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04/03/2017 07:49 AM EDT


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

With an assist from Daniel Lippman and Seung Min Kim

ALL EYES ON SCOTUS - By the end of this week, two things are almost certain: Neil Gorsuch will be confirmed to the Supreme Court, filling the vacancy left by Antonin Scalia's death more than a year ago. And, long-standing Senate rules for confirming SCOTUS nominees - the 60-vote threshold - are likely to be wiped away in the process. But first up, the Senate Judiciary Committee meets at 10 a.m. to vote on Gorsuch's nomination, teeing up floor action later this week.

Senate leaders remain entrenched in opposite corners of the Gorsuch debate, barreling towards a confrontation over the chamber's rules that has been years in the making. "It's highly, highly unlikely that he'll get 60," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told Chuck Todd Sunday. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was undeterred: "What I'm telling you is that Judge Gorsuch is going to be confirmed. The way in which that occurs is in the hands of the Democratic minority," he declared on Fox News. Seung Min reports: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b9427b40ed06d9a7c542dc815d89d41e220ce008a4b25ac4d5a588d3e259c4b6f6911feb5a549cfe5c6b4e13514a55c6

On the road again: Nebraska GOP Sen. Ben Sasse, a Judiciary member, was having trouble getting back to D.C. Sunday night, tweeting about his ordeal and promising to #DriveAllNightforNeil if needed to make the vote this morning. Sasse made it early Monday, relying on a rental car to complete the leg from New Jersey to D.C.

STUCK IN THE MIDDLE WITH YOU - Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly said Sunday he will vote for Gorsuch, becoming the third Democrat to do so. But that still leaves Republicans far short of the eight Democrats they need to break a filibuster, especially after Sen. Jon Tester said he was a "no" on Sunday. Of the undecideds, Michael Bennet is under siege like no other Democratic fence-sitter, Seung Min reports.

The centrist Coloradan is "trapped between significant home-state pressure to back the Denver-bred judge and a scorching liberal base urging Democratic senators to filibuster President Donald Trump's first Supreme Court nominee." Bennet, a stickler for Senate tradition, is also struggling with what almost seems inevitable at this point: killing the filibuster for SCOTUS nominees.

Bennet has privately tried to make the case that the next nominee - not Gorsuch - is the one worth dying on the Hill for. Bennet did participate in the tradition of home-state senators introducing the nominee but overall, he has kept his thinking about Gorsuch under wraps. "Knowing Michael," one senator told Seung Min, "he is going to arrive at this with a lot of deliberation." SMK with the deep dive: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=05d085e5baccf1508fafcb2554a3cd532083e203776a81dbcd40f9d87629aca458c547274031988404dae2a54e7529ee

WHIP COUNT: Wondering who is pro-filibuster, who is against and who is still undecided? Seung Min and Elana with the full Democratic whip list: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=05d085e5baccf150e582f0b2dabff279ef726fedd8c72bbb9ea2859a62089ab30264e1fb2bb86121e62f01b50a151784

CHOOSE YOUR NEWS: "The truth about Schumer, Democrats and Gorsuch," via Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley on Fox News: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=05d085e5baccf1505adc7269cfede9f16876bbf59a7f5674c28a937971aee244179828b1e48a9f3dc5af7230e0f5acfd Or "Mitch McConnell's nuclear trigger finger," via Adam Jentleson, long-time aide to former Sen. Harry Reid, in the New York Times: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=05d085e5baccf150fdf4dbd781b40653a0730d846de68774505ea2f338f4c54683fe20464ed74dea30b2f7f9797ab826

TAKING BACK MONDAY. Welcome to April 3 and thanks for reading POLITICO's Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill.

FRIDAY'S MOST CLICKED: My story with Burgess about Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke daring to take on Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018

WHAT'S OLD IS NEW AGAIN - President Donald Trump took to Twitter over the weekend to declare Obamacare repeal efforts alive and well. Repeal talks "are, and have been, going on, and will continue until such time as a deal is hopefully struck," Trump tweeted Sunday. The president was even golfing with OMB Director Mick Mulvaney and Sen. Rand Paul, one of the loudest critics of the House GOP repeal plan, on Sunday.

Tweet du jour: @RandPaul: I had a great time today with @realDonaldTrump and believe we are getting closer to an agreement on health care!

Just the facts, ma'am: Republicans still remain far apart on a repeal plan. Just a few days ago, Trump was attacking members of the House Freedom Caucus on Twitter and his social media director was urging a primary against HFC member Justin Amash. "Tweets and statements and blame don't change facts," Rep. Jim Jordan told Jake Tapper on Sunday.

Wheeling and dealing: "If we don't get what we want, we will make a deal with the Democrats and we will have in my opinion not as good a form of healthcare, but we are going to have a very good form of healthcare and it will be a bipartisan form of healthcare," Trump told the Financial Times in a new interview.

** A message from The Coalition to Protect America's Health Care: The Coalition to Protect America's Health Care fights back against congressional and executive actions that threaten America's hospitals. When our caregivers, our patients, or our communities are at risk, our supporters speak out and advocate. Stand up for your hospital by joining our community today. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=05d085e5baccf15026d868b3269a2981911fc0796660e2983bf85547ba1abb3982b511a1b14848322f8d12f648b817c8 **

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU TWEET FOR - White House social media director Dan Scavino Jr. may have violated federal law with his tweet encouraging a primary against Amash. That tweet "immediately landed him in controversy as ethics lawyers called out Scavino for possibly violating the Hatch Act, a Depression-era law that regulates campaigning by government officials," Darren Samuelsohn and Rebecca Morin report.

Mark your calendars: Playbook's Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman will interview House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, Amash and Jordan Thursday morning. Doors open at 8 a.m. RSVP: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=05d085e5baccf150515f854107ce767f98c694da26f67038571370df67c4ee8a4f80607800ddcb2739b6d024cf46f604

NO DRAMA CONGRESS? Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Fox News Sunday he is "very confident" Congress won't shut down the government when funding runs out April 28. "We're going to negotiate all of those items in the context of this funding bill," he said when asked about border wall funding and Planned Parenthood. CNN's Eli Watkins: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=05d085e5baccf15071d24d212511005b583809a6c72000aed0bc7ce26f872ed18c7d4f4d576504fd138749b87fd11ce5

The current plan: With only eight legislative days between now and April 28, congressional leaders are mulling a weeklong stopgap to give them a little more breathing room to negotiate a funding bill. Jen Scholtes, Sarah Ferris and Bres with the deets: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=05d085e5baccf150a33e40861701aaef48ff52268f5f448943eefb66fb7da701a8e6ab1eaaf74f0a56d4872b85d2f06d

NUNES 'KILLED' BIPARTISAN RUSSIA PROBE - GOP Sen. John McCain didn't mince words Sunday, saying House Intel Chairman Devin Nunes has destroyed any chances of a bipartisan investigation into Russia in the lower chamber. "If we're really going to get to the bottom of these things, it's got to be done in a bipartisan fashion," McCain said on ABC's "This Week." "And as far as I could tell, Congressman Nunes killed that." Theo Meyer with more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=05d085e5baccf1502885c68ec901cb2b3954e788a18ba7364bbdae76b77b0731a30e08c996c8cdebe4eeb6581fffde79

WHO IS JON OSSOFF? "He is a relative neophyte running 20 points ahead of a divided Republican field in a congressional district that hasn't been blue since Jimmy Carter," writes Olivia Nuzzi in a profile on the Democrat trying to snag Tom Price's former seat.

Ossoff is also "an anonymous congressional aide turned documentary-film producer ... [and] a pleasant, generic hipster-technocrat vessel into which an entire nation of angry Democrats has poured its electoral hopes (not to mention its millions of dollars - literally millions, a wild haul for a first-time nobody in a two-month race)." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=05d085e5baccf15001b222eaf20be529c3eabdf93c9fa9ec6404499a909267390a984389f117fdb5479090d172ef2584

OFF MESSAGE PODCAST: Seattle's first openly gay mayor gets personal in the latest episode of Off Message with Isaac Dovere. Between the constant grind of media requests on all things President Trump related, Ed Murray talks about the challenges presented by the president's cuts to federal funding that his city relies on and his efforts to protect immigration.

"I don't think [Donald Trump] gets it. I mean, look how he described immigrants. He described immigrants as people who are basically criminals and predators." Listen and subscribe on iTunes.

SPOTTED (via Playbook): Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) in first class on delayed American Airlines Flight 1512, red eye from PHX to DCA, which is scheduled into DCA at 8:38 a.m. ... Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) on his phone waiting to board the 6:30 p.m. shuttle yesterday from DCA to Boston -- he sat in the first row in first class -- Pic: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=05d085e5baccf15022706d5fb990113c64413eb586f79550f01c3e478e6b4a4590744466208c0d09d267362b0f060018

-- April Fools Wedding: Ammon Simon, Legislative Counsel for Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), and Amy Martin, project manager at Savan Group, got married at a Pennsylvania venue they were checking out together before they were even engaged--and where Ammon ultimately proposed. Pics: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=05d085e5baccf150bfe395fc14ad293d4762102505681adf64547bb92fb50a40da2ad95e71fac1a119399002c9327aa0 ... http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=05d085e5baccf150959d7f470e0b2d5bac3f5c0049727ba2de2fa89b4cb97f9bb47e657f7f5f60bdf2d7c7c8bcbd925a

-- Ana Swanson, reporter for Washington Post's Wonkblog, married Jon Tsentas of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in Sarasota, Fla. on Saturday in a sunset ceremony. Ana and Jonathan met at the Johns Hopkins Nanjing Center during their graduate studies. Pics: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=05d085e5baccf150205e0b4bab4cf10b2cd145f4609e21559e0b81c7d7b54cb290c71f8d470e7adab803afa55abe5980 ... http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=05d085e5baccf1502ee6d643a6f7a8c45765a74ff4f54cc7f8869121f50af2d10074da5d46cb8ac8b15e5561da630e37

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The House meets at 12 p.m. with votes at 6:30 p.m. Today's agenda: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=05d085e5baccf150a1b3fef4e94d77c91d1d4819e7f4fc4cf6d2ea19eb6bfa16a51dadf98a3a5bebbaca13bb36a29acb The Senate convenes at 3 p.m. with a roll call vote at 5:30 p.m.

AROUND THE HILL - The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a mark up at 10 a.m. to vote on Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. The committee will also vote on deputy attorney general nominee Rod Rosenstein and associate attorney general nominee Rachel Brand. Livestream: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=05d085e5baccf150ec6d8b43bdc3691861862ff66b979a2b94686c99b32acccb520116a981f0a9576f67cbeba4dab624

FRIDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Chris Schuler, communications director for Rep. John Yarmuth, correctly guessed that Tim Kaine and Mike Johanns have served as city council member, mayor, governor and senator. Lincoln Chafee also fits the bill, as David Morgenstern pointed out.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Chris with today's question: This longtime House doorkeeper and Capitol Hill legend-who sparked a minor international incident when he welcomed then-Princess Elizabeth to the Capitol with a "Howdy, ma'am"-was working as a soda jerk in Pascagoula, Mississippi when he met this eventual Rules Committee chairman who gave him his start in politics. Name them both.

The first person to correctly answer gets a shout out in tomorrow's Huddle. And don't forget, send suggestions for trivia questions my way: hcaygle@politico.com

GET HUDDLE emailed to your phone each morning.


** A message from The Coalition to Protect America's Health Care: America's hospitals provide critical, often life-saving care - and other primary and preventative care services - within and outside their four walls. But that hasn't stopped Congress from cutting vital federal funding for patient care. These cuts make it harder for hospital staff to do their jobs, prevent hospitals from getting beyond their four walls to better serve those who rely on them, and increase wait times and reduced access to medical technologies. We can't afford any more cuts to patient care. Stand up for your hospital and protects access to the best quality health care for all people. Join the Coalition to
Protect America's Health Care today. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=05d085e5baccf15029ca2329c53f7d882b76005fa0d9870b3f1764266c2acb04d0117eebef3f4ed8a9ab8101301e693a **

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