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

THE SENATE'S BACK-CHANNEL IN CUBA DEAL - POLITICO's David Rogers has the tale of top Senate appropriations staffer Tim Rieser, who worked assiduously for the past two years to help free Alan Gross and open relations with Cuba: "Like all staffers, any power he has is owed to his patrons - in this case both Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and the committee's Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.). But from foreign prisons to U.S. watch lists, Rieser has repeatedly used that leverage to intercede for the vulnerable. And when Alan Gross got off the plane from Cuba Wednesday, he was quick to hug this wiry-framed, 62-year-old clerk from the halls of the Senate's Dirksen office building."

--Indeed, one subplot to Wednesday's historic events was Rieser's back-channel role, traveling to-and-from Cuba over the past two years to help win freedom for Gross and advance a more open U.S. policy toward Havana. Rieser wasn't freelancing: Gross had been a Mikulski constituent when first arrested by Cuban authorities in 2009. Leahy, who chairs the foreign operations subcommittee and is Rieser's direct boss, had a long record of encouraging improved relations with Havana."

--But there was a personal side, too, that's often missed about Washington: a staffer trying to make a difference. In this case it meant both prodding the inner National Security Council and then working the outside corridors after the White House began secret talks with Cuba in Canada. Together with Leahy, Rieser pressed Cuban officials to see that they had to put themselves in President Barack Obama's political shoes if this was to succeed. Most personally, Rieser became a supportive voice at the end of the line for Gross, the prisoner who came to call Rieser almost daily at his Dirksen office or cell phone."
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RAND BACKS OBAMA ON CUBA - The Associated Press: "Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said Thursday the lengthy U.S. economic embargo against Cuba 'just hasn't worked' and voiced support for opening trade with Cuba in the aftermath of the Obama administration's policy shift regarding the communist island. Paul became the first potential Republican presidential candidate to offer some support for President Barack Obama's decision to attempt to normalize U.S. relations with Cuba."

--"Paul said in a radio interview with Tom Roten of News Talk 800 WVHU in Huntington, West Virginia, that many younger Cuban Americans support open trade with Cuba. And many U.S. farmers, he said, would back Obama's moves because Cuba would offer a new market for their crops."
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--And he fires back at Alison Lundergan Grimes, who has threatened court action to prevent Paul from running for both president and Senate reelection simultaneously. Lexington Herald-Leader: "Doug Stafford, Paul's top adviser, told the Herald-Leader on Thursday that it was 'good to see her still fighting after such a huge loss.' 'Maybe since she is talking again she can finally say whether or not she voted for President Obama,' Stafford said."
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GOP SCOURS K STREET FOR STAFFERS - POLITICO's Anna Palmer: "As Republicans take control of Congress, they are bringing in veteran influence peddlers to help them run the show. Nearly a dozen veteran K Streeters have been named as top staffers to GOP leaders or on key committees as lawmakers prepare to take the gavel in January. For instance, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell named Hazen Marshall policy director earlier this week. Marshall, a former staff director for the Senate Budget Committee, has spent the last 10 years as a lobbyist at the Nickles Group representing dozens of clients like AT&T, Comcast and energy company Exelon."

--"Marshall in McConnell's office is hardly alone. Mark Isakowitz, who has been downtown since the mid-1990s first at the National Federation of Independent Business and then at the boutique firm Fierce, Isakowitz & Blalock, is also making the transition to Capitol Hill. The Ohio native will be chief of staff to Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio). Appropriations guru Jeff Shockey is taking another swing through the revolving door - he has done two previous stints working in the House - will this time be leaving S3 Group to become staff director to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) on the House Intelligence Committee."
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SECRET SERVICE REVIEW: AGENCY 'STARVED FOR LEADERSHIP' - The Washington Post: "The [independent review] panel, created in October after a series of highly publicized security failures, said the fence protecting the executive mansion should be raised at least four feet to make it less vulnerable to jumpers. Panel members were reacting to a Sept. 19 incident in which a man scaled the fence and ran far into the White House through an unlocked front door. The four-member body also urged expanded and intensified training for agents, saying the service should run crisis response scenarios that possibly use a mock White House. The report especially targeted the Secret Service's highly insular
culture, calling for new leadership from outside to shake up the agency - a suggestion sure to rankle some in the service's old guard."
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BILL NELSON DIALS UP HILLARY - Alex Leary for the Tampa Bay Times: "A couple weeks ago, Sen. Bill Nelson was at home in Florida and decided to call up Hillary Clinton. She returned the call and Nelson, who was watching 60 Minutes with his wife, had a simple message: Get in the race for president. 'It's time for a woman,' Nelson said from the Capitol this week, recounting the conversation. 'I'm all for Hillary.' Clinton is almost certainly going to run but the question now is when she'll announce."
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HAPPY FRIDAY, DEC. 19, 2014 and welcome to The Huddle, where we are happily passing off the Huddle baton to our buddy Burgess Everett for the truncated holiday week. Please send your tips, suggestions, comments, complaints, and corrections to
mailto:beverett@politico.com
beverett@politico.com and
mailto:skim@politico.com
skim@politico.com . If you don't already, please follow us on Twitter @seungminkim and @burgessev.

My new followers include @katiezez and @emily_odonnell.

THE YEAR CONGRESS HIT ROCK BOTTOM - POLITICO's Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan have the story: "Lawmakers cleared a funding bill that will keep federal agencies open through Sept. 2015. A corporate tax extender bill was adopted. Dozens of President Barack Obama's executive branch and judicial nominees were cleared by the Senate. But don't be fooled by the frantic final days. The last two years were marked by some of the worst moments in recent congressional history: long periods of legislative stalemate, a 16-day government shutdown, threats to default on the nation's debt, major changes to the Senate's hallowed rules and an endless series of partisan attacks. When the gavel fell this week,
it might have marked the moment when Congress hit rock bottom."
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--The Los Angeles Times's Michael A. Memoli does an analysis: President Obama signed 286 bills into law this year -- three more than the 283 laws enacted in the 112th Congress, which itself was the lowest since 1947.
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MCCAIN SLAMS WHITE HOUSE OVER SONY - Martin Matishak for The Hill: "Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is blaming Sony Pictures's cancellation of a comedy's release on the Obama administration's 'failure' to address cyber weapons used by U.S. enemies. ... McCain, who is a lock to lead the Senate Armed Services Committee next year, said he would establish a new subcommittee to look into cybersecurity issues and hold the administration's feet to the fire."
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THREAT AGAINST BILL JOHNSON REPORTED - Roll Call's Hannah Hess: "Threats against Ohio Republican Rep. Bill Johnson have Capitol Police and the FBI searching for a suspect along with local law enforcement in Salem, Ohio. Johnson's field representative and security director contacted police in the eastern Ohio town at about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday to report a call to the Salem office from a screaming man who swore at a staffer and made threats toward the congressman, according to local news outlet WYTV."
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GOWDY DOESN'T WANT SPEAKERSHIP - Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) has been floated by tea party groups as a potential challenger to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), but he's not interested. A spokeswoman told Scott Wong for The Hill: "Rep. Gowdy has said his time and attention will continue to be devoted to the work assigned to him. He is not interested in any leadership positions and believes one can have influence without the title."
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@john_dingell's BEST TWEETS - The Wall Street Journal rounds them up:
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THURSDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Fort Occoquan was the first person to correctly answer that of presidential children who are no longer living, Alice Roosevelt Longworth lived the longest.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Today's comes courtesy of Rob Placek, aide to outgoing Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.): Johanns is leaving the Senate after one term having served in the minority the entire time. Who was the last senator who served at least a full term that never served in the majority? The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. Email
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