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04/20/2016 08:43 AM EDT


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

PAUL RYAN'S HOUSE OF WOES - POLITICO's John Bresnahan: "Paul Ryan has had a tough couple of months. The House GOP's response to Puerto Rico's debt crisis is stuck, with a big May 1 deadline looming. The leadership's 2017 budget plan is stalled. And legislation to overhaul the Federal Aviation Administration hasn't left the runway. With all the attention showered on Ryan's non-interest in running for president, it's easy to overlook the new speaker's troubles running the House these days."

--"No House Republican wants to openly criticize Ryan. And there's no question he is more popular than [former Speaker John] Boehner was at the end of his five-year run leading the House. But there are complaints that Ryan has worked so hard to accommodate disaffected conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus and elsewhere - the same crew that took out Boehner and blocked Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from moving up to speaker - that he risks coming up empty-handed."

--One Republican's candid assessment of the Boehner-Ryan contrast: "I think Boehner would have listened to it for a little bit, given everybody a chance to chew on it and swallow it and spit it out, and then he would have just taken it to the damn floor. I think [Ryan] has underestimated the opposition to getting anything done." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=603d8af4697e09145b9ab903418397a4455458cf47f52d45208be7848813e0ba

--AP's Erica Werner writes that Congress is increasingly unlikely to pass Puerto Rico aid before May 1, when the commonwealth is set to default on debt payments May 1: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=603d8af4697e091494593b4da7a8c1aaa0841f6ec567c81ec064a9fee3ae7005

SCHUMER PREDICTS IMMIGRATION REFORM IN '17 - The presumed Senate Democratic leader in 2017 (and majority leader, if Dems win back control of the chamber) chats with the Center for Migration Studies, a New York-based immigration policy center, about the prospects for a comprehensive bill next year. Though he acknowledges the turbulent rhetoric on immigrants in the presidential primary race, Schumer predicts a "rainbow at the end of the storm here" and adds: "I think that in 2017, both Democrats and Republicans will come together and pass immigration reform. Paul Ryan has made no secret about the fact that he has been open to immigration reform."

--Schumer continued: "Our Republican-Democratic coalition in the Senate will be alive and well. And I think if the election results show that this anti-immigration hostility won't work politically, people will say let's get it done. I am optimistic. And if I become the Democratic leader ... I'm going to make it a high priority." The Senate Democrat, who led the Gang of Eight negotiations in 2013, said that bill is a "pretty good model" for whatever legislation may come in 2017 and its main tenets - the pathway to citizenship, reforms to the legal immigration system for high- and low-skilled workers - would stay, although he hoped border security could go in a "more progressive direction."
Listen to the 13-minute podcast, here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=603d8af4697e09141332735eb896f4b2ae06f19cbe11a190f75c52ba3f88ebd9

REALLY THE BEST THING YOU'LL HEAR TODAY - Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), neighing like a horse after a vote on an amendment involving horse protection: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=603d8af4697e091496298e17a8aca11dce3fc30dd120e52e17f48d83e078e5cd

SENATE DEMS BUCK OBAMA ON 9/11 BILL - The controversy over the terror litigation bill, coming as Obama lands in Saudi Arabia today, is creating some odd alliances and divisions between the White House and the Capitol, from your Huddle host: "A dispute between Senate Democrats and the White House over legislation that would allow Saudi Arabia to be held legally responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks deepened on Tuesday when Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he backed the bill despite objections from President Barack Obama."

--"Separately, top Senate Republicans were trying to untangle objections to the bill on their own side, as Sen. Lindsey Graham said he would block quick consideration of the measure until he got questions answered about revisions quietly made to the measure last week ... Still, other congressional leaders signaled caution on the bill. Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) acknowledged the White House concerns and noted that the legislation has registered some opposition in the House." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=603d8af4697e09149ac113443b87f0b773f418cfe96e5c7e665cde7fdf3c9c17

--Meanwhile, Obama is coming under withering criticisms from family members of the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks for opposing the litigation bill, per the New York Daily News: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=603d8af4697e0914fa75d0133f4fc779b6b9e25d4665d562bcb9041f301e9523

RYAN TO GOP: DON'T SKIP CONVENTION - The speaker talks with Manu Raju on his plea for unity in Cleveland: "In an interview with CNN, Ryan downplayed concerns voiced by a growing number of GOP lawmakers who are eager to skip what could be a messy and controversial convention so they can instead worry about their own re-election fights back home ... Asked about concerns from GOP lawmakers about being tied too closely to their nominee, Ryan said: 'I think that we should go. This is our convention making our nominee, so I think everybody should participate.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=603d8af4697e0914160fef9bd451c4063157f1711656b9c9e66179af8e0ebacd

--But Sen. John McCain, the party's nominee in 2008, is most likely skipping the convention so he can campaign back home in Arizona, he tells reporters: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=603d8af4697e09140915cffd95e303a15a4043a87d6054905556f726b4a09e46 And National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Roger Wicker tells The Hill's Alex Bolton: "If there's going to be a brouhaha, I'm advising candidates to be present for more unifying events." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=603d8af4697e091442019098f4b152499bdc44c0d84c8f1595c1adefa7313805

GOP HAS NEW CLAIMS IN FETAL TISSUE PROBE - POLITICO's Jennifer Haberkorn: "Congressional Republicans say they have evidence that suggests an unnamed abortion provider and an unnamed fetal tissue company may have run afoul of federal laws that ban them from profiting from handling fetal tissue. The allegation stems from documents collected by the Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives, which was established by House Republicans in the wake of the sting videos against Planned Parenthood last summer."

--"'Concern has been raised about following the law and how the procurement companies operate within the framework of the law. There has been sufficient doubt raised around these relationships and the pricing schedules,' Chairman Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) told POLITICO." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=603d8af4697e091438bdf3c9ff3cade893c67c725340ac8ff8ba92944d54d85c

SPOTTED -- Sen. Roger Wicker last night at Joe's. "Crowd swarmed him at host check in." ... Rep. Kevin McCarthy, wearing a short-sleeved button down, entering Del Frisco's Center City at 7 p.m. with bodyguards ... Rep. Trey Gowdy and Sen. Tim Scott dining together in the private room at City Tap House downtown (right across the street). A tipster writes to POLITICO's Daniel Lippman: "Clearly me and members of Congress share both happy hour and dining preferences."

@apalmerdc: Spotted: Former Rep. Aaron Schock going through McDonald's drive thru in Peoria, Ill., according to tipster.

TRANSITIONS - Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) has named Kristen Gentile to replace Jim Brown as his chief of staff. She was his longtime deputy chief of staff and has also worked for Sens. Mark Dayton (D-Minn.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). "This is a challenging position, but Kristen brings with her a lifetime of experience in management and a well-earned reputation for integrity and excellence," Casey said.

Stephanie Baez, communications director for House Judiciary Committee Democrats, is leaving Capitol Hill to become vice president of communications for the New York City Economic Development Corporation. "I will greatly miss Ranking Member John Conyers, my Judiciary and Conyers office family, the challenges of Hill life and working in such a unique and amazing institution like the U.S. Congress," she writes in her farewell note.

HAPPY WEDNESDAY, April 20, 2016 and welcome to the Huddle, where we were fascinated by this graphic from CQ Roll Call that showed the number of days each Republican senator in his or her first term has presided over the Senate, a mostly thankless job: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=603d8af4697e0914c961855cdb11fe087466d1841be22376947395e5083a7b97 Look at Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) taking one for the team with 91 total days in the chair so far. Send me more interesting stats like that, or anything Hill-related, at skim@politico.com. And please follow me on Twitter at @seungminkim.

My new followers include @RepDonBeyer and @StrategicPA.

** A message from the Coalition for Contact Lens Consumer Choice: Are you one of the 41 million Americans who wears contact lenses? Congress is currently considering legislation that would dramatically increase your costs, reduce your choice, and jeopardize your eye health. Learn more about the anti-consumer bill that aims to roll back basic consumer rights: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=603d8af4697e09142e81884ce4c221f0f41c8681851ec2a08f802acf4e1b7da0 **

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The House is in at 10 a.m. and will hold votes between 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. on IRS legislation. The Senate is in at 9:30 a.m. and will resume considering the energy modernization bill (AP has your summary here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=603d8af4697e09143d504c58e0a407a8b3b669767b30ed8731a6dd424a63993f with final passage on the bill scheduled for 10 a.m.

AROUND THE HILL - Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) will hold a news conference on energy policy at 10:15 a.m. in S-325. Reps. Tony Cardenas (D-Calif.), Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.) and others will hold a news conference on gun violence at 11 a.m. in HVC Studio B. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other House Democrats will hold a news conference on the House GOP agenda at 11:30 a.m. in HVC Studio A.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Reps. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.), Dave Schweikert (R-Ariz.) and Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) will hold a press conference on human trafficking legislation at 11:30 a.m. at Senate swamp. Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and other Senate Dems will hold a press conference on water infrastructure at 11:45 a.m. in S-325. Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and James Lankford (R-Okla.) will hold a discussion on "America's Changing Religious Landscape" at 2 p.m. in Russell 485.

BATTLE FOR THE SENATE: $65M AND COUNTING - Burgess Everett tallies up the ad reservations so far between the DSCC and NRSC, and they're big: "Party strategists said the $37 million locked up by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the $28 million from the National Republican Senatorial Committee represent just the tip of the iceberg."

--The NRSC numbers: $6.8 million in New Hampshire; $6.7 million in Pennsylvania; $5.9 million in Ohio; $2 million in Wisconsin; $6.3 million in Nevada. DSCC: $10 million each in Florida and Ohio; $8 million in New Hampshire; $5 million in Colorado; $4 million in Nevada. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=603d8af4697e091403bf653af3bc8d7445be08b3c3f8cb082fc1f6179bb295c5

SENATE PASSES FAA BILL - The Wall Street Journal's Andy Pasztor writes on the Senate's latest accomplishment: "The Senate voted 95-3 to approve a Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill that beefs up airport security, promotes widespread uses of commercial drones and streamlines certification of new safety systems for private planes.

--"The measure, which from the outset prompted strong bipartisan support, also increases consumer protections for passengers and strengthens cybersecurity safeguards for both airborne and ground systems, while paving the way for tougher mental-health screening of commercial pilots. But as expected, it doesn't follow the lead of House Republicans who want to shift the agency's air-traffic control system and some 38,000 employees under the control of an independent, nonprofit corporation." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=603d8af4697e0914168b0b9c17d458563718b18a492be0a0c84509bc95af85c5

RUBIO BLOCKS JUDGE HE RECOMMENDED - The Tampa Bay Times' Alex Leary says Rubio won't disclose why: "On Wednesday, the Judiciary Committee takes up five nominees and Mary Barzee Flores is not among them. Rubio through a spokesman declined to explain why he has not submitted a so-called blue slip for Barzee Flores, whom Rubio and Sen. Bill Nelson jointly recommended for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District ... In December, Rubio's office said he was waiting for a Judiciary Committee review of Barzee Flores, a respected Miami lawyer." The Southern District of Florida is considered a judicial emergency, and Flores was nominated in February 2015:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=603d8af4697e09144a434704054c4263bc00fab3167c93bad801866703b832a5

SENATE GOP SETTLES LEADERSHIP RIFT - Our long, national nightmare over GOP leadership term limits are over. Fawn Johnson for Morning Consult has Sen. Lamar Alexander's explanation of the policy: "In 2002, we adopted a precedent that said that for committee chairmen, that partial terms didn't count against the six years. So we basically did the same [Tuesday] for leaders, except for the floor leader and the president pro tempore, who [are] not subject to term limits." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=603d8af4697e09141960236d5e680f4de5bfd99304c9733bf362dc2b1ebd05bd

WARREN GOES ON TWITTER RANT AGAINST CRUZ - From Alan He for CBS News: "Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren went on a Twitter tirade against Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz late Tuesday afternoon, mocking her colleague over a fundraising email that touted the sacrifices he's made on the campaign trail ... The Cruz campaign fundraising email that precipitated Warren's tweets was titled 'sacrifice' and the message was attributed to Cruz himself. 'The sacrifices for our campaign are steep, but I'm proud to be making them on your behalf.'"

--A sample tweet from @elizabethforma: "Are you kidding me, @TedCruz? We're supposed to pity you because trying to be the leader of the free world is hard?! 2 words: Boo hoo." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=603d8af4697e0914d6c11590de2c554c0f751101fd283f902c9b36313a26fb29

TUESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Kirtan Mehta was the first person to correctly respond that Mike Mansfield of Montana was the longest-serving Senate majority leader, staying in that role for 16 years. Though he represented Montana, Mansfield was born in New York.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Kirtan has today's question: Despite Trump's guarantee that he will win New York in the general election, a Republican has won New York in the general election only six times since the Great Depression. Exactly one of those times, the Republican still lost the presidency. Name the year, the GOP candidate and the man ultimately elected president. The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. E-mail 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." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=603d8af4697e09144cc5171aa78d4cfaf86eaf4be93d2c4108cd10d6aad7d400

** A message from the Coalition for Contact Lens Consumer Choice: Contact lens consumers should have the right to buy their lenses at affordable prices whenever and wherever they wish, whether it's online, over-the-phone, or in a store. We fought for this, achieving victory in 2003 when Congress passed vital consumer protections that addressed the numerous anti-competitive practices in the contact lens market. But a new Senate bill, misleadingly named the Contact Lens Consumer Health Protection Act (CLCHPA) is a blatant attack on these protections.

THIS ANTI-CONSUMER LEGISLATION WOULD REDUCE CHOICE AND INCREASE COSTS FOR 41 MILLION CONTACT LENS CONSUMERS - it's just the latest in a long line of efforts to control the contact lens market and increase optometrist profits at the expense of patients. Don't let contact lens manufacturers and optometrists hold patients "hostage" and deny consumers their right to easily and affordably buy contact lenses online. Get the facts at: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=603d8af4697e09142e81884ce4c221f0f41c8681851ec2a08f802acf4e1b7da0 **

To view online:
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