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04/13/2017 07:47 AM EDT


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

With assists from Daniel Lippman and Seung Min Kim

GETTING AN EARFUL BACK HOME - Rep. Mike Coffman is the perfect of example of the tightrope GOP moderates must walk in supporting the Republican plan to dismantle Obamacare. Coffman, a five-term centrist, sits in the swingiest of swing seats - Hillary Clinton carried his district by nine points.

Coffman campaigned on repealing the law. But in a nearly two-hour town hall on the outskirts of Denver Wednesday, he was pummeled by angry voters about his last-minute decision to back the GOP repeal plan shortly before it was yanked from the floor.

Quote du jour: "I'm sorry to say I was shocked when you declared your intention to vote for the American Health Care Act," said Steven Haas, a 68-year-old life-long registered Republican. "That is not the way we do things here in Colorado."

Coming attractions: 2018 - Coffman's experience is a preview of the blowback GOP moderates could face in next year's midterms, especially as the threat of ripping away Obamacare has catapulted the law's popularity. Meanwhile, House GOP leaders and conservatives are still trying to cobble together a deal that could get enough support to pass the House.

Common ground: Coffman tried to highlight areas of commonality with the Democratic-leaning room. He knocked the House Russia investigation, said White House spokesman Sean Spicer should be fired over his Hitler remarks and, when asked about Trump's repeated weekend trips to Florida, said he "ought to stay at home." Rachael has the dispatch from Aurora: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=074a5058f961123324bcc66b30b0b3cbeae03c7e1ba617ba44ee9064ad63737730cd83d643062ee5f23598609438208d

You gotta know when to hold 'em: House Freedom Caucus member Dave Brat says Republicans are so close to a deal, he's willing to predict passage of a repeal plan in the next three weeks. USA Today's Susan Page reports from Glen Allen, Va.: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=074a5058f9611233cc19b297ff07ff0742e37ee70966f1ea7ed269598d0480e4a80f9ecccc1e563fa9a357eff3902dc0

I NEED Y'ALL TO CARE - Sen. Mark Warner, top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, calls the panel's Russia investigation the "most important thing I've ever done." But Warner has one problem: Getting voters back in Virginia to care. In an event in Yorktown earlier this week, Warner was peppered with questions on everything but the Russia probe. Instead, people asked about Medicaid expansion, immigration, proposed federal budget cuts and water issues.

That didn't stop the senator from talking at length about the probe, Austin reports. "There are weeks when it feels like at the end of the week ... there are more potential stories than there were at the beginning of the week just because of the way some of this drip, drip, drip keeps coming," Warner told Austin. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=074a5058f961123395e951e12d67a3d8cbae0cc425f91b568ecd84a2ab7ef3767f47262cdc6a0d32ae6c33c91dbd5776

WELL, THAT'S ONE WAY TO GO ABOUT IT - President Donald Trump has a unique plan to bring Democrats to the table on health care: Strong arm them by threatening to tank a key plank of Obamacare, a low-income subsidy program that's the subject of a long running lawsuit. "Trump could deliver an immediate and fatal blow to the Obamacare marketplaces if he scraps the subsidy program," Dan Diamond and Josh Dawsey report.

Trump is not shy about his plan: "Now, what should be happening is [Senate Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer should be calling me up and begging me to help him save Obamacare," Trump told the Wall Street Journal Wednesday, "along with [House Minority Leader] Nancy Pelosi." And, as Dan and Josh report, Trump even called HHS Secretary Tom Price and dictated a blistering statement for the agency to release slamming Democrats.

Schumer and Pelosi's response? Basically, fat chance they're negotiating on something so pivotal to keeping the entire insurance market afloat. Pelosi called Trump's threat cruel and said it would do nothing but "manufacture a crisis." And Schumer's spokesman Matt House tweeted: "The President is actively threatening the health care of millions to win a political fight. Let's see how that goes for him."

THURSDAY, ALL I EVER WANTED. Welcome to April 13 and thanks for reading POLITICO's Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill.

Programming note: Your Huddle host is heading down south for my bachelorette party this weekend (woop, woop)! I'm handing the Huddle keys over to my colleague Austin Wright tomorrow. Say hello: awright@politico.com or @abwrig

WEDNESDAY'S MOST CLICKED: Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn's new Spanish-language website (we're pretty sure the cowboy hat pic helped) got the most clicks

GEORGIA ON MY MIND - After an unexpectedly close race in Kansas, Republicans are now obsessing over Tuesday's special election in Georgia, Elena Schneider reports from Sandy Springs. "I'd be an idiot if those results in Kansas didn't cause me and Republicans concern" in Georgia, said Justin Tomczak, a Republican political adviser and activist in the state. "It's a wake-up call." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=074a5058f96112338fdd0ebc01406acbf7e28826e739ce1f95330dd8981e6297e4d7ca30929238e6285270658b484b77

Money, money, money: Candidates and outside groups have blanketed Georgia's 6th District with $14 million in ads, Greg Bluestein reports for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=074a5058f9611233a9c767a890085fd1a6f3b1f56e68e71cd8aa7e24df721588f7beb67c863c2fbb69fba151fc3bc85f And Paul Ryan recorded a GOTV robocall for the district, the Washington Post's Mike DeBonis reports: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=074a5058f9611233155fed93879e1710c9b526b68c3709ea05ee790da5d9ef258871468d3b7f4d26f3b7be7b8ccd9a15

BYE BYE BLUEPRINT - "House Speaker Paul Ryan's tax reform blueprint appears to be losing its status as the likely framework for the first major tax overhaul since 1986, with rival approaches emerging from the White House, Senate and other quarters in Congress," David Morgan reports for Reuters. "Congressional aides, lobbyists and analysts say the changing focus could delay passage of a tax bill until late 2017 or 2018." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=074a5058f9611233fa61bad599752bb55c0a34b97df9b25abc3cc33ab772201df80ff0e7b3cf4af3c139f24ee7835e51

TARGET LIST - Club for Growth is going up with ads blaming 10 GOP moderates for the Obamacare repeal failure. The ad buy is part of a $1 million campaign the conservative group launched earlier this week.

-Reps. Chris Collins, a Trump ally, Patrick McHenry, chief deputy whip, and Greg Walden, chairman of the House Energy Committee, are all on the list. Reps. Martha McSally, Adam Kinzinger, Rodney Frelinghuysen, Pat Tiberi, Charlie Dent, Tim Murphy and Evan Jenkins are also targeted.

OPEN MOUTH, INSERT FOOT - North Dakota GOP Rep. Kevin Cramer stepped in it Wednesday when he defended Sean Spicer's comments about Hitler not using chemical weapons. Cramer said Spicer's attempt to differentiate between the atrocities committed by Hitler and Syrian President Bashar Assad is "not without some validity." Cramer is a potential challenger to Sen. Heidi Heitkamp next year. CNN's Tom LoBianco: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=074a5058f9611233d744155932c32575c6971b65e31061e597625c76916f63fc57a3558709ad507fc19443fb1acd1b21

EUROTRIP - Speaker Ryan will lead a bipartisan delegation to Europe next week to meet with NATO allies. The delegation, which includes Democratic Reps. Gregory Meeks and Ron Kind, will stop in the U.K., Norway, Poland, and Estonia.

PAY UP - Sen. Chris Van Hollen's campaign will return more than $3,000 in donations to settle a dispute with liberal group Emily's List, which backed Donna Edwards during the Senate race. The dispute goes back to 2015 when Emily's List sent a fundraising pitch incorrectly identifying Van Hollen as Republican. More from the Baltimore Sun's John Fritze: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=074a5058f961123352e4c5912dfa91585d04231536d4b624a3335d4bbc3223fe9b1ee00b88e59c9e8642f48089084520

YOU LIKE ME, YOU REALLY LIKE ME - The Judicial Crisis Network is launching a $150,000 ad buy in Kentucky, Iowa and D.C. to thank Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Chuck Grassley for their role in Neil Gorsuch's SCOTUS confirmation. Watch the McConnell ad (featuring cameos from Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin, Heidi Heitkamp and Joe Donnelly, all of whom voted for Gorsuch): http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=074a5058f961123340e21b522494ddf55ce7e93f7be8f04f7361c8f284e2871be2ebc8ad5b752550bc162045d942004c

OUT ON THE TRAIL - Donald Trump Jr. will campaign for Montana at-large candidate Greg Gianforte next week. Trump will hit up four cities in the Big Sky State. The Missoulian: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=074a5058f96112337fe2b9aef0b16a47de3a76abcacce998b4f65731c7229eeedf738aacdb3f46bcf9de96b8247588c3

RETWEET ME, PLZ - Sen. Ron Wyden knows a viral opportunity when he sees one. Seizing on the popularity of a guy trying to get 18 million retweets so he can have free Wendy's chicken nuggets for a year, Wyden is promoting the same kind of deal for Trump's tax returns. "@realdonaldtrump if this gets 18 million retweets, will you release your tax returns?" Wyden tweeted Wednesday.

So far, Wyden has got about 12,000 retweets. Meanwhile, the chicken nuggets kid has garnered about 2.7 million retweets, including one from Sen. Marco Rubio.

A STRANGE TURN OF EVENTS - Some Alabama Republicans are now calling for the special election to fill Jeff Sessions' Senate seat to be moved up from next year after the state's governor resigned amid a sex scandal. Then-Gov. Robert Bentley appointed state AG Luther Strange, whose office was investigating Bentley, to temporarily fill the vacancy earlier this year.

"Most people would like to see the election moved up," Del Marsh, president pro-tempore of the state Senate, told the Washington Examiner. Marsh, who was interviewed for the vacancy, said he's considering jumping in the race. Philip Wegmann: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=074a5058f961123338b5a61630105518396a63048ee59223acf444e9de6bc00d122ff44facffa2519b7959b904ae939e

ARRIVAL LOUNGE - Jennifer Lauterbach started on Monday handling Senator John Kennedy's (R-La.) military and foreign relations portfolio. She previously worked for Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.). Chris White has joined the office of Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) as a legislative assistant. He comes from Rep. Jeff Denham's (R-Calif.) office where he also served as an LA.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The House is out. The Senate meets in a pro forma session at 8:30 a.m.

WEDNESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Dan Martini, government relations manager for NFIB, was the first to correctly guess that Rep. Tom Emmer currently resides in John F. Kennedy's old House office (315 Cannon).

TODAY'S TRIVIA - I'll take today's question: Which senator holds the record for representing the most states during his/her career? Name the person and the states. 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

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