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By Seung Min Kim (
mailto:skim@politico.com
skim@politico.com or @seungminkim)

TRADE FIGHT'S EPICENTER: THE GOLDEN STATE - Perhaps no other state than California is as pivotal to whether fast-track-which could come up for a House vote this week-will succeed. POLITICO's Doug Palmer dives in: "California would be the third-largest economy in the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership pact and one of the biggest potential beneficiaries, but that hasn't stopped most of the state's lawmakers from opposing the deal despite President Barack Obama's efforts to build support in the Golden State."

--"[S]o far, only one of the delegation's 39 Democrats, Ami Bera, says he plans to vote for the trade promotion authority bill ... 'A majority of the California delegation will vote against this bill because we're dedicated to working families,' Rep. Brad Sherman told POLITICO. 'If we could disqualify the 49 other states ... this thing would be toast.' Given the huge size of the state's delegation, which has 53 House members, and the expected tight vote coming as early as this week, the handful of California members who remain on the fence could provide the margin of victory or defeat."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=19c6aa6dbafb2537c953800b3c160207f5372ec82ff4c3a7db31e68f24945399
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=19c6aa6dbafb2537c953800b3c160207f5372ec82ff4c3a7db31e68f24945399

--The Hill zeroes in on ten House lawmakers who are publicly undecided on whether they'll support fast-track. The list: Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.), Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-Texas), Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.), Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) and Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.):
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=19c6aa6dbafb25372be4bf18da83892be10898c3df78e7eeca3b242736828a8e
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=19c6aa6dbafb25372be4bf18da83892be10898c3df78e7eeca3b242736828a8e

OBAMA OFFERS DEMS COVER ON TRADE - The AP's Josh Lederman: "President Barack Obama has an offer for Democrats who fear political attacks if they back his trade agenda: Give me your vote now, and I'll have your back come re-election next year. Days from a critical House vote, it's still far from certain Obama can muster enough votes."

--"Although Republican leaders in Congress strongly support the budding trade deals, Obama has little leverage with individual GOP lawmakers. So the president has been dangling a carrot in front of Democrats in the form of a promise to campaign for them in 2016 if they face primary challenges or attacks by unions that have vehemently opposed his trade agenda."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=52dd349ff1365647a70ba2a91bfc9959739a0c2d4c174c399bb8e7519a3df560
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=52dd349ff1365647a70ba2a91bfc9959739a0c2d4c174c399bb8e7519a3df560

--The latest House Democrat to come out in favor of trade promotion authority is Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.). The Hill:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=52dd349ff13656472eb515bbda1569a1d229fb02f0482d35eae6c64b6bb28211
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=52dd349ff13656472eb515bbda1569a1d229fb02f0482d35eae6c64b6bb28211

--POLITICO's Lauren French reports that labor unions-in the midst of pillorying Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.)-is now targeting Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.) with a new six-figure buy. She initially said she would oppose trade promotion authority but now says she'll back the bill:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=52dd349ff1365647788f881a5374e3da195f2ecca5ff52c3ee912737a250401c
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=52dd349ff1365647788f881a5374e3da195f2ecca5ff52c3ee912737a250401c

E-mails we definitely DID open: "MEDIA ADVISORY: National Seersucker Day Photo." (From Sen. Bill Cassidy's office)

HASTERT LAWYERS UP -- Katelyn Polantz and Zoe Tillman of The National Law Journal with the scoop: "Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert has hired Thomas Green, a white-collar defense lawyer at Sidley Austin, to represent him on criminal charges in Chicago federal district court ... Green, a senior counsel in Sidley's Washington office, previously managed the firm's white-collar defense practice group. He's represented clients caught up in the Jack Abramoff lobbying probe, Iran-Contra, the Clinton pardon scandal, the Valerie Plame leak investigation and Watergate."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=52dd349ff1365647999fc85da84c30758ccd7b38d6a0830488175281b1e2777f
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=52dd349ff1365647999fc85da84c30758ccd7b38d6a0830488175281b1e2777f

--Hastert's arraignment is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT. This bit of color from the Chicago Tribune on the coming media frenzy: "On Monday, court officials announced that out-of-town reporters and spectators who want a seat in U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin's 14th floor courtroom should begin lining up in the hallway as early as 11:30 a.m. - 2 1/2 hours before the hearing. An overflow courtroom with a live audio feed is being set up to accommodate hordes of reporters, and the feed will also be streamed in the building's press room."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=52dd349ff13656471f6dbbd45f8e0ae1a6c7c3950bf3d050c50d47f6c789753e
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=52dd349ff13656471f6dbbd45f8e0ae1a6c7c3950bf3d050c50d47f6c789753e

--POLITICO's Josh Gerstein, who is in Chicago, writes how some defense attorneys believe a plea deal is likely in Hastert's case:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=52dd349ff1365647a600f417f6d5940958f52af6463a66f3f7e4a0174eebc6e7
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=52dd349ff1365647a600f417f6d5940958f52af6463a66f3f7e4a0174eebc6e7

** A message from UNITE HERE: ALL-AMERICAN RIGHTS FOR ALL AMERICANS: Tribal Sovereignty does not mean that Americans working for Native Americans lose their U.S. rights to "full freedom of association" and "self-organization" without "discrimination." The United States Senate shouldn't take away American Rights from Americans. Vote "No" on S. 248. Visit
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=52dd349ff136564705b1fd71d180c4ad678fc2e744017500768abeddaf5c6124
www.AllAmericanRights.org **

HELLO, IT'S TUESDAY, JUNE 9, 2015 and welcome to The Huddle, where we'll never trust Weather.com again after it reported a zero percent chance of precipitation at the Capitol - right in the middle of a downpour. Reach me at
mailto:skim@politico.com
skim@politico.com and follow me on Twitter at @seungminkim.

My new followers include @SenatorRounds and @chrimbina.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The House is in at noon and votes will be held at 6:30 p.m. Several suspension bills are on tap, as well as the Commodity End-User Relief Act and the THUD appropriations bill. The Senate is in at 10 a.m. and will continue working on the defense authorization bill, with a vote scheduled for 3 p.m. on OCO funding levels.

AROUND THE HILL - House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) will hold his weekly pen-and-pad briefing at 11 a.m. in H-144. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) will hold a gaggle on the Patient Freedom Act, his Obamacare replacement bill, at 1:45 p.m. in the Ohio Clock Corridor.

SENATE TEES UP DEFENSE FIGHTS - The Senate this week is plunging into the annual debate on the defense authorization bill, a sweeping measure that sets policy for the Pentagon. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)-sending a political opening against Democrats-is prepping the defense funding bill to come to the floor next. McConnell tells "The Joe Elliott Show": "My view is the nation's defense right now cries out for priority, and that's what we'll be discussing over the next few weeks."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=52dd349ff13656478423417a7eaeb2f11921304156c005d9ae241738fc0534f2
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=52dd349ff13656478423417a7eaeb2f11921304156c005d9ae241738fc0534f2

--Related: Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) writes in a POLITICO op-ed slamming President Barack Obama for holding funding for the military "hostage." Referencing Obama's veto threat against measures easing defense cuts absent equal relief for domestic programs, McCain argues: "Such intransigence shows a disturbing misalignment of White House priorities. It is the first duty of the federal government to protect the nation."

--Obama's 2008 opponent adds: "With global threats rising, it simply makes no sense to oppose a defense policy bill full of vital authorities that our troops need for a reason that has nothing to do with national defense spending." Read the op-ed:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=52dd349ff13656477727188f5488d622ac12c663d95366d5b43c951b7eba1fde
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=52dd349ff13656477727188f5488d622ac12c663d95366d5b43c951b7eba1fde

--This all means you'll be hearing that "waste of time" line from Republicans-quoting Harry Reid, who was arguing that the NDAA is going to be vetoed by Obama anyway-for at least two more weeks.

GET READY FOR A GRIDLOCKED SUMMER - POLITICO's Burgess Everett on how those bursts of legislative productivity from the Senate earlier this year is about to slow to a crawl: "Minority Leader Harry Reid foreshadowed the shift recently with vows to essentially shut down the appropriations process and block highway and defense bills unless Republicans move markedly to the left. With deadlines looming on several must-pass bills, the stage is set for brinkmanship that could last through the summer and into the thick of the 2016 presidential primary season."

--"[T]he coming months will be driven by a sequence of deadlines that lawmakers have shown little inclination or ability to get in front of. The Export-Import Bank charter expires at the end of the month, and after that Republicans will have to zero in on avoiding a shutdown of federal highway construction after July 31. Then two months after that they'll have to figure out how to keep the federal government open, since spending bills that would do the job are expected to go nowhere."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=52dd349ff1365647fbd776af54fd626749bdda590f993dcacb2bf0168868790a
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=52dd349ff1365647fbd776af54fd626749bdda590f993dcacb2bf0168868790a

KAINE, FLAKE FORCE AUMF DEBATE - The Huffington Post's Jen Bendery: "Their AUMF has a few core provisions. It would allow the use of U.S. military troops only for protecting the lives of U.S. citizens and providing military support to regional partners in their fight against the Islamic State. It specifically prohibits the use of 'significant U.S. ground troops in combat,' except to protect the lives of U.S. citizens from imminent threat."

--"The Kaine-Flake proposal also would expire in three years and repeal the 2002 Iraq War AUMF ... To expedite an AUMF debate, Kaine and Flake plan to offer their proposal as an amendment to the 2016 State Department reauthorization bill, which the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is taking up on Tuesday."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=21f46f70d69af44ae031197c7999f0bd1fd319e313ac60a2d38865f9ddcdcb5e
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=21f46f70d69af44ae031197c7999f0bd1fd319e313ac60a2d38865f9ddcdcb5e

FRIST JOINS LAMAR'S STAFF ... BRIEFLY - Talk about a staffer with previous experience. The sharp eyes over at Legistorm saw that former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) was brought onto fellow Tennessee Republican Lamar Alexander's staff earlier this year: "Alexander hired his former colleague given Frist's 'unique knowledge' of the Senate and health care policy, Alexander's spokesman Jim Jeffries said. Frist, a former heart surgeon, advised Alexander staff for the committee he chairs on the bipartisan 'Innovation for Healthier Americans Project.'"
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=21f46f70d69af44a96f6e497229b42d8e73a1244e327e8b970f1e3128fec49e3
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=21f46f70d69af44a96f6e497229b42d8e73a1244e327e8b970f1e3128fec49e3

--Frist was paid $1,001.09 for two weeks' work, per Legistorm.

SCHUMER VS. ... PALCOHOL? Reviving a crusade similar to his fight against Four Loko, Schumer said Monday that he'll introduce an amendment to ban Palcohol, which the New York Daily News describes as a "powdered substance that can turn a cup of water into an alcoholic cocktail." Is Huddle alone in having never heard of Palcohol? NYDN:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=21f46f70d69af44a0f8c62f6236a178727a1ac0f8cc618a4c6b3877148795c07
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=21f46f70d69af44a0f8c62f6236a178727a1ac0f8cc618a4c6b3877148795c07

MONDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - John Simermeyer was the fourth person to correctly answer that John Quincy Adams was the only president to win the office despite losing both the popular and electoral vote.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - John has today's question: U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, who was killed in the 2012 Benghazi attacks, comes from a long heritage of tribal ambassadors. Here is a two-part question: Which Native American tribal community is Stevens from, and who is the tribal chief that Stevens directly descends from? The first person to correctly answer both parts gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. E-mail
mailto:skim@politico.com
skim@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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http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=21f46f70d69af44a9d30dccdfbd0d36e71a1813d79f6cafcff0e3ce6bd480ce0 .

** A message from UNITE HERE: ALL-AMERICAN RIGHTS FOR ALL AMERICANS: Tribal Sovereignty does not mean that Americans working for Native Americans lose their U.S. rights to "full freedom of association" and "self-organization" without "discrimination." The United States Senate shouldn't take away American Rights from Americans. Vote "No" on S. 248. Visit
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=52dd349ff136564705b1fd71d180c4ad678fc2e744017500768abeddaf5c6124
www.AllAmericanRights.org **


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