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DEMS JOIN VA PILE-ON; SHINSEKI FIGHTS FOR POLITICAL LIFE - Burgess Everett and Jeremy Herb have the latest on the VA scandal: "Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki's support on Capitol Hill crumbled on Wednesday as members of his own party deserted him in the aftermath of a highly critical inspector general report that found 'systemic' problems at VA medical facilities. Within just hours of the report's release, the number of Democrats calling for Shinseki's resignation more than doubled. By Wednesday evening, more than a dozen congressional Democrats publicly called for his ouster, joining a growing number of influential Republicans. For now, President Barack Obama isn't calling on
Shinseki to step down.

-- "Among those pushing for his dismissal are the Senate's most vulnerable Democrats, whose reelection bids are critical to the party maintaining control of the chamber next year. Democratic Sens. Mark Udall of Colorado, [Iraq veteran] John Walsh of Montana and Kay Hagan of North Carolina released separate statements saying the secretary must go, reflecting pressure to break ranks with the Obama administration during an election year. Late Wednesday night, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) added their voices to the chorus of Democrats asking for a shake-up in leadership at the VA."
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-- THE IG found that the VA hid waiting lists at hospitals affecting 1,700 patients, Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Michael D. Shear report on A1 of the NYT: "In the first confirmation that [VA] administrators manipulated medical waiting lists at one and possibly more hospitals, the department's inspector general reported on Wednesday that 1,700 patients at the veterans medical center in Phoenix were not placed on the official waiting list for doctors' appointments and may never have received care. The scathing report by Richard J. Griffin, the acting inspector general, validates allegations raised by whistle-blowers and others that Veterans Affairs officials in Phoenix employed artifices to
cloak long waiting times for veterans seeking medical care. Mr. Griffin said the average waiting time in Phoenix for initial primary care appointments, 115 days, was nearly five times as long as what the hospital's administrators had reported."
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-- PRESIDENT OBAMA has been briefed on the report and found it "extremely troubling," aides said.
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HUDDLE FIRST LOOK: HOUSE DEMS ROLL OUT NEW IMMIGRATION TIMELINE - House Democratic Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) this morning will launch a new tool on the conference's immigration website, an interactive timeline designed to pressure House Republicans to put a comprehensive reform bill on the floor. 'No more excuses. No more flip-flopping," Becerra said in a statement. "After 336 days since the Senate did its job, it's time for House Republicans to do their job and let us vote to finally fix the broken immigration system. The time is now.' The "Visual History of Republican Inaction on Immigration Reform " timeline documents key dates over the last four years - from when
House Democrats passed the DREAM Act in 2010 to the latest excuse for inaction from House Republican leaders in 2014. Check out the timeline here:
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-- MAJORITY LEADER ERIC CANTOR can't win when it comes to immigration, POLITICO's Seung Min Kim reports from Richmond, Va.: "Eric Cantor is simultaneously blocking immigration reform and plotting a way to grant amnesty to undocumented immigrants - it just depends on whom you ask. For liberal activists, Cantor is the sole man who stands in the way of a sweeping immigration overhaul making its way into law. But to his primary challenger, the House majority leader has been insufficiently conservative on immigration - and he needs to be voted out of office for it. Those dueling dynamics were on full display here in Cantor's home turf Wednesday, as immigrant-rights advocates - led by Rep. Luis
Gutierrez (D-Ill.) - led a rally at the state Capitol in Richmond aimed at pressuring the second-ranking House Republican to move on immigration reform this year."
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GOP'S DENT BACKS GAY MARRIAGE - Colby Itkowitz reports for WaPo: "A Pennsylvania Republican congressman is now officially a supporter of same-sex marriage. After a federal judge ruled the state's ban on gay marriage unconstitutional last week, Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) congratulated gay couples in Pennsylvania and signaled his position change was imminent. ... 'Life is too short to have the force of government stand in the way of two adults whose pursuit of happiness includes marriage,' Dent said in a statement provided first to The Washington Post on Wednesday."
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-- Five other congressional Republicans also support gay marriage: Sens. Rob Portman (Ohio), Mark Kirk (Ill.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), and Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Fla.) and Richard Hanna (N.Y.).

BOEHNER ALLIES PLOT TEA-PARTY CRACKDOWN - Jake Sherman reports for POLITICO: "They've given John Boehner constant headaches during his three years as speaker. Now, Boehner's friends are trying to make sure that a small pocket of tea-party-aligned Republicans won't have a chance to derail his speakership next year. And if they try, they could be punished. A group of his closest allies - including fellow Ohio Republicans like Pat Tiberi - are discussing tactics such as trying to change GOP Conference rules to punish members who do not support the party's nominee during a floor vote. A lawmaker who bucks the Republicans' choice for speaker could lose committee assignments - or worse. Boehner's
allies have already stripped some Republicans of their committee assignments for straying too far from the team. ...

-- "The effort is playing out amid ongoing speculationthat Boehner may retire soon after the midterms, though the Ohio Republican insists he will stick around. And while his tenure has been defined by the tea party's fury, the maneuvering to keep him in power is a reminder of the enduring strength of the GOP's establishment wing."
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GOOD THURSDAY MORNING, May 29, 2014, and welcome to The Huddle, your play-by-play preview of all the action on Capitol Hill. Send tips, suggestions, comments, complaints and corrections to
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TODAY IN CONGRESS - The Senate is out this week for the Memorial Day recess. The House is in at 10 a.m. with first votes expected between 1:15 and 2:15 p.m. and last votes expected in the late evening on the fiscal 2015 Commerce, Justice and Science, Appropriations Act.

AROUND THE HILL - Speaker John Boehner and other GOP leaders hold a post-conference availability at 10 a.m. in HC-8. Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi holds her weekly press conference at 10:45 a.m. in HVC Studio A. John Boehner, Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Chris Smith and others speak at an event marking the 25th anniversary of Tiananman Square, at 11:30 a.m. in the Rayburn Room. Reps. George Holding and John Conyers introduce the RESPECT Act at noon in Rayburn 2237.

Majority Leader Eric Cantor and other GOP leaders speak on protecting America's veterans, at 12:30 p.m. at the House Triangle. Rep. Tim Murphy hosts a briefing on report on violence and severe mental illness in Rayburn 2322. Reps. Mark Takano, Raul Grijalva and Susan Davis, along with Young Invincibles, speak on education and for-profit colleges at 3 p.m. at the House Triangle.

CONSERVATIVES PUSH FOR GOP HEALTH-CARE BILL - Kristina Peterson and Laura Meckler write for the WSJ: "After years of bashing the Affordable Care Act, conservative House Republicans are pushing for a vote on a GOP health-care plan to show they have a policy position beyond repealing the current law. Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R., Va.) said in January the House would vote this year on a health-care alternative. Four months later, Republican leaders are working with committee chairmen, as well as with GOP lawmakers who are also physicians, to reach a consensus on what that plan should include. Now, some lawmakers are asking to speed up the process. Members of the Republican Study Committee,
a group of the most conservative House Republicans, plan to urge GOP leaders during a closed-door meeting Thursday to move forward with the group's own health-care bill, which would change the tax treatment of health plans."
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SNOWDEN: I'M A PATRIOT - Matthew Cole, Richard Esposito, Bill Dedman and Mark Schone report for NBC News: "In his first American television interview, Edward Snowden defended his disclosure of the American government's use of surveillance programs to spy on its own people, and described himself as a patriot for trying to stop violations of the Constitution. 'I may have lost my ability to travel,' Snowden said [in an interview with NBC's Brian Williams.]. 'But I've gained the ability to go to sleep at night and to put my head on the pillow and feel comfortable that I've done the right thing even when it was the hard thing. And I'm comfortable with that.' ...

-- Snowden also "suggested that a deal could be reached with the U.S. government for him to come home, either through a clemency, an amnesty, or an agreement to serve a short prison term ...

-- "Said he had tried to go through channels before leaking documents to journalists,repeatedly raising objections inside the NSA, in writing, to its widespread use of surveillance ...

-- "Described ... his training as a spyin addition to his technical work as an NSA contractor and CIA employee. U.S. intelligence officials acknowledged to NBC News on Wednesday that Snowden in fact had been a CIA employee, and had passed the routine psychological testing for employees.

-- "Described his arc from enthusiastic supporter of American foreign policy, who enlisted for U.S. Army special operations training during the Iraq War, to a disillusioned intelligence worker who said he came to believe that the government took advantage of the September 11 terror attack to overreach into the private lives of all Americans."
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FOR MIDTERMS, DEMS GET LOCAL -Ashley Parker reports for the NYT: "In Senator Jeanne Shaheen's first television ad of her re-election campaign, a Vietnam War veteran talks about how Ms. Shaheen, a Democrat, 'cut through the red tape' to help open a veterans clinic in Keene, N.H. 'Jeanne Shaheen,' the veteran concludes, in a thick New England accent, 'gets the job done for New Hampshire.' A commercial for another Democratic senator, Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana, features a Republican shipbuilder from Lockport, La., talking about how the state cannot afford to lose Ms. Landrieu. 'She's chairman of the Energy Committee, the most powerful position a person can have for Louisiana,' the builder
says. ...

-- "If Republicans are trying to nationalize the 2014 midterms, tying Democrats to President Obama and his signature health care law, Democrats considered vulnerable are countering by going local, doubling down on state-specific issues that are more typically the province of Republicans."
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HILL REMEMBERS MAYA ANGELOU ...

-- HOUSE ASST. MINORITY LEADER JIM CLYBURN (D-S.C.):"I had the privilege of working with her on many projects over the years.At my request, she graced us with her presence as Mistress of Ceremonies when I was sworn in as Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.I was deeply touched by her participation in the event."

-- SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-S.C.): "A daughter of the South, she played an important role in our country and will be remembered for embodying so much of the American spirit - determination, grace and faith. Her work has touched the lives of millions of people around the world. As much as her six volumes of work, including her autobiography, 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,' will be honored, at her core, she worked to encourage people around the world to begin 'seeing us as more alike than we are unalike.'"

-- REP. LACY CLAY, who represents St. Louis, Mo., where Angelou was born: "Her passing is the loss of a great soul who knew the brutality of racism and violence in her youth.She responded to evil and injustice with a piercing eloquence that spoke directly to the hearts of the American people and uplifted millions around the world."

-- ‏@CoryBooker: 'People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.' Maya Angelou

-- ‏@repjohnlewis: With the passing of Dr. Maya Angelou, we have lost an institution and a powerful part of ourselves.

COCHRAN ON NURSING HOME BREAK-IN: WHY WOULD THEY TAKE PHOTOS OF ROSE? - Alexander Burns files this dispatch from Poplarville, Miss.: "The ads tie Sen. Thad Cochran's primary challenger to a stomach-turning crime: a grave violation of privacy in the nursing home where the senator's stricken wife resides. In blaring language, they warn voters that the 'McDaniel campaign scandal' is spreading, enveloping several men with direct ties to the ladder-climbing state lawmaker seeking to topple Cochran. But in the final days of Mississippi's Republican Senate primary, you won't hear any of that from Cochran himself.

-- "Hounded by national conservative groups seeking his defeat and grappling with an outlandish breach of personal and legal boundaries, Cochran is greeting voters with a soft smile and nary a mention of his hard-right opponent for the GOP nomination. A Washington institution portrayed as out of touch by his party's right flank, Cochran has quickly become a sentimental favorite for many Mississippians thanks to his opponents' overreach. ...

-- "In an interview ... the six-term senator described his reaction when he first heard the news of the nursing home break-in. 'I was surprised. It sounded kind of bizarre to me. I couldn't imagine why they would want to be taking photographs of Rose,' Cochran said. 'What we did in terms of response was to advise the local law enforcement authorities - the sheriff's office and city police in the area - and then let them decide what their responsibilities were.' As Cochran tells the story, that's where his role in the whole uproar ended. He chuckles at the observation that he never mentions McDaniel to voters: 'That's right. I let him get his own publicity.'"
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RESIDENTS WORRY ABOUT ATTACKS ON WOMEN ON CAPITOL HILL -- Peter Hermann and Clarence Williams report for WaPo: "More than 100 Capitol Hill residents concerned about a series of crimes, including three attacks on women that authorities say may be linked, met with D.C. police Wednesday night, bringing questions about safety and the ongoing investigation. Jeff Brown, commander of the 1st Police District, told the audience that additional officers have been redeployed to patrol the Eastern Market area on foot, bicycles and Segways. Resident Lee Ellen Carter, 28, said she was encouraged by that news, but was also worried about how long the extra patrols would continue. ... In all three attacks -
two on May 21 and one on May 15 - the female victims were walking alone, one near upscale stores near the NoMa-Gallaudet Metro and two near the Eastern Market Metro, in the heart of Capitol Hill. In each case, a man put a sharp object to the victim's neck and cut or stabbed two of them, police said."
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MORE THAN 500 INFLUENTIAL ENERGY VOICES ON ONE PLATFORM -- Track the energy conversation on Twitter with POLITICO's #EnergyInsider Tweet Hub, featuring top tweets from energy reporters, influencers and lawmakers:
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WEDNESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - I'm accepting a few different answers: Paul Hays answered that John Rutledge served on the Supreme Court during two different periods. He served as associate justice from 1789 to 1791, when he resigned to become Chief Justice of the South Carolina Court of Common Pleas and Sessions. He was appointed as chief justice 1795.

Jim Casto answered that Charles Evans Hughes, Sr. served as an associate justice from 1910 to 1916, resigning to run as a Republican candidate for president. He returned to the court as chief justice in 1930.

Finally, Mark Rubin answered that Robert H. Jackson was an associate justice from 1941 to 1945, when he took a leave of absence to serve lead prosecutor of the Nuremberg Trials. He returned to the High Court a year later.

TODAY'S TRIVIA -Shelby Boxenbaum has another Supreme Court question: Who was the only Supreme Court justice to ever be impeached? The first person to send the correct answer to
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