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By Lauren French (
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lfrench@politico.com or @laurennfrench)

FOUR SENATORS, A BUDGET AND 2016. Manu Raju writes, "The four Republican senators considering a run for president will have to take sides in the feud between fiscal hard-liners and defense hawks over the budget. That will give voters a clear read on their ideology just as they're hitting the campaign trail - and likely complicate Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's vow to shepherd a spending blueprint through the GOP-controlled Congress. Two of the White House hopefuls, Sens. Rand Paul and Ted Cruz, have voted against GOP budget plans in past years and are viewed as potential "no" votes, given their calls for deeper cuts in previous battles. Two others, Sens. Lindsey Graham of South
Carolina and Marco Rubio of Florida, have pushed for more defense spending, an issue that has emerged as an early sticking point between the House and Senate as they try to craft their first Republican budget since the George W. Bush era."
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SENATE REBUFFS EMERGENCY WAR SPENDING BOOST IN HOUSE BUDGET. From Jonathan Weisman in the New York Times, "Senate Republicans on Wednesday released an austere budget that maintains strict caps on military spending and cuts trillions of dollars from health care and welfare, sending a rebuff to their House colleagues. House Republicans are trying to evade the spending caps by adding close to $40 billion to military spending through an "emergency" war funding account that is not subject to the limits. Not only did Senate budget writers not follow suit, they included language in their budget requiring 60 votes in the Senate on any measure that used that approach... But the primary flash point
is likely to be over military spending. The budget does little to allay concerns of Republican defense hawks that spending caps imposed by the Budget Control Act of 2011 are significantly undermining Defense Department operations."
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THE PITFALLS OF AN HONOR SYSTEM. Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman, "Here's the reality: Practically any member of Congress can get away with what Aaron Schock did when it comes to official travel. That's because when lawmakers spend taxpayer resources for travel, it's done on the honor system, with almost no checks and balances to ensure the proper handling of government dollars... a number of lawmakers privately told POLITICO they don't seek mileage reimbursement because they want to avoid any potential problems. Others said that they keep a log to try and track miles driven for official and campaign use to ensure that their expense claims are verified."
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CLANCY: DRUNK DRIVING ACCIDENT REPORTS 'INACCURATE.' Michael D. Shear writes in the New York Times, "The head of the
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Secret Service is preparing to tell lawmakers on Thursday that news accounts of two agents crashing a car into a White House barricade this month were overblown and exaggerated. In prepared testimony before a Senate panel that was obtained by The New York Times, the agency's director, Joseph P. Clancy, says that a surveillance video debunks the claim that the March 4 incident involved any kind of serious collision. 'Previous reports of a crash are inaccurate - there was no crash,' Mr. Clancy is expected to say, offering his most forceful response yet to the embarrassing incident. 'The video shows the vehicle entering the White House complex at a speed of approximately one to two miles per
hour, and pushing aside a plastic barrel. There was no damage to the vehicle.'
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GOOD MORNING, and welcome to The Huddle. It's Thursday, March 19. Thanks for waking up early with me. As always, make sure to send tips, suggestions, comments, complaints and corrections to
mailto:lfrench@politico.com
lfrench@politico.com and please follow along on Twitter at @laurennfrench.

TODAY IN CONGRESS -. The House will have two series of votes; the first will be between 10 and 11 a.m. and last votes between 12 and 1 p.m. The Senate plans to vote at noon.

AROUND THE HILL - Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee will hold a press conference on Loretta Lynch's nomination to be attorney general at 12:30 p.m. in HVC 117. Rep. Rosa DeLauro will hold a press conference on trade following a week of White House briefings from Cabinet-level officials on TPA and TPP. The presser is at the House Triangle at 9:30 a.m. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will hold her weekly press conference at 10:45 in Studio A. Speaker John Boehner will also hold a press briefing today, at 11:30 in Studio A.

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AUMF DEBATE STALLS. Austin Wright and Bryan Bender report, "If anyone wanted further evidence that Congress is stalled in its effort to pass a separate resolution authorizing military force against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, a House hearing Wednesday provided plenty of signs. The House Armed Services Committee advertised its testimony with Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey as a discussion of the so-called Authorization for the Use of Military Force, but the issue hardly came up. Instead, lawmakers discussed Pentagon budget details for three hours."
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VETERANS LAUNCH POST-9/11 CAUCUS. Marking the 12th anniversary of the Iraq War, Reps. Tulsi Gabbard and Scott Perry will announce today the formation of a new caucus focused on veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.The caucus will focus on improving "Veterans' transition to civilian life, reduce the Veterans Affairs disability claims backlog, promote education, entrepreneurship and employment opportunities, and ensure responsive, expedient and efficient services for Veterans," a statement from Gabbard's office said. Reps. Ruben Gallego, Duncan Hunter, Mark Takai and Ted Lieu are also founding members. The announcement will come at 930 a.m. in HVC Studio B.

FIRST LOOK - SHAHEEN TO CLANCY: 'OBVIOUS' SECRET SERVICE IS BROKEN. Huddle has the first look at the opening remarks from top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Department of Homeland Security to Secret Service Director Joe Clancy - who is on the Hill for another round of criticism following a recent allegation that two senior agents drunkenly crashed into a White House security barrier earlier this month. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen will tell Clancy that "cannot fix a culture that, in the eyes of the public and many in Congress, is broken."

"Director Clancy, if the Secret Service is going to fix its many problems and rebuild the trust of the American people, it's not just going to require your leadership. It's also going to require the men and women of the Secret Service to take individual responsibility for their actions, and to be accountable to the American people," Shaheen will say. "Time is of the essence in addressing these problems - you do not have the luxury of waiting to find the perfect solution."

MCCONNELL PASSES AMENDMENT MILESTONE. Jesse Rifkin writes for the Huffington Post, "The McConnell-led Senate held more amendment votes in January 2015 alone than former Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid's Senate did all of last year. In January 2015, there were 33 votes on amendments in the Senate, compared to 15 in all of 2014, according to data compiled by GovTrack. McConnell allies say it's a sign that the new majority leader is following through on his pledge to open the Senate up to more robust debate."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f4bc5e9f6654b42e1fce2f2dfd9b036a94b56818ea105a3968fcd84a3e6145cc
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f4bc5e9f6654b42e1fce2f2dfd9b036a94b56818ea105a3968fcd84a3e6145cc Of course, Burgess Everett was all over this story in January:
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SCOOPLET: CASTRO GIVEN SENIOR POST ON WHIP TEAM. From your Huddle author, "Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro is taking a chief deputy whip job in Democratic leadership, a coveted post for a relative newcomer to Congress. House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) will announce the promotion Thursday. It gives Castro an influential voice at the Democrats' leadership table and marks another step up for the well-liked Latino Democrat from deeply red Texas....[Castro's selection is part of a trend from] Hoyer, [who] has tacked in a different direction, hoping to diversify his party messaging and strategy with new blood."
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DEMOCRATIC AIDE NEW OF HYDE LANGUAGE IN BILL. The AP with the scoop, "A Democratic senator's office belatedly conceded that a staff aide knew weeks ago that the measure included a controversial abortion-related provision. Democrats have said for more than a week that their side of the aisle was not aware of the provision until a few days ago, nearly two months after the legislation was made public and long after a bipartisan vote in the Judiciary Committee on Feb. 24... Julia Krahe, a spokeswoman for Sen. Amy Klobuchar, said that an aide to the Minnesota Democrat 'had seen the language' relating to abortion before the committee voted."
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WARREN HAS EAR OF FED CHAIRWOMAN. Megan R. Wilson and Peter Schroeder report for the Hill, "Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is upping her outreach to Capitol Hill, and one lawmaker is attracting the largest amount of her attention: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). A review of Yellen's meeting records, obtained by The Hill, shows the Fed chief has had more than twice as many meetings and phone calls with the big bank critic as any other lawmaker...Starting back in 2013 - the year former Fed leader Ben Bernanke announced he would retire - then-Vice Chair Yellen's contacts with Congress began to increase. She held dozens of private meetings with senators in the months before and after her
Senate confirmation hearing."
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REPUBLICANS CROW OVER NETANYAHU WIN. Burgess Everett reports, "Congressional Republicans are confident Benjamin Netanyahu's return as Israeli prime minister will help them ratchet up pressure on President Barack Obama to abandon his current round of nuclear weapons talks with Iran. Netanyahu has been an outspoken critic of Obama's plans to deal with Tehran, including in a controversial address to Congress earlier this month. For Republicans hoping to influence the deal, or scuttle it entirely, renewed opposition from the leader of the U.S.'s closest ally in the Middle East is exactly the kind of ideological support they're looking for."
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THURSDAY'S TRIVIA - David Heymsfeld was the first to correctly name the USSR as the second country to recognize Israel.

TODAY'S TRIVIA -David has today's question: What president disliked dogs so much that he gave away every dog given to him? The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. Email
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lfrench@politico.com .

GET HUDDLE emailed to your Blackberry, iPhone or other mobile device each morning. Just enter your email address where it says 'Sign Up.'
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