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By Scott Wong (
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swong@politico.com or @scottwongDC)

BOEHNER AND McCONNELL'S ROLE REVERSAL - Manu Raju and John Bresnahan report for the hometown paper: "Speaker John Boehner spent weeks carefully trying to revive prospects for immigration legislation this year, believing House Republicans needed to make an honest effort to consider the politically charged issue ahead of the midterm elections. Then came Mitch McConnell.

-- "On Tuesday, the Senate GOP leader voiced deep skepticism that an immigration deal could be reached in 2014. It was the latest high-profile split between the two top Republicans on Capitol Hill, who face competing and conflicting pressures as the focus begins to shift from passing legislation to full-blown campaign battles. Since the GOP took control of the House three years ago, Boehner and his colleagues were often the ones taking hard lines while McConnell struck deals to raise the debt ceiling in 2011, avert the 2012 fiscal cliff and reopen the federal government last fall. But now, Boehner and McConnell are in a bit of a role reversal."

IMMIGRATION REFORM'S OTHER HURDLE - POLITICO's Seung Min Kim: "Forget about that pathway to citizenship. The Republican divide on whether undocumented immigrants can become citizens is consuming most of the headlines. But there's a trickier issue at play that ultimately could prove to be a bigger stumbling block for immigration reform: a guest-worker program for future immigrants."
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HOUSE GOP STUCK ON DEBT LIMIT - Jake Sherman reports for POLITICO: "All week, House Republican leaders have been stymied in crafting a debt-limit package that could pass with only Republican support. Now, Speaker John Boehner (Ohio) and other top Republicans are considering attaching a whole laundry list of provisions to the debt ceiling that do precious little to decrease the deficit but would instead serve only to attract enough Democratic support to move the legislation on to the Senate.

-- "One option ... is to attach a nine-month patch of the Sustainable Growth Rate to the debt-limit increase. The SGR, or 'doc fix,' as it is known on Capitol Hill, is the formula by which the federal government reimburses doctors who treat Medicare patients. Still very much in the mix is a proposal to reverse recent cuts to the cost-of-living adjustment for some military retirees."
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EDWARDS BOMBS AT CONGRESSIONAL DINNER - WaPo's Emily Heil has the write-up of last night's Washington Press Club Foundation dinner: "It's not really supposed to be a competition between the two members of Congress who traditionally perform jokey standup-style acts at the annual Washington Press Club Foundation dinner. But Rep. Donna F. Edwards (D-Md.), one of the headliners at Wednesday night's media-Congress mixer, announced that the assembled crowd of reporters, members of Congress and staffers was in for a comedy throwdown between herself and Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who shared the evening's duty of attempting to entertain. ... If this had been a competition, Edwards would have come up
short, offering a routine that drew few laughs but plenty of cringes.

-- "Her material hit some off notes: A few parts were too insidery (remember the congressional spelling bee, she asked as a set-up to a punchline? Um, nope.). Other bits were oddly laced with sexual innuendo, like when she said she and Flake found time to work together. 'I mean in a Cialis kind of way.' Huh? Missing was the self-deprecation that makes that kind of barb-throwing funny. The consensus of the unamused crowd seemed to be that she should have ended where she began, with a brief video spoofing the hit ABC show "Scandal," involving a plot line of her-playing the show's lead character, Olivia Pope-caught in a steamy smooch with House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio). (In real life,
there's a sweet picture of Boehner and Edwards sharing a friendly kiss at a breast-cancer benefit.)."
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http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e055bd62319b8fe4bf8c701acd106a86e0c3876f246c46d33ab686a8b15764f2 Watch Edwards's "Scandal" video here:
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TWITTER TRAFFIC ... @JessicaTaylor: That Edwards speech was just..... I don't know. So painful #wpcfdinner

-- @BobCusack: Quote at my table: 'She should stick to her day job.'

@BresPolitico: Prediction - Rep. Donna Edwards will never, ever speak at Press Club dinner again. Like ever. Never. This is painful

-- @mikememoli: 'I survived the Donna Edwards #wpcfdinner speech of 2014'

OBAMA TO SENATE DEMS: 'KEEP YOUR POWDER DRY' - Manu Raju reports: "President Barack Obama rallied Senate Democrats behind his election-year agenda on Wednesday, even privately urging senators to 'keep your powder dry' on his push to expand international trade despite the strong opposition from many leading Democrats, according to several people at the closed-door session. At a roughly two-hour meeting at Nationals Park, Obama repeatedly emphasized his goal to keep the Senate in Democratic control in the 2014 midterms, promising to do whatever he can to help his party stay in the majority, attendees said. He noted that his agenda stands a better chance of advancing if a majority of the
Senate Democratic Caucus gets behind his proposals, whether it's to increase the minimum wage to $10.10 or expand job training opportunities."
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--SEN. MARK PRYOR (D-Ark.) is breaking with Obama over a minimum wage hike. Bloomberg's Kathleen Hunter: "Senator Mark Pryor, whose home state of Arkansas is headquarters of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), says he will oppose raising the minimum wage. 'I know $10.10 still isn't a whole lot of money, but I think it's too much, too fast,' Pryor, who is seeking a third Senate term, said in an interview at the Capitol. 'I'm not supportive of that.'"
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TRANSITIONS - WILL DUNHAMhas been named executive director of the Republican Study Committee, Roll Call's Emma Dumain reports. He succeeds Paul Teller, who was fired several months ago over allegations of leaking information from the committee. "During Teller's tenure, Dunham was the RSC's senior policy adviser and, before that, he worked for the Hillsdale College, the Heritage Foundation and for Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif."
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GOOD THURSDAY MORNING, FEB. 6, 2014, and welcome to The Huddle, your-play-play preview of all the action on Capitol Hill. Send tips, suggestions, comments, complaints and corrections to
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swong@politico.com . If you don't already, please follow me on Twitter
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TODAY IN CONGRESS - The Senate meets at 9:30 a.m. and at 11 a.m. will hold a procedural vote on the bill to extend expired unemployment insurance. The Senate also will vote to confirm Sen. Max Baucus as the next ambassador to China. The House is also in at 9 a.m. with the only series of votes between 11 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. on the Public Access and Lands Improvement Act.

AROUND THE HILL - Reps. Henry Waxman and the Safe Climate Caucus launch a new initiative at 9:30 a.m. in HVC Studio B. Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi will hold an on-camera press briefing at 10:45 a.m. in HVC Studio A. Sens. Jeff Merkley, Mike Lee, Joe Manchin and Rand Paul introduce a resolution regarding Afghanistan at 11 a.m. in the Senate Studio. Sen. Tim Kaine holds a press availability following meeting with survivors of Syrian chemical weapons attacks, at 11:30 a.m. in S-116.

Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, Chuck Grassley, Barbara Boxer, Jeanne Shaheen, Richard Blumenthal and Mazie Hirono speak on sexual assault in military, at 11:30 a.m. in Russell 485. Speaker John Boehner holds an on-camera press briefing at 11:30 a.m. in HVC Studio A. Rep. Marcia Fudge, speaks on the National Day of Prayer at 1 p.m. at the House Triangle.

On Monday, Heritage Action hosts its first daylong Conservative Policy Summit, featuring nine discussions about specific conservative policy alternatives. Members of Congress will join each discussion on topics including Protecting American Privacy in a Digital Age (Rep. Matt Salmon), The American Energy Renaissance Act (Sen. Ted Cruz) and Bringing Education Decisions Closer to the Students (Sen. Tim Scott). Press can register here:
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LAWMAKERS SPAR OVER CBO REPORT - Damian Paletta reports for the Wall Street Journal: "A new report outlining the effect of the Affordable Care Act on the labor market continued to reverberate on Capitol Hill Wednesday, with lawmakers in both parties saying the findings bolstered their view of how the law would play out. Republicans at a House Budget Committee hearing said the report, released Tuesday, shows the health law will drive people out of the work force. Democrats countered that the report shows the law will give workers flexibility to leave jobs they are locked into because of health-care benefits. The sparring came in response to a Congressional Budget Office analysis concluding
that subsidies in the law, combined with easier access to health care, would create incentives for many Americans to cut their work hours, leading to a net reduction of 1.5% to 2% from 2017 through 2024. This would be the equivalent of reducing the labor force by 2.5 million workers in 2024, the CBO found."
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SEN. TOM COBURN (R-OKLA.), who authors an annual "Wastebook" report, rattled off the 10 Most Outrageous Government Boondoggles of his career. Among them: The Bridge to Nowhere, Woodstock Museum, RoboSquirrel and Shrimp on a Treadmill. POLITICO Magazine:
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DROUGHT POLITICS - "The Republican-controlled House passed legislation Wednesday billed as a response to the California drought, but the measure is unlikely to go further in the face of a White House veto threat and opposition from the state's Democratic senators," Richard Simon writes for the L.A. Times. "Still, the action highlights the growing interest on Capitol Hill in trying to do something about the water shortage, a potentially hot issue in this year's elections. Democratic lawmakers are calling for hearings and hurriedly drafting legislation of their own. The House bill would, among other things, roll back environmental protections and halt restoration of a dried-up stretch of the
San Joaquin River that is designed to revive salmon runs. It was approved on a largely party-line 229-191 vote. Republicans blamed Washington policies for the water shortage, bringing photos of fish to the House floor to argue that fish were being put ahead of farmers. ... Democrats responded by saying that the problem is lack of rain."
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McMORRIS RODGERS'S BIG LEGAL BILL - Paul Singer writes for USA Today: "Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., a member of the House Republican leadership team, spent nearly $70,000 late last year on legal fees, including payments to a firm that specializes in white-collar criminal defense and congressional investigations. McMorris Rodgers is the only woman in House Republican leadership, holding the fourth-ranking spot. She was tapped last week to provide the Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union Address. She chairs the House Republican Conference, which is the organizational forum for Republicans in the House. McMorris Rodgers' office said the payments are
simply a routine part of her job in congressional leadership, which she assumed in January 2013. 'We have, on a regular basis, a number of things that come up that we have to talk to outside counsel about,' said McMorris Rodgers' spokesman, Nate Hodson."
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KHANNA'S SILICON VALLEY 'START-UP' CAMPAIGN - In Sunnyvale, Calif., Norimitsu Onishi writes on A1 of the New York Times: "Here in the land of technology start-ups, Ro Khanna is its political version. Backed by many of Silicon Valley's top investors and executives at Google, Facebook, Yahoo and other tech companies, Mr. Khanna, a 37-year-old patent lawyer who has never held elected office, has mounted an aggressive campaign for the seat from the 17th Congressional District in the heart of the Valley. Mr. Khanna's ambitions, and those of the tech elite behind him, are clear. A Democrat, Mr. Khanna is trying to oust a fellow Democrat, Representative Michael M. Honda, who remains popular after
seven terms and has been endorsed by President Obama and the rest of the Democratic establishment. Using the jargon of tech start-ups, Mr. Khanna says he will be a 'disruptive' force in Washington.

-- "Whether or not this political start-up is ultimately successful, Mr. Khanna's campaign underscores the tech industry's push to elect candidates who will further its interests in Washington, even if that means, as in this race, trying to replace a party stalwart with a relative unknown. ...At a time when the tech industry has drawn a backlash in the San Francisco Bay Area, where the tech elite are increasingly portrayed as concerned with their narrow privileges at the expense of society at large, Mr. Honda's supporters have labeled Mr. Khanna a 'Silicon Valley groupie' whose wealthy donors are trying to buy a congressional seat. ... But richer and more powerful than ever, the tech
industry has become increasingly involved, both in lobbying and in fund-raising. And some of its boldface names have shown strong support for particular candidates, including Cory Booker of New Jersey in his successful run for the United States Senate and Mayor Ed Lee of San Francisco's campaign for a full term."
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FAMILY OF WOMAN SHOT OUTSIDE CAPITOL SUES POLICE - Hannah Hess has the story for Roll Call: "The tragic, confusing series of events that unfolded on Oct. 3, beginning with a car chase from the White House and ending with a Capitol lockdown and the shooting of Miriam Carey, might land the Capitol Police in federal court. On Wednesday, an attorney representing the Carey family filed federal administrative notice of claim to sue the Capitol Police, as well as the Uniformed Division of the U.S. Secret Service. Valarie Carey, sister of the victim, filed a wrongful death claim against the two government agencies seeking $75 million to compensate the family 'for their great loss of a daughter,
mother, friend and confidant,' according to a release posted on the website of The Sanders Firm, P.C., a New York-based law firm representing Carey."
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WEDNESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Ridge Blanchard, a legislative assistant with Holland & Knight, was first to correctly name five current members of Congress who have close relatives who have served in Congress: Rep. Bill Shuster (father served in House), Rep. John Sarbanes (father served in Senate), Rep. Duncan Hunter (father served in House), Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (brother served in House), Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (father served in House).

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Which 2014 Senate candidate testified this week before a Senate committee? The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. Email me at
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