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09/06/2016 07:48 AM EDT


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

With assistance from Daniel Lippman

SEPTEMBER SPRINT STARTS NOW- Welcome back Huddle readers! Capitol Hill has that back-to-school feeling today as lawmakers file into the Capitol after a long absence, prepared for their September sprint (three to four weeks of work before leaving town again until after the election). The must-do item? Pass a bill to keep the government running past Sept. 30. But you can also expect a lot of messaging maneuvers from both Democrats and Republicans that they hope put their side in a stronger position heading into the fall.

Now about that funding bill: Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid warned of a potential government shutdown last week if GOP leaders try to push through a stopgap spending bill that goes into next year-an idea some conservative hard-liners want to see enacted-but "many Republicans and even some Democrats privately dismissed Reid's shutdown warning, which others in his party have not parroted," report Rachael Bade and Burgess Everett.

Zika funding: The Senate returns today to vote for the third time on a Zika funding package that's expected to fail (Democrats say the bill has partisan health care riders they won't accept). "Many expect the funding to get tucked into the larger, must-pass spending bill, without the pet GOP provisions. ... 'We're going to get some additional funding here by the end of September - I promise,' said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn at a news conference last week in Texas."

IRS impeachment vote looms: "The House Freedom Caucus is expected to force a full House vote the second week of September to impeach [John] Koskinen, the IRS commissioner whom conservatives say lied to Congress. (He strongly denies that.) ...Many Republicans say privately they're unhappy about being forced to even take a vote on the matter." Rachael and Burgess with the month's full rundown: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0aee285b181cd47566bbba2000ba045cc3553afb597f4e4912b237e5663376df

What else to keep an eye on: The House will vote on a "legislative response to the White House's delivery of $400 million to Iran on the same day Tehran freed four American prisoners, forcing Democrats to take a stand on an issue they'd prefer not to talk about." Rachael again: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0aee285b181cd47549cc3140cdb7e5f5743dcae07ee4a53a78af7f4092997bb2

DEMOCRATS HOPE FOR SENATE SWEEP- Democrats' chances of taking back the Senate keep getting better and better after Donald Trump's rocky summer. The states to watch? Indiana, with Evan Bayh running for Democrats; North Carolina, where Republicans are pouring money into the race to protect Sen. Richard Burr; and even keep an eye on under-the-radar places like Arizona and Missouri, report Maggie Severns and Kevin Robillard.

Get smart fast: "Democrats are set to clear Labor Day tied or leading the polls in enough places to win the majority, and they lie within striking distance in even more, including states some strategists all but wrote off a year ago."

On the plus side for Republicans: Sen. Marco Rubio's last minute decision to run again in Florida and Sen. Rob Portman consistently polling ahead of challenger Ted Strickland in Ohio.

The race to watch: Nevada. Maggie and Kevin: "Trump and GOP Rep. Joe Heck are both polling well there, and Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto hasn't led Heck in a public poll so far." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0aee285b181cd475d0122c9321f7962615ca8443bf7a7780f90c0be33e11c150

WELCOME BACK EVERYBODY, on this Tuesday, Sept. 6. You're reading POLITICO's Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill. I'm Heather, your Huddle host, here to guide you through this crazy thing we call Congress. And I'm just back from a weekend in Dallas, watching the world's greatest football team (Roll Tide!) dominate in its season opener.

Send hot tips, Hill gossip and any college football smack talk ya got: hcaygle@politico.com

TODAY IN CONGRESS- The House gavels in at 2 p.m. with suspension votes postponed until 6:30 p.m. (Full list: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0aee285b181cd475f0f3a5fb08d312ac0572f818fdcc225009b72810d109b0d4 The Senate is back at 3 p.m. with procedural votes on Zika funding and Defense Department appropriations at 5:30 p.m.

AROUND THE HILL- House Speaker Paul Ryan has two morning radio hits scheduled on Wisconsin stations: a 10:20 a.m. interview on WRJN (listen here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0aee285b181cd4752497557a4aeb1f28b561aeebb351e27b5d66506624b61bf2 and a 11:10 a.m interview on the Stan Milam Show (listen here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0aee285b181cd4759f6f1f6916d42d4c4d47e75ed4bb940986e60e24e1b5ce5d House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer holds his weekly pen and pad at 1 p.m. in H-144.

CLINTON-RYAN KUMBAYA? Don't count on it- If Hillary Clinton wins the White House in November, she'll have to spend the next four years working with House Speaker Paul Ryan to get anything done legislatively, a man who could possibly mount a competitive GOP challenge to her come 2020. What does that mean for Capitol Hill gridlock? "'The next four years are going to totally suck,' said a person close to Ryan," reports Edward-Isaac Dovere.

"The thought that either the first-term president or her likely future challenger would share credit with the person who might soon be starring in the other's campaign commercials leads to rapid onset depression for some of the aides closest to these two principals." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0aee285b181cd4751d62b12a9e735bfdc354dab5cb2d5e1e353c153a77f7c6d9

WHAT'S UP WITH MERRICK GARLAND? Remember the Supreme Court nominee that Republicans have stonewalled? "It's been seven months since President Barack Obama nominated Garland to replace conservative icon Justice Antonin Scalia ...But after a public effort to move the nomination forward last spring, the debate has fallen largely silent. ... [Clinton] has not made a firm commitment to putting his name forward again if she were to win the presidency." CNN's Ariane de Vogue: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0aee285b181cd4754610e770695c1c52975862a586d895c028fd857722c31817

DON'T MISS: PENTAGON PLAYS HARDBALL IN SECRET MEMO- "The Pentagon has crafted a secret plan to play 'hardball' against House Speaker Paul Ryan's defense spending proposal, according to a memo obtained by POLITICO that calls for pitting the House and Senate against each other," report Austin Wright and Jeremy Herb. Their story: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0aee285b181cd475d4f281aaad14fae35a0677828d6a9a91086b525532f2b98f

WHO'S UP, WHO'S DOWN-With the election a little more than two months away, our Kevin Robillard gave the Senate race rankings (those seats most likely to flip) an update. GOP Sens. Mark Kirk in Illinois and Ron Johnson in Wisconsin are still at the top of the list. The big change? Previously unranked Indiana in now No. 3 with Bayh's entry into the race. Georgia, with Sen. Johnny Isakson up for re-election, also made the list for the first time. Read it: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0aee285b181cd47521ad5dced2171f428f57d56d06283c710686c19fa646cc43

COMING TODAY: RUBIO HIT OVER ZIKA-- NARAL Pro-Choice America is launching a $175,000 ad campaign today in Orlando and West Palm Beach, "attacking Marco Rubio over his opposition to abortion rights for women infected with the Zika virus." Burgess and Nick Gass: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0aee285b181cd47516a7f08b6869ae1c6590f041fb70fd2f1cf6f82d6e1fe222

MOVE ALONG, NOTHING TO SEE HERE-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi tried to extinguish the latest controversy surrounding Hillary Clinton's ongoing email problems Monday, saying in a CBS sit-down that "too much is being made" of Clinton saying she didn't know the "C" on some emails stood for "confidential." "This is much ado about something, but too much ado," Pelosi said. Hanna Trudo sums it up: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0aee285b181cd475395d25a3b1efc27c515d114b3f2ed482c90554103386b7ca And the video here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0aee285b181cd475a99a62b9b9dde020ea4ad864e316d6d30bc3adf9a2d71d81

Speaking of Pelosi... Dave Weigel (@daveweigel): Striking finding from a weekend of interviews with swing district Dem House candidates: None would commit to backing Pelosi for speaker.

WHY'S PORTMAN DOING SO WELL IN OHIO? The RealClearPolitics average currently has Sen. Rob Portman up 7.5 percentage points over opponent Ted Strickland, a comfortable lead he's maintained over the last several weeks. Well, it might have something to do with his aggressive push on the opioid epidemic, writes the Huffington Post's Michael McAuliff.

"In the waning days of the Senate's spring session, Portman pushed hard to get the Comprehensive Addiction And Recovery Act passed. Although Democrats noted repeatedly that Portman failed to get any money attached to that legislation, his campaign has touted his efforts exhaustively in positive advertisements." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0aee285b181cd4759bd87e01f84046129d1555c58c569142f194ff5626ab58a9

Harbinger: Senate Democrats' campaign arm on Friday canceled two more weeks of ad time it had reserved for Strickland but insists it still plans to run commercials in his favor come October. Jack Torry with the Columbus Dispatch: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0aee285b181cd47502df9c1d6094d7349f054c71dff764ad86510a1356726c0a

WARREN ASSEMBLING 'HELL NO' LIST-The election is still two months away but Sen. Elizabeth Warren is already putting pressure on Hillary Clinton about future hires should she win the White House. "Warren's coalition is developing a hit list of the types of people they'll oppose - what one source called 'hell no' appointments - in a Clinton administration," writes Patrick Temple-West.

Who's out? "They're vowing to fight nominees with ties to big banks, and warn against corporate executives assuming government roles in regulating the industries that made them rich." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0aee285b181cd4758b67a03ea08bffd18d2cf9b5f7ef1220b2d3765e46766454

CRIST GIVES IT ONE MORE GO-Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist just can't help himself. If there's a race-governor, Senate or this time, House-his name will be on the ballot. He's not picky about party either-Republican, Democrat, independent, he's tried them all. But his quest to unseat incumbent GOP Rep. David Jolly in Florida will either be an opportunity for redemption after failed bids for the Senate and governor's mansion or the final, sour note on a once promising political career.

"Truly, for him, this is win or go home," said Democratic strategist Steve Schale, a Florida operative who advised Crist in his last governor's race but isn't involved in this campaign. The story, from yours truly: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=0aee285b181cd475f58a3a03e2b3d14fe7e19aad466be2422bcc1eb503a8ef76

ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES-- Maria Stratienko has moved from her role as special assistant to Sen. Bill Nelson on the Commerce Committee, where he serves as top Democrat, to a new job as scheduler in his personal office. Allison Tucker, currently deputy press secretary for Rep. Stutzman, is joining Rep. Walter Jones' office as press secretary.

Ben Voelkel is joining Sen. Ron Johnson's campaign as rapid response director. Most recently, Voelkel worked as press secretary for Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn. Matthew Richardson is beginning a two-year master of public affairs program at the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton. Previously he worked as Sen. Hatch's legislative assistant covering health policy issues.

HUDDLE TRIVIA WINNER- Jack Howard was the first to guess that Calvin Coolidge was the president who got about nine hours of sleep a night and is said to have taken lengthy afternoon naps each day. Those were the days!

TODAY'S TRIVIA- Today's question: What current candidate held up the nomination of another candidate several years ago who was seeking approval for an important administrative position? The first person to correctly name the two people involved in the imbroglio and the nomination gets a mention in tomorrow's Huddle. Email me: hcaygle@politico.com

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