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09/21/2017 08:03 AM EDT


By Heather Caygle (hcaygle@politico.com or @heatherscope)

With an assist from Daniel Lippman

GOP EYES OBAMACARE REPEAL VOTE NEXT WEEK - The Senate is planning to vote next week on the GOP's latest effort to repeal and replace Obamacare. But it's still unclear what the outcome will be - or if GOP leaders have the 50 votes they need to pass the bill before Sept. 30. President Donald Trump joined the ongoing debate Wednesday night, tweeting that the proposal, authored by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.), was a "great bill."

Word games: "It is the leader's intention to consider Graham/Cassidy on the floor next week," a spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Wednesday. But as Burgess and Seung Min point out, "the statement does leave some wiggle room to not proceed with a vote." McConnell has told colleagues he'll only bring up the bill if it's going to succeed.

Whip count: Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) are viewed as hard "no's." Remember, GOP leaders can only lose two votes. It's still unclear where Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) stand on the proposal. But in an interview, "McCain sounded like he could end up tanking a bill written by Graham, his close friend. 'I am the same as I was before. I want the regular order.'" The latest: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4e2b507fd9d3beafa1f67b7b235025a6d958a751c93612cb3ef501d9d0108a14cd5226b2fca2ec404e81793944964c92f2a291a29f351181

Tweet vs. fact: Trump tweeted Wednesday night he wouldn't sign Graham-Cassidy if it didn't include coverage for pre-existing conditions. "It does!" the president wrote. But as Bloomberg points out, under Graham-Cassidy "states could get a waiver allowing insurers to charge people more if they or a dependent have a pre-existing condition, or if they get sick and want to keep their insurance." Steven Dennis and Sahil Kapur: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4e2b507fd9d3beafd8c0c6625673d18d1a914dbdd19f2cc20684a90f4f459bfbee84126b4300819a82a111c4cbac9a76acb96302cecb0985

Quote du jour: "You know, I could maybe give you 10 reasons why this bill shouldn't be considered," Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said when asked why he's supporting the bill. "But Republicans campaigned on this so often that you have a responsibility to carry out what you said in the campaign. That's pretty much as much of a reason as the substance of the bill." The Des Moines Register's Jason Noble: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4e2b507fd9d3beaf92d578425d82f30b655184d3113ee41556760e2333d95393645144e8a59906d9546ee945171e8eb6951aa4e478e6785d

THE LEFT DECLARES 'FULL WAR' - "From a new six-figure advertising campaign by the pro-Obamacare group Save My Care to a flurry of rallies planned on the ground, the left is throwing everything it can at the new repeal bill," Elana reports. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4e2b507fd9d3beaf9b1a977d43d4c7bb1acd1aab00a666aaaabdd4bf1c0fbad94c4bed95608cde77fe6146aaa3978766f8758a78772a6a69

OVER IN THE HOUSE - Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she thinks there's a good chance the bill dies in the House - if it makes it that far - due to opposition from moderate Republicans in populous states. "I think we have a really good chance to stop it in the House because it does such serious violence to the health care of people in California, New York and other places," Pelosi told reporters Wednesday. California and New York would lose nearly $50 billion in federal health care funding over the next decade - dollars that would be redistributed to conservative states - according to an analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a left-leaning think tank.

Bookmark: The Washington Post has a list of vulnerable House Republicans who come from states that will lose money under Graham-Cassidy, http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4e2b507fd9d3beaf68a0f7de0463272b61345fe8ac403cc1f11e55e4a0f743e7becdcf6bdb66bf06e116791d96caa8fbf478d98d5ee864af

But, intrepid HuffPost reporter Matt Fuller has a thread on how House Republicans could cobble together the votes for passage and still spare some vulnerable moderates from having to vote yes: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4e2b507fd9d3beaf354560b2107af4c7397e38ea6e2406a562f4a80fb3718272d39d29891bcca211827c174287cbd1d207007973b2c04686

** A message from A-29 for America: As the fight against terrorism continues, there is a critical need for a light attack combat aircraft. With nearly 40,000 combat hours, the American-made A-29 is a cost-effective, off-the-shelf solution and the only light support and reconnaissance aircraft in the world with a U.S. Air Force military type certificate. www.BuiltForTheMission.com. **

IT'S THURSDAY AND ALL'S QUIET ON CAPITOL HILL. Welcome to Sept. 21 and thanks for tuning in to POLITICO's Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill.

WEDNESDAY'S MOST CLICKED: Roll Call's story about Roy Moore falsely touting a campaign endorsement from conservative icon Phyllis Schlafly, who died in 2016, was the winner.

WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE - West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice may be a Republican now but that doesn't mean he's going to abandon his old buddy Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin. Justice told a crowd of GOP lawmakers this week that he supports Manchin's reelection bid, Brad McElhinny reports for West Virginia MetroNews. "Now he may be a terrible person to y'all but Joe has been a friend of mine and I'm going to tell you this as straight up as I can be: Joe Manchin is becoming a very key, integral part with Donald Trump. And I'm going to take my read off of Donald Trump," Justice told the crowd. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4e2b507fd9d3beafd8f4202de5c6a39096fdfd89a00ed26371baa95dddfb40be46974b546db925421bbf92a2bd3720c32f04bf170615448a

BACK FROM THE DEAD - Jen Haberkorn and Rachael Bade report on the unlikely alliance between Graham, freshman Sen. Bill Cassidy and former Sen. Rick Santorum that brought the Obamacare repeal back to life: "Santorum and Cassidy worked on the policy in the Graham-Cassidy bill. Graham played the salesman, courting the White House and GOP governors - and complained jokingly but often about getting bogged down in policy minutiae," they report. "After Cassidy went into the details of actuarial values at a press conference last week, Graham quipped that he 'had to listen to this crap for two months.'" More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4e2b507fd9d3beaf14af88c30af4db64b75322832480b8410e112c561c2a57df1d579e9beea623016f370c2b5049f8f595ae140d3487149d

DEMS WANT PRICE INVESTIGATION - Key Democrats in the House and Senate are asking the HHS Inspector General to investigate Tom Price after a POLITICO scoop on the secretary's jet-setting lifestyle. Price chartered five private jets for official travel last week - including between D.C. and Philadelphia - costing taxpayers an estimated $60,000. "It is unclear why Secretary Price would require such costly travel in these instances when more economical options were reportedly available," the Democrats wrote to the IG. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4e2b507fd9d3beafb006519c6b55d928cd0e84b6bfa49e34d523676f14e3c855f2fdb196f6018ad9eca0e4a70915fb6597a337e702ff496f

BIDEN GOES TO BIRMINGHAM - Vice President Joe Biden will be on Huddle's home turf - Birmingham, Ala. - to rally for Democratic Senate candidate Doug Jones Oct. 3. Jones, a Civil Rights lawyer who prosecuted two defendants for the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, will face off against either Roy Moore or Luther Strange in the Dec. 12 election.

GRASSLEY READIES SUBPOENAS IN RUSSIA PROBE - Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley is preparing subpoenas for two former FBI officials about Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey, he told reporters Wednesday. Grassley hasn't made the final decision on whether to issue the subpoenas, including one for Comey's former chief of staff, saying he's first waiting to consult with ranking member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Josh Gerstein and SMK report. Grassley also said talks have broken off with Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign chairman. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4e2b507fd9d3beafc5a6ff3c9871782bed9f8181a23a5131c15b80da95398c92617404b5a358dda96e4322e3ea614ab679f01b655b7d99cd

Tweetdeck: Twitter officials will meet with the Senate Intel panel next Wednesday. "Of particular interest is the prominence of bots - or automated accounts used to post and amplify information - on Twitter, and what role they may have played in making misleading campaign season tweets go viral," Nancy Scola and Josh Meyer report. Read more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4e2b507fd9d3beaf8367c28b500e40249c9b519eb5c482790b4492e7e909ff3bcb49a561a491be66eeb4d0a357d39bf06f327044549c4b40

YOU CAN GO YOUR OWN WAY - "Senate Republicans are making it clear they're not going to fall in line behind Trump's tax reform plan, despite a months-long effort with House leaders and top administration officials to have a smooth rollout for a major overhaul," Brian Faler reports. The rollout from the "Big Six" next week will only be an advisory, Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said. And his colleagues on the Budget Committee "are following that up with plans to seek a $1.5 trillion tax cut, putting them at odds with the House, where Speaker Paul Ryan, another Big Six member, wants permanent changes that don't add to the deficit." More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4e2b507fd9d3beaf753b11808abeac65f46c746117363f2e1873555047aa3ea427955ce3042c54dc7e2e4bb66be6c39780bfe7e27636fe81

Choose your op-ed: "Give us real tax reform, not pig in a poke," via Freedom Caucus leaders Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). Or "Tax reform transformed North Carolina. Congress take note," via Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). Both appeared in the Wall Street Journal.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD - Andrew Ginsburg, legislative director for Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), and Travis Chapman, a trial attorney in the antitrust division of DOJ, recently welcomed Natalie Laura Chapman. They also have another daughter, Jamie Rebecca Chapman, who is 2.5 years old. Pic: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4e2b507fd9d3beafd65c5be54360fd473a0b436350b865fa9952e7366f4067b4ba871a3dcd6cbb220fcfd62d9df1e1ae78ad200952aedfcb

ARRIVAL LOUNGE - Brian Kaissi is leaving the Asian American Hotel Owners Association to join the office of Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.). Brian will handle the congressman's education and labor portfolio, starting on Friday.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The Senate and House are both out for the rest of the week in observance of Rosh Hashanah. Both chambers will be back Monday, Sept. 25.

AROUND THE HILL - Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) and the CAP Action Fund will hold a conference call on the House GOP's tax reform efforts at 1:30 p.m. Call-in information: apreiss1@americanprogressaction.org

WEDNESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - James Reed guessed first that John Foster Dulles is the last Republican senator to later serve as secretary of State. Dulles led the State Department under President Eisenhower from 1953 until 1959. He served as senator from New York for four months in 1949.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Today's question comes from our very own Seung Min Kim, Congress reporter extraordinaire: How many senators have their own podcasts and who are they? Send your best guess my way: hcaygle@politico.com. The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle.

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