40 & Under" issue list: Reps. Eric Swalwell, Ruben Gallego, Carlos Curbelo, Will Hurd and Krysten Sinema, Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.), Joseph Kennedy, Jaime Herrera Butler, Tulsi Gabbard, Justin Amash, and Seth Moulton, Dean Lieberman of Feinstein, Carolyn Amirpashaie King of Rep. Forbes' office, Nate Hodson of HRC, Drew Hammill of Pelosi, AshLee Strong of the Speaker's office, Tara DiJulio of Corker, and Becca Glover Watkins of Burr. NBC's Luke Russert and Shawna Thomas, Real Clear Politics' Rebecca Berg and Politico's Daniel Lippman are on the cover. See the cover and the digital edition (the list starts on
page 28). http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0d088cefef678738b14a48c3f0a1e86f45f52c8dcfec41ff414890062a8fe7ab (h/t Daniel Lippman, who is also on this list)

WEDNESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER: Alex Duvelius was the first to answer that Tom McMillen was the ex-Maryland star basketball player who led his team to the regional finals and would become the tallest-ever member of Congress. Jon Deuser was the first to name his height at six-foot, eleven inches.

TODAY'S TRIVIA: Comes from our winner: "Who was the first president to meet an organized baseball team at the White House?" Email me at rbade@politico.com

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