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HILL HOLDS OBAMA'S LEGACY IN ITS HANDS - Jonathan Allen writes for the hometown paper: "It's now or never for the White House. President Barack Obama's second-term agenda is in doubt as Congress returns to Washington this week for a spring and summer stretch that could go a long way to define the scope of Obama's legacy. Obama will unveil what his team is calling a 'compromise' budget on Wednesday, but Republicans and Democrats alike are already criticizing elements of the plan.

-- "The president's effort on gun control might do no better than a watered-down bill destined to fail in the House, which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) may bring to the floor as early as next week. Gun control advocates who had hoped for an assault weapons ban or other big reforms are bound to be disappointed by a strategy expected to allow for votes on those issues but don't secure victories. And Obama's push to overhaul the nation's immigration laws - the best chance he has to enact a sweeping social policy change in his second term - still faces significant hurdles, even in the Senate, where chief negotiators have fallen behind schedule.

-- "The window for action on these issues will start to close as the 2014 midterm election cycle whips into full swing at the end of the year. After that, the next Congress figures to be colored by partisan posturing for the 2016 presidential election. The president and his aides say Republicans will determine whether gun control, immigration reform and a major deficit-reduction deal become law or fade away."
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OBAMA'S CATCH-22 - Jackie Calmes writes on A1 of the New York Times: "Members of both parties say Mr. Obama faces a conundrum with his legislative approach to a deeply polarized Congress. In the past, when he has stayed aloof from legislative action, Republicans and others have accused him of a lack of leadership; when he has gotten involved, they have complained that they could not support any bill so closely identified with Mr. Obama without risking the contempt of conservative voters.Representative Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland, called this predicament Mr. Obama's 'Catch-22.' And Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia, said he had often seen it at work since 2010 while
negotiating with Republican lawmakers to reach a long-term budget agreement. ... 'Everybody wants him involved to the right degree at the right moment,' Mr. Warner said, 'but not anytime before or after.'"
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BREAKING: FORMER U.K. PRIME MINISTER MARGARET THATCHER DEAD AT 87 -- Gordon Rayner and Steven Swinford write for the Telegraph: "Her son, Sir Mark, and daughter Carol confirmed that she died this morning. Lord Bell, her spokesman, said: 'It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully following a stroke this morning. A further statement will be made later.' Known as the Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher governed Britain from 1979 to 1990. She will go down in history not only as Britain's first female prime minister, but as the woman who transformed Britain's economy in addition to being a formidable rival on the
international stage."
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MAKE-OR-BREAK WEEK FOR GUN CONTROL - POLITICO's John Bresnahan and Reid Epstein explain the state of play: "Four months after the mass shooting at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school reignited the national debate over gun control, the issue is finally headed to the Senate floor. And the prospects still look bleak for those hoping for sweeping reform. The unlikely key to the answer might be a conservative GOP senator from Pennsylvania, Pat Toomey. The former head of the Club for Growth has emerged as a last-minute possible partner on a deal. But his stamp of approval is far from certain. If a deal emerges, Republicans could delay action on it for a week. Senate action is Obama's best chance
for a deal - but even there, Democrats haven't settled on which bill to advance. The White House and most Democrats are behind a proposal that requires background checks for all gun sales, although even that is far less than what gun control advocates had hoped. Obama, though, won't get anything better in the House, and he might not get that much."
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-- A front-page Washington Post story has a much sunnier outlook for gun measures. Ed O'Keefe and Philip Rucker write: "Prospects for a bipartisan deal to expand federal background checks for gun purchases are improving with the emergence of fresh Republican support, according to top Senate aides. The possibility that after weeks of stalled negotiations senators might be on the cusp of a breakthrough comes as President Obama and his top surrogates will begin on Monday their most aggressive push yet to rally Americans around his gun-control agenda."
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5:45 P.M. IN HARTFORD, CONN. - President Obama continues to urge Congress to pass legislation to reduce gun violence in a speech at the University of Hartford, about 50 miles from the site of the Newtown Elementary School shooting.

USA Today, A1, "States look to tax guns, ammo," By Judy Keen in Chicago:
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IMMIGRATION BILL COULD BE DELAYED - David Nakamura writes for WaPo: "A bipartisan Senate group on immigration legislation is attempting to craft an agreement so secure that the eight members will oppose amendments to its core provisions, an arrangement that could delay the introduction of a bill, people familiar with the negotiations said. The senators had said they hoped to present their proposals this week, but Republican members expressed skepticism about that timetable Sunday. The group continues to negotiate issues related to new visa programs for agricultural and high-tech workers and has not reached agreement on a guest-worker program for low-skilled foreign laborers, said the
individuals, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) said on NBC's 'Meet the Press' that he hopes a deal can be reached 'in the next couple of weeks.' A GOP Senate aide involved in the negotiations said a deal is unlikely this week because writing the bill, which is expected to be up to 1,500 pages, is going slowly."
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5 THINGS TO WATCH ON IMMIGRATION - Carrie Budoff Brown and Jake Sherman highlight what to keep your eye on as the immigration debate unfolds, including a revolt on the right and how closely the Gang of Eight sticks together.
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MISUNDERSTANDING MARCO - The Miami Herald's Marc Caputo writes a first-person account of what it's been like covering Rubio and the immigration debate, and why it doesn't bode well for reform efforts: "The request from the liberal Campaign to Reform Immigration for America was simple - but strange. 'Ask Marco Rubio to support a pathway to citizenship,' a caller from the group said. Huh?'Marco Rubio already supports a pathway to citizenship,' I said when I answered my home phone Wednesday. ... 'He doesn't support a pathway to citizenship,' the caller shot back. Me: 'Umm, yes he does.' Caller: 'No. He only supports a system of temporary work permits...' Me: 'I really think you have your facts
wrong. Where are you getting them?' The caller hung up.

-- "Count this little back and forth as one of the myriad examples of why immigration reform might not pass Congress despite a strong bipartisan push. The interest groups on the right and the left might spread just enough propaganda, just enough falsehoods, just enough passion to make immigration reform just another partisan issue. If immigration reform dies, then activist groups on all sides of the political spectrum live to fight again. In Washington, there can be a perverse disincentive for a real resolution. And for some in the Beltway, there's a disincentive to understand what Rubio's about. Some unwittingly don't understand Rubio, or they intentionally don't understand him."
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L.A. Times, A1, below the fold, "Rubio's immigration bind," By Brian Bennett and Lisa Mascaro:
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-- The Wall Street Journal's Sara Murray writes that 40 percent of the 11 million undocumented workers in the U.S. didn't sneak across the border; they simply overstayed their visas:
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DEBUTING TODAY: POLITICO Pro unveils 'Pro Report,' an end of the day newsletter exclusively for Pros, featuring the most essential policy news that broke since the morning cycle. The roundup also offers a sneak peek into the next day's biggest story lines. Pro Report will be sent to all Pro readers by 6 p.m. every weekday and published later that evening on POLITICO's home page. An excerpt of the newsletter will also appear in the next morning's print edition. Want to be a Pro? E-mail
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** On the Hill? Then join the Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure 'State of Pink' Challenge, a little friendly competition to support the fight against breast cancer. Just form a team in your office and then come celebrate with us on Saturday, May 11. Winning teams will be recognized on Race Day. Learn more.
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GOOD MONDAY MORNING, APRIL 8, 2013, and welcome to The Huddle, your play-by-play preview of the day's congressional news. Send tips, suggestions, comments, complaints and corrections to
mailto:swong@politico.com
swong@politico.com . If you don't already, please follow me on Twitter @scottwongDC.

My new followers include @bcarrz and @JohnCzerwinski.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The House returns from recess on Tuesday. The Senate is in at 2 p.m. for morning business, but no votes are scheduled until noon on Tuesday.

9:23 P.M. ET ON CBS: NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP: LOUISVILLE CARDINALS VS. MICHIGAN WOLVERINES -- Gary Parrish writes for College Basketball Insider: "Louisville could become the second straight school from Kentucky to hang a banner -- and the second in three years from the Big East. (Editor's note: RIP Big East.) That's what oddsmakers suspect will happen, by the way. The Cards are 3 1/2-point favorites. But if Michigan upsets them, then the Wolverines will be the first Big Ten team to win a title since Michigan State in 2000, meaning the Big Ten's 12-year drought would be over."
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BUZZFEED: 30 LAWMAKERS AND THEIR ANIMAL DOPPLEGANGERS:
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CLOTURE CLUB FLASHBACK: 21 MUPPETS IN CONGRESS:
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HOMELAND SECURITY EYES QUICKER AIRPORT SCREENINGS - Scott Wong reports for POLITICO: "First came the knives. Now come the laptops and shoes. As it eases restrictions on blade-carrying passengers to speed up the airplane boarding process, the Department of Homeland Security also wants to allow more low-risk travelers to breeze through airport checkpoints. It's all an attempt to make travel easier for air passengers as the sequester threatens to make lines longer. The push would include a major expansion of two trusted-traveler programs that let prescreened passengers bypass much of the security routine when preparing to board a plane or enter the U.S.

-- "Supporters like Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano say the changes would enhance, not weaken, post-Sept. 11 security measures by allowing the government to focus on the real bad guys. Not all security experts agree, however. And expedited-screening efforts at the Transportation Security Administration have previously drawn concerns about privacy, with the American Civil Liberties Union warning that the program's expansion could lead to the abuse of passenger data and discriminatory profiling."
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KERRY: 25-YEAR-OLD DIPLOMAT KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN WAS 'SELFLESS' -- Rosemary Regina Sobol, Jennifer Delgado and Geoff Ziezulewicz wrote on A1 of the Chicago Tribune: "Anne Smedinghoff, the young American diplomat who was killed Saturday while delivering textbooks to children in Afghanistan, left behind a long trail of people she had impressed with her passion, intelligence and poise, both in her career and while she was growing up near Chicago, in River Forest. They included Secretary of State John Kerry, whom Smedinghoff shepherded around Afghanistan on a recent visit, a plum assignment that underscored her achievements and promise. 'A selfless, idealistic young woman,' Kerry said. ...
Smedinghoff, 25, a Fenwick High School graduate who grew up in River Forest, died along with four other Americans in what the State Department said was a Taliban attack in Zabul province in southern Afghanistan. Smedinghoff and the other victims were traveling in a convoy of vehicles when a bomb exploded, according to the State Department."
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JUDGE REVERSES SUSPENSIONS OF PROSECUTORS IN TED STEVENS CASE - Charlie Savage writes for the NYT: "An administrative judge has overturned the suspensions of two federal prosecutors whom the Justice Department had tried to discipline for failing to turn over evidence that might have helped the defense in the botched corruption trial against Senator Ted Stevens. Last year, the department found that the two prosecutors had engaged in reckless - though not intentional - professional misconduct and ordered them to be suspended without pay. One, Joseph Bottini, was suspended for 40 days, and the other, James Goeke, was suspended for 15 days. ... In a 29-page ruling released late Friday night,
the administrative judge, Benjamin Gutman, overturned the suspensions. He ruled that the Justice Department had violated its own procedures, under the Professional Misconduct Review Unit, which called for a rank-and-file lawyer to decide whether professional misconduct had occurred."
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GOP PREPARES TO BASH OBAMA BUDGET - Ginger Gibson reports for POLITICO: "President Barack Obama might think he's offering a compromise budget on Wednesday when he formally unveils it. But Senate Republicans - a group Obama will try to woo with a dinner that night - are expected to vigorously push back, casting the 2014 spending plan as another attempt to raise taxes to fuel more deficit spending. Communication staffers for Republican senators met Thursday to map out how they would respond to the budget and to organize a united front. That was before the Friday leak revealing that Obama's budget will include an olive branch to the GOP, known as chained CPI, which would slow the growth of
Social Security benefits. Republicans - except House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, who denounced the entitlement tweak as not enough to offset tax increases - were mostly mum on the move. And some progressive Democrats slammed the president for offering too much without anything in exchange in his bid to craft a large-scale bargain on the deficit."
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IRS EYES SILICON VALLEY'S TAX-FREE FREE LUNCH - Mark Maremont writes for the Wall Street Journal: When outsiders visit Silicon Valley, the first thing they often notice is the food: Cafeterias brimming with free gourmet meals and snacks offered to employees of Google Inc., Facebook Inc. and other technology firms. But not all is as it seems in the buffet line. There is growing controversy among tax experts about how to treat these coveted freebies. The Internal Revenue Service also has been focusing on the topic, according to attorneys who practice in the area, examining whether the free food is a fringe benefit on which employees should pay additional tax."
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FRIDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Alex Gray was first to correctly answer that Barbara Boxer is the only current U.S. Senator to graduate from a branch of City University of New York. She's a Brooklyn College alum.

We'll also give extra credit to Kip Payne who noted that Sen. Robert Wagner graduated from City College in 1898, though the various city colleges weren't consolidated into the City University until the 1960s.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - We'll return to a basketball question given today's championship game. Brad Fitch asks: Only one person was elected to Congress the same year they also played in the NBA. Who was that? First to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. Email me at
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** On the Hill? Then join the Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure 'State of Pink' Challenge, a little friendly competition to support the fight against breast cancer. Since 1990, Komen's investments have helped drive down breast cancer mortality rates in the U.S. by 33% thanks to participants like you. Represent your state and keep the momentum going. Form a team in your office today and then come celebrate with us on Saturday, May 11. The largest congressional team and top fundraising team will be recognized on Race Day. Learn more.
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