EMAIL DETAILS

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

GOP EYES RECONCILIATION FOR TAX REFORM - My colleagues Manu Raju and Burgess Everett have details of the behind-the-scenes strategy to use the procedural maneuver to achieve a longstanding Republican priority: "Several influential Republicans want to use a filibuster-proof budget procedure to overhaul the corporate tax code - rather than wield it as a weapon against Obamacare, as conservatives are demanding. The quiet push, led by South Dakota Sen. John Thune, seeks to use the potent tool known as budget reconciliation to give both the GOP and President Barack Obama the sweeping victory on tax policy that business groups want, which could include a significant cut in corporate tax rates as
well as provide funding for a long-term transportation bill."

--"It's still unclear whether Republicans and the White House could reach a tax deal: Though both sides have said they favor tax reform, they've been far apart on specifics. And the discussions on Capitol Hill, now in their nascent phases, represent a tricky calculus for the two parties. If GOP lawmakers try to use the budget maneuver to repeal Obamacare, they could send a powerful political message, which they'd be able to replicate after 2016 if they take back the White House and keep control of the Capitol - but it wouldn't become law in the 114th Congress."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fb4f4e03429617a0cef4a903d7d8ed33178a85c4c1cb966119
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fb4f4e03429617a0cef4a903d7d8ed33178a85c4c1cb966119

WARREN DEFEATS OBAMA ON TREASURY NOM - POLITICO's Ben White: "Antonio Weiss, the Wall Street banker who President Barack Obama had picked to be the third-ranking official at the Treasury Department, has asked that the president not resend his nomination to the Senate following a major backlash from progressive Democrats who questioned his ties to the financial industry ... Obama accepted the decision, which Weiss conveyed in a letter to the president over the weekend. But the Lazard banker will still join the administration in the position of counselor to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, which does not require Senate confirmation."

--"Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who came out strongly against the nomination, along with some others progressive Democrats, said that Weiss did not have enough regulatory experience and would be too deferential to the finance industry ... Warren issued an oblique statement on the Weiss news, never mentioning him by name."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fb0512227e3814b7bfa30a563a900c12b44a44d95f76a018bc
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fb0512227e3814b7bfa30a563a900c12b44a44d95f76a018bc

SENATE OPENS DEBATE ON KEYSTONE - Coral Davenport for the New York Times: "[T]he bill's fate appears certain: Republicans, with the help of some Democrats, are expected to easily push it through Congress, and [President Barack] Obama is expected to veto it. The floor debate, which is scheduled to play out in the next two to three weeks, will serve as a showcase for various energy and environmental issues and is expected to involve votes on the science of climate change and humanity's role in causing it, as well as on a proposal to lift a 42-year-old ban on exporting crude oil."

--"The debate will also provide potential presidential candidates with a platform for promoting their own energy policies. Senators are expected to debate amendments on dozens of other energy issues like subsidizing heating bills for poor people, increasing taxes on oil production, and promoting renewable energy."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fbee56a9a3aff7bc9dcd4c3cdd8ead3cb3286717ed39b22035
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fbee56a9a3aff7bc9dcd4c3cdd8ead3cb3286717ed39b22035

COMING ATTRACTIONS: OBAMA MEETS WITH HILL LEADERS - Josh Lederman of the AP has a preview: "[I]t was far from clear that the two parties would be able to overlook their open disagreements on most issues to focus on limited areas of common ground. Both parties exited the midterms last year speaking optimistically about working together on tax reform, trade promotion and infrastructure development - areas where Obama and Republicans see at least partially eye to eye."

--"But the start of the year has been dominated by familiar battles over the Keystone XL pipeline, Obama's immigration actions and foreign policy. Over the last two weeks, Obama has repeatedly threatened to veto bills that Republicans have put forward as their top priorities for the new Congress."

--Still, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) declares in an op-ed for the Cincinnati/Kentucky Enquirer that he's ready to work with Obama on issues such as trade and tax reform:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fb5989cba4e398a10aeedc1774ac0b9c50e4bf06d8d4d8e889
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fb5989cba4e398a10aeedc1774ac0b9c50e4bf06d8d4d8e889

--The meeting between Obama and congressional leaders begins at 11 a.m.

REPUBLICANS SLAM OBAMA ON PARIS ABSENCE -- Greg Jaffe and Katie Zezima for the Washington Post: "Several leading Republicans criticized the Obama administration for not having a more prominent presence at the rally. 'The absence is symbolic of the lack of American leadership on the world stage, and it is dangerous ...' Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) wrote in a Time op-ed. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said on 'CBS This Morning' that it was a 'mistake' not to send a higher-ranking U.S. official to the Paris rally." The White House said it erred in not sending a more senior official to Paris.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fb8ce1b5b55d525f0d690c87948db7effa343c0aa79d4ffd00
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fb8ce1b5b55d525f0d690c87948db7effa343c0aa79d4ffd00

GOP SET TO BROADEN SUBPOENA POWER - Lauren French, John Bresnahan and Zachary Warmbrodt for POLITICO: "House Republicans are about to give more of their committee leaders the same unilateral subpoena power that former Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa wielded against the Obama administration in his probes into the Internal Revenue Service and 'Fast and Furious.' The change means that, in a break from years of tradition, Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) wouldn't need to consult with his panel's top Democrat before subpoenaing documents or witnesses about issues like Obamacare or the Environmental Protection Agency."

--"The GOP is also proposing similar boosts in authority for Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), whose panel's jurisdiction includes the Dodd-Frank financial regulations law, and for Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), who will oversee any probes into immigration. Two other panels - Agriculture and Science, Space and Technology - are considering making the same change."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fbe3218022bce648bbb45278a1960b3a93a433f6fe3d695deb
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fbe3218022bce648bbb45278a1960b3a93a433f6fe3d695deb

**Healthier people mean a healthier society. When people are at their healthiest, they can achieve more, do more. Abbott welcomes the 114th Congress and looks forward to working together to build healthier communities. Get inspired:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fbb81086d4db2ce71d0fa1d947c371e7cabe4db10be73ce81d
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fbb81086d4db2ce71d0fa1d947c371e7cabe4db10be73ce81d **

HAPPY TUESDAY, JAN. 13, 2015 and welcome to The Huddle, where we're finding it refreshing to learn that Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) does his own tweeting (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fbca4e9bb7758bc8e8650bfab8a21b7957a732c00e04ea1a7e
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fbca4e9bb7758bc8e8650bfab8a21b7957a732c00e04ea1a7e ). Please send your tips, suggestions, comments, complaints, and corrections to
mailto:skim@politico.com
skim@politico.com and please follow along on Twitter at @seungminkim.

My new followers include @RepRibble and @marianne_levine.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The House is in at 10 a.m. Votes are expected between 1:15 p.m. to 2:15 p.m., and then again between 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Lawmakers will vote on the Regulatory Accountability Act, and begin considering the Homeland Security funding bill and the Promoting Job Creation and Reducing Small Business Burdens Act. The Senate is in at 10 a.m. and is chugging along on the Keystone XL pipeline legislation. No votes scheduled in the Senate.

AROUND THE HILL - Reps. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), Dave Reichert (R-Wash.), and Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), along with Tom Frieden, the director for the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, and Jeremy Konyndyk, the director for the USAID Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, will host a breakfast discussing the latest on Ebola in Africa starting at 8 a.m. in 345 Cannon. Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and GOP leaders will hold a press avail in HC-8 at 10 a.m. following their weekly conference meeting. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Democrats will gather on the House East Front Steps of the Capitol at 10 a.m. to discuss the GOP plan for funding for the Department
of Homeland Security.

--House Democrats, led by Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), will hold a press conference to talk about implementation of the executive actions on immigration at 11 a.m. in HVC Studio A. GOP Sens. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, John McCain of Arizona and Richard Burr of North Carolina will hold a news conference on Guantanamo at noon in Senate Studio. House Minority Whip StenyHoyer (D-Md.) holds his weekly pen-and-pad with reporters at 1 p.m. in H-144. Pelosi and Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) will roll out House Democrats' new policy and communications committee at a 2 p.m. news conference in HVC Studio A.

TRAN$ITIONS - A pair of former lawmakers are headed downtown. Ex-Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.), who lost his reelection bid to Democrat Brad Ashford, lands as a senior adviser at the international law firm Kelley, Drye and Warren, per the Omaha World-Herald's Joseph Morton. Terry tells Morton: "It let me be involved in the policies of energy and technology, communications."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fb654814414d8d249d64eccf8b74147d1361ea04eabd393802
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fb654814414d8d249d64eccf8b74147d1361ea04eabd393802

And former Rep. Bill Owens (D-N.Y.) will become a senior strategic adviser in McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP's Washington office. While in Congress, Owens served on the Appropriations Committee, focusing on defense and homeland security, and the firm says he'll advise Canadian and U.S. clients on cross-border commerce issues.

TRANSITIONS - Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, has announced several moves both in his personal office and on his committee staff. His current chief of staff Mark Powden will become the staff director on the Banking panel, and Graham Steele, who has handled financial policy for Brown, will be the committee's chief counsel. And Sarah Benzing, Brown's 2012 campaign manager, will become chief of staff in Brown's congressional office. Laura Swanson, a longtime Democratic Senate Banking Committee aide, will be its deputy staff director.

Vincent Morris, the communications director for Democrats on the Senate Appropriations Committee, is headed over to the Senate Budget Committee to be spokesman for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who'll be the top Democrat on the panel. He's also worked for the Senate Commerce Committee under former Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), the House Rules Committee and former Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.).

FIRST LOOK: ISSA, DELBENE LAUNCH NEW TECH CAUCUS - Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), who now chairs the Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Courts and the Internet, and Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) will announce they're launching the Congressional Caucus on the Internet of Things. Per Issa's office, the "Internet of Things" is the use of network connectivity to the Internet to enable devices and systems, and the lawmakers want to use the caucus to teach other members on innovative technology and public policy related to the "Internet of Things."

SNEAK PEEK: AAF LAUNCHES E-BOOK - The conservative American Action Forum, led by former CBO director Douglas Holtz-Eakin, will release an e-book later today that includes primers on issues such as financial services, health care, the budget, national debt, labor issues and technology. For example, the health care section includes an overview of Obamacare, Medicare, the Children's Health Insurance Program, and other topics. Take a look:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fbaaff7e2196d2de233f560b7c9a0486bf4aaf04a19ffedaad
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fbaaff7e2196d2de233f560b7c9a0486bf4aaf04a19ffedaad

MCSALLY NABS GIFFORDS STAFFER, DEMS IRKED - Nathan Gonzales for CQ Roll Call: "C.J. Karamargin isn't the first congressional staffer to cross the partisan aisle, but some Democrats are shocked this former staffer to Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is working for the new Republican congresswoman in Arizona's 2nd District. On Jan. 9, in a hiring coup, freshman GOP Rep. Martha E. McSally announced Karamargin as her new district director. Karamargin was communications director for Giffords at the time of the Tucson shootings before handling media relations for Pima Community College. The timing of the hiring - just one day after the four-year anniversary of the Tucson tragedy - also gnawed
at still-raw wounds among Giffords' allies."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fb8b59b33c38fa06486a362af4b99e91f69001fe52c1bc1ad6
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fb8b59b33c38fa06486a362af4b99e91f69001fe52c1bc1ad6

SENATE GOP BEGINNING PUSH AGAINST IMMIGRATION - Two Senate Republicans indefatigable in fighting Obama's executive actions on immigration - Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) are starting to rally lawmakers around blocking those moves. Cruz, at a Heritage event Monday, urged the dozen new Senate Republicans on just that, per Talking Points Memo:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fb6163841e920470c272d1502f33b599ae8c4f39e9f5bc3008
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fb6163841e920470c272d1502f33b599ae8c4f39e9f5bc3008 . And Sessions writes a lengthy memo in advance of this week's joint GOP retreat on the issue:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fb01cf8a89c7e19b3878593ff0f861bb6f573e56e7d0d9046e
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fb01cf8a89c7e19b3878593ff0f861bb6f573e56e7d0d9046e

--A snippet from Sessions' memo: "Congress has the power to stop this action by denying funds for its implementation. Surely, Congress must not allow the president a single dime to carry out an illegal order that Congress has rejected and which supplants the laws Congress has passed." The document:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fb7ba61ca75cd7c1eb81b57d604e3eeaccd2bd6984bcbbe456
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fb7ba61ca75cd7c1eb81b57d604e3eeaccd2bd6984bcbbe456

GOP SENATORS MEH ON ROMNEY - Buzzfeed's Kate Nocera collects reaction from Senate Republicans about the prospects for a third Romney run, and the results were tepid: "Sen. John McCain, who also ran for president two times (becoming the nominee only once in 2008), told reporters that Romney had not called him in the last several days. McCain responded, 'It's a free country' when asked what he thought of Romney running again."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fb460ceac3bd7039cddd5cbfbd31e763c73c5a5c88589dc29d
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fb460ceac3bd7039cddd5cbfbd31e763c73c5a5c88589dc29d

--Meanwhile, Cruz dismisses Romney as the "mushy middle." WSJ:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fbe37b4cfe439ec4b9292d22cfc99493765680e195999c5260
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fbe37b4cfe439ec4b9292d22cfc99493765680e195999c5260

2016 CLIFF NOTES - A lot of people made announcements on Monday about 2016, and so in case you missed it, here's your cheat sheet:

--NOT running for something: Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) for president (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fb9b446d893f7757c871886a5132dd77789ad4a8ae0a24434c
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fb9b446d893f7757c871886a5132dd77789ad4a8ae0a24434c ), Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) for governor (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fbf33c32233dd4218b46d7ea72da603618bc9262af490a49ee
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fbf33c32233dd4218b46d7ea72da603618bc9262af490a49ee ), California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom for Senate (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fbbb09857faf40ba3b019eddcc7da3df6370e6fd3a191422d5
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fbbb09857faf40ba3b019eddcc7da3df6370e6fd3a191422d5 ).

--Running for something: California Attorney General Kamala Harris for Senate (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fb514a4403b2b0213c9bd6bf8e277bc4055d4b212e90585011
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fb514a4403b2b0213c9bd6bf8e277bc4055d4b212e90585011 ).

GOP KEEPS TAX SCOREKEEPER - Bloomberg's Richard Rubin: "U.S. congressional Republicans will retain Thomas Barthold as chief of staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation, which estimates the cost of tax legislation ... Barthold is an economist and career Joint Committee employee who has had his job since May 2009. He was chosen when Democrats controlled the House and the Senate."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fbf937e340c20830ee8be0fe415f8e5f4e4dacae64e7d0f704
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fbf937e340c20830ee8be0fe415f8e5f4e4dacae64e7d0f704

--The fate of another nonpartisan scorekeeper - the Congressional Budget Office director - is still TBD.

PRICE MULLING SOCIAL SECURITY REFORMS - House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-Ga.) says at a Heritage Action summit that he plans to go for sweeping reforms to entitlement programs, including Social Security. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Under his predecessor, Paul Ryan, the House Budget included controversial changes to Medicare and Medicaid, but did not touch Social Security. Price hopes to change that this year: 'On the issue of Social Security, it has indeed been the third rail ... and what I'm hopeful is what the Budget Committee will be able do is to is begin to normalize the discussion and debate about Social Security."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fb95a8e04e1eac1697c92f18556b9fa3310678a39109b9fba3
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fb95a8e04e1eac1697c92f18556b9fa3310678a39109b9fba3

114TH THE MOST DIVERSE EVER - The New York Times sums up the latest from the Pew Research Center: "[T]he new Congress has 91 members who are nonwhite, accounting for 17 percent of the legislative body. That's up from 86 in the previous Congress. Newly elected minorities in the House are responsible for the increase, with four new black members and an additional Hispanic member. There are also Asians and Native Americans in Congress."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fbcb21223364b1cfcbd60d224a064fbe2b7ccb17f472b843f7
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fbcb21223364b1cfcbd60d224a064fbe2b7ccb17f472b843f7

HOUSE GOP-ER LIKENS OBAMA TO HITLER - And here's a reminder that as a rule, people should generally steer away from Hitler comparisons. HuffPo: "Rep. Randy Weber (R-Texas) compared President Barack Obama to German dictator Adolf Hitler on Monday night. The ultra-conservative congressman from Texas criticized the president for not traveling to Paris on Sunday to attend a massive unity rally against terrorism ... 'Even Adolph Hitler thought it more important than Obama to get to Paris. (For all the wrong reasons.) Obama couldn't do it for right reasons,' Weber said in a tweet, referring to Germany's occupation of Paris in 1940."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fbb71433436e2402d3861a5704e04d53f93e4b5dbba6342f6e
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fbb71433436e2402d3861a5704e04d53f93e4b5dbba6342f6e

OHIO STATE WINS, BOEHNER TRIUMPHANT - If you see Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) looking depressed in a red-and-white necktie, here's why, from the Cleveland Plain-Dealer: "Ohio Republicans John Boehner of West Chester and Patrick Tiberi and Steve Stivers of the Columbus area have placed a low-key bet on [Monday's] championship football game between Ohio State University and University of Oregon. The trio have agreed to wear neckties tomorrow bearing Oregon's colors or logo if Ohio State is defeated. If the Buckeyes are victorious, Republicans Greg Walden of Oregon and Ryan Zinke of Montana will wear an OSU necktie."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fb38c9d0160f85a88abcae57088f01ce49e20899bceeea8555
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fb38c9d0160f85a88abcae57088f01ce49e20899bceeea8555

The speaker's office noted earlier Monday: "This wager is no small thing: one thing we know about John Boehner is that he's very particular when it comes to ties and sartorial choices."

MONDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Lucas White of Goodwin & Goodwin, LLP was the first person to correctly answer that President Andrew Johnson was a former tailor and made some of his own clothes during his presidency. Many answered Harry Truman, who was a haberdasher but as far as Huddle can Google, did not make his own clothing.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Who were the first set of brothers to serve in the House, and what state did they represent? The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. Email
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.'
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fb55120e41ff3d5a374e91e7728db49c7bc122494ccc5a78a2
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fb55120e41ff3d5a374e91e7728db49c7bc122494ccc5a78a2 .

**Healthier people mean a healthier society. When people are at their healthiest, they can achieve more, do more. Abbott welcomes the 114th Congress and looks forward to working together to build healthier communities. Get inspired:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fbb81086d4db2ce71d0fa1d947c371e7cabe4db10be73ce81d
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fbb81086d4db2ce71d0fa1d947c371e7cabe4db10be73ce81d **

Go to POLITICO Huddle Now >> http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fb7a41c352d6119915e7b23c620713274ce5f731922d9a893c

Go to this edition >> http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fbd03801c01430546d93c1b4a9125151c15794ee0449102e93

=================================

2015 POLITICO, LLC

POLITICO Huddle.

To unsubscribe, http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8f9fecfc98e5a6fb3377388ded476ec79380fd98732a7985cf575686c27bd0ab

=================================