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By Burgess Everett (@burgessev or
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STATE OF OBAMA (STILL HERE): President Barack Obama has already rolled out his new tax proposal and he's pushed forward on executive actions on climate and immigration. That means tonight's State of the Union will carry its own message from the president: I'm still here, writes Edward-Isaac Dovere. "Obama and his aides know that the success of his last two years depends on whether he can avoid looking irrelevant even as the political energy moves to 2016. 'Their No. 1 goal is to rebut the idea that as a lame duck he's done,' said one person familiar with White House thinking around the speech. They're feeling optimistic about that inside the West Wing, confident (and a little surprised)
that they've kept the momentum going from the president's strong finish last year."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ea1872eb136b23fe3490bd2b4d68006f15524c8f934dc84be35206af50b8e8eb
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ea1872eb136b23fe3490bd2b4d68006f15524c8f934dc84be35206af50b8e8eb

Cool stuff: Obama's shifting SOTU priorities over the years, by POLITICO word count (all about the jobs).
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ea1872eb136b23fe443ba93d574a46d1718533e4f7dacc3b1653342f9f8adb4a
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ea1872eb136b23fe443ba93d574a46d1718533e4f7dacc3b1653342f9f8adb4a

STATE OF THE GOP (STILL ANNOYED): President Barack Obama will be giving his State of the Union speech tonight to the largest group of Republicans he's faced, ever. But to those GOP lawmakers, it's really just another speech -- and another opportunity to point out his veto threats and Republican disagreements with his policy positions. "'You know what I'd like to hear?' asked House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). 'That he stops saying 'veto' before he's even seen a bill. That he says, 'I want to work with you' and try to get this country going forward from a legislative position, that's what he's looking for.'" John Bresnahan and Manu Raju:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ea1872eb136b23fe91978e86889b152599434b2eeba19537705f69c97b29b4b4
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ea1872eb136b23fe91978e86889b152599434b2eeba19537705f69c97b29b4b4

NEW POLL #S: Ahead of tonight's speech, Obama is clocking in at 46 percent approval overall and 49 percent approval on the economy. While those numbers represent a bump for the president, nearly 60 percent of the WSJ/NBC respondents think the country is still moving in the wrong direction.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ea1872eb136b23fe5dc48186bd8d396076d4482f16a531c6ad23fc1e97a1fee6
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ea1872eb136b23fe5dc48186bd8d396076d4482f16a531c6ad23fc1e97a1fee6

W.H. SOTU WATCH: Get the White House's feed and their enhanced messaging right here:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ea1872eb136b23fedbec0f400609e5f156ba9caa406d26799c79fce06d91465a
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ea1872eb136b23fedbec0f400609e5f156ba9caa406d26799c79fce06d91465a

THE OTHER SIDE: House Republicans will host their own State of the Union viewing party, which will feature real-time fact-checks, charts and graphs. It's also the place to watch Sen. Joni Ernst deliver the GOP response:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ea1872eb136b23fe066fac4d1357ac2aba41b3c5a57bc7c9f3f493c1c9885852
GOP.gov/sotu

John and Joe: Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker John Boehner have a few minutes to make small talk before each SOTU, and last year a photo was snapped of Boehner checking out Biden's duds. "I wanted him to know, that I noticed, that he was stepping out a little bit with his fancy suit," Boehner says in this great video clip.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ea1872eb136b23fe1ca1a35b089efda20456c2e0b17c3bb627951d6ba624477f
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ea1872eb136b23fe1ca1a35b089efda20456c2e0b17c3bb627951d6ba624477f

SOTU FACE-OFF -- Rubio pokes Obama: Sen. Marco Rubio is bringing along Rosa Maria Payá, the daughter of deceased Cuban dissident Oswaldo Payá, to sit with him at the State of the Union. Oswaldo Payá's death remains clouded by suspicion, and Rubio said Rosa Maria Payá's presence should remind Obama "that her father's murderers have not been brought to justice, and that the U.S. is now, in fact, sitting at the table with them." More from yours truly:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ea1872eb136b23fe058950fd8edd52cab20c16acb9c331619cbf58c9b7c6386b
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ea1872eb136b23fe058950fd8edd52cab20c16acb9c331619cbf58c9b7c6386b

DWS's timely guests: Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz has invited Todd and Jeff Delmay to the SOTU, the second gay couple to wed in Florida after the stay on same-sex marriage was lifted.

THE NEXT BIG ADDRESS -- Doesn't seem anything's final just yet, but the Catholic News Agency reports that Pope Francis is eyeing a trip to Washington -- and the Capitol. "After a projected arrival to Washington, D.C. on the evening of Sept. 22, they're proposing that Pope Francis visit the White House the following morning, where the official welcoming ceremony would take place. Following his stop at the White House, the pontiff would go on to celebrate Mass at Washington's Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception ... 'And we might say really the highlight of the Washington visit might be his speech to the joint-meeting of Congress, so the Senate and the House of
Representatives,'" Archbishop Auza said."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ea1872eb136b23fe43f49cf5d48ab8cdf1953986535e1c163a85785d7df33f52
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ea1872eb136b23fe43f49cf5d48ab8cdf1953986535e1c163a85785d7df33f52

DUCKWORTH MULLS KIRK CHALLENGE: Roll Call's Emily Cahn finds that Democratic Rep. Tammy Duckworth is still considering taking on Republican Sen. Mark Kirk. "'My baby just turned eight weeks old. The first two months with her coming early were 110 percent focused on her,' Duckworth said in a phone interview Monday ... 'I have really been humbled by how much encouragement [I've received] from so many folks to seriously consider a run for Senate in 2016,' Duckworth said."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ea1872eb136b23fe510cf149d3a05b2582acef9a2020c8041851373d7c70d42d
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ea1872eb136b23fe510cf149d3a05b2582acef9a2020c8041851373d7c70d42d

Pa. primary? National Journal reports former Rep. Chris Carney is weighing a bid for Pat Toomey's Senate seat, which could set up a Democratic primary with Joe Sestak.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c2bce65fb7e1ef295050348cb3372c16f23f1b142e51f7c9721b46342adbf146
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c2bce65fb7e1ef295050348cb3372c16f23f1b142e51f7c9721b46342adbf146

** Manufacturing jobs in 25 U.S. states contribute to an iconic car assembled in Michigan. Now the 2015 Ford Mustang is marking its official launch to more than 100 markets around the world. Watch its journey:
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STATE OF THE UNION COMES BUT ONCE A YEAR. Good morning and welcome to the Huddle, your play-by-play guide to everything Capitol Hill, where we are already dreaming of springtime. Please send tips to
mailto:beverett@politico.com
beverett@politico.com and follow along on Twitter @burgessev.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The House comes in at noon, though no votes are expected ahead of the SOTU. Members should be in their seats ahead of the big address by 8:25 p.m., per Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy's guidance. The Senate is in at 10 a.m, with weekly caucus luncheons and then amendment votes expected to the Keystone XL Pipeline -- the first of the McConnell era.

AROUND THE HILL - At 10:15 a.m., Senate Democrats hold a press conference in the Senate Radio/TV Gallery about their Keystone amendments. At noon, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer holds a pen and pad with reporters. At 9 p.m., the State of the Union begins in the House chamber.

OH THE GERMANITY - About those Senate amendments ... a group of Senate Democratic Caucus members, led by Independent Bernie Sanders, filed an amendment to Keystone XL bill that imposes a two-year moratorium on Postal Service cuts. Well, we WERE told this might take a couple weeks.

CAPITOL HILL EYES IRAN - Things are really picking up in the GOP's quest to weigh in on Obama's ongoing negotiations with Iran and Western nations over Tehran's nuclear program. Sen. Mark Kirk has introduced new sanctions legislation that will get a committee vote later this week and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing on Wednesday about the ongoing negotiations. Meanwhile Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker is preparing legislation that would require Congress to vote up-or-down on whatever Iran deal emerges. Here's the draft of Kirk's bill:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c2bce65fb7e1ef29bf38b6a8e7458772e96c66255d223582bb440619e37a887c
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c2bce65fb7e1ef29bf38b6a8e7458772e96c66255d223582bb440619e37a887c

Another view: Rep. David Price writes in the Guardian that holding a vote on an Iran deal or additional sanctions could have "devastating consequences" with an eventual deal in sight. "If my colleagues are serious about restraining Iran's nuclear ambitions, they will resist the temptation to intervene and instead let our negotiators finish the job."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c2bce65fb7e1ef29cd922e614348137ff8d7175d9207b5f314948bf09c0c0c34
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c2bce65fb7e1ef29cd922e614348137ff8d7175d9207b5f314948bf09c0c0c34

BORDER BATTLE - House Homeland Security Chairman Mike McCaul has introduced what he calls "the toughest border security bill ever before Congress" and is going to begin whipping up conservative support for it this week. Border security dominated talk of last week's GOP retreat in Hershey, Pa., and is almost sure to see the first piece of any immigration reform that will be considered by the Republican Congress. More from SMK and I:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c2bce65fb7e1ef29e7dc862dce5f4c2b4828b5b902e9a116f58f1ae2a3d2feb1
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c2bce65fb7e1ef29e7dc862dce5f4c2b4828b5b902e9a116f58f1ae2a3d2feb1

THE NEXT BIG FIGHT? Our estimable David Rogers takes a look at changes to House rules that make it harder to shift Social Security payments between accounts for retirees and the disabled. "House Democrats were not consulted on the rules change, and liberals accuse the GOP of trying to cull the weak from the herd, pitting the disabled against pensioners to undermine the larger Social Security coalition. In fact, the new rule's fine print leaves an escape hatch for Republicans to move tens of billions into the disability fund if this gambit fails. Still, the upshot could be a one-two punch Democrats most fear: a first-round debate over disability funding in 2016 followed by a bigger battle
over all of Social Security in 2017, when Republicans hope to control both Congress and the White House."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c2bce65fb7e1ef29ed1e9555ddc02c620b44decdaa6d6a0248c508e74d3b4a2c
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c2bce65fb7e1ef29ed1e9555ddc02c620b44decdaa6d6a0248c508e74d3b4a2c

WOLF SPOTTED IN TEXAS: Recently retired Rep. Frank Wolf of Virginia has been named the chair in religious freedom at Baylor University.

FRIDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - John Clark and Logan Ferree were the first to answer that 12 Supreme Court nominations have been rejected by a vote and that there is no age requirement for a justice.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - John has today's question: Which socialist member introduced a resolution in Congress to abolish the Senate? Please also tell me when and why it happened. The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. Email me at
mailto:beverett@politico.com
beverett@politico.com

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** The iconic Ford Mustang is going global. Exporting Ford vehicles supports manufacturing jobs and the American middle class. Trade is fundamental to Ford's business - we have increased exports of Ford cars and trucks by 50 percent since 2009.Autos are the number one exporting sector in America, and the 2015 Mustang is just another reason that Ford is a top U.S. exporter of vehicles. Learn more at
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