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By Burgess Everett | 04/06/2016 06:53 AM EDT


(@burgessev or beverett@politico.com)

CRUZ REACHES OUT TO ESTABLISHMENT - After his big win last night in Wisconsin, Ted Cruz and his surrogates are hoping for some signals from the Senate GOP that they are getting behind the Texas senator's campaign. It may seem hard to believe given Cruz's history of insulting Mitch McConnell and his conference, but there has been more outreach than ever between Cruz and Republican senators. Cruz has tapped former Sen. Phil Gramm to push his candidacy on the Hill with rank-and-file and members of leadership, while Sens. Mike Lee and Lindsey Graham, the first and only two Cruz endorsers in the Senate, are burning up the phone lines advocating for their guy. "With Cruz we can win the election,
hold the Senate," Gramm said. "I think with Trump we almost certainly lose the Senate, lose the election for president, even lose the House."

The whipping operation: Lee has spoken to more than two dozen senators on Cruz's behalf, and he said in an interview that he's no longer sensing much of a grudge. "A lot of them have some real concerns with Mr. Trump. That resonates. And for that reason I think most of them will come around," he told me Tuesday afternoon. Cruz's folks were batting away the idea that they'd be working hard for endorsements last month, but communications director Alice Stewart acknowledged that the campaign is trying to "galvanize" Republicans around Cruz. There's still one key ingredient missing: A visit to the Hill. Cruz pondered one in March but never followed through; Lee says that he expects that
sometime soon Cruz will make his case to the caucus in person. Katie Glueck and I have the tale: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1183a1c0aa61ac964488a46505080c6390a2f5c8438c34798644fa3677abe562

The tale of the tape: Cruz 48, Trump 35, Kasich 14. Sanders 56, Clinton 43. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1183a1c0aa61ac96661edc5708095fa92d987ffe62cfa23aa2123fb0ae385187

BERNIE RIDING HIGH: It doesn't seem that long ago that I was writing about some Democrats who were subtly trying to get Bernie Sanders to wind things down (It wasn't; it was March 21). Now Bernie is riding high after a string of wins -- a topic of conversation for the congressional Democrats today as the campaign shifts to New York, no doubt. Gabriel Debenedetti has more: "Nothing short of a cushioned victory in the state [Clinton] represented as a senator is likely to calm persistent Democratic questions about why the front-runner is still losing states -- some of them by landslide margins. While she retains a comfortable lead of roughly 250 pledged delegates even after her Wisconsin loss,
the campaign's repeated insistence that Sanders can't catch up may be accurate but it won't be enough to inspire confidence in her strength as the party nominee in November." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1183a1c0aa61ac96f6dd041d7d564a4a96a7bd99fc0e5e3d61f2144397388f79

DAILY SCOTUS: Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid won't rule out trying to force a referendum on the Senate floor on Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland. "Certainly, we've got that arrow quiver to do that and other things if we choose," he said Tuesday. Garland, meanwhile, had a host of meetings Tuesday, including with Republican Sens. Susan Collins and John Boozman. Boozman said he told Garland that he wants the Senate to do nothing at all with his nomination, while Collins said after her meeting that "My meeting today with Judge Garland left me more convinced than ever that the process should proceed." In the next stage of their messaging campaign, Democrats and more than 50 outside
groups are urging people to blow up the phone lines of GOP senators asking them to ... do their job. SMK has the round-up: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1183a1c0aa61ac96082b901abb924235de0abd4a74f1d2f6845ceffda04cb34e

Grassley attacks Roberts: I guess after this year, nothing will surprise anyone ever again in politics. Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley went after Chief Justice John Roberts in a floor speech Tuesday, charging that Roberts is too political and warning him to stay out of the Garland fight. "The Iowa Republican said 'the chief justice should resist' interjecting himself in the Senate debate after some had suggested he do so ... Ten days before Scalia's death, Roberts suggested that 'a sharply political, divisive hearing process' increases the chance that the person confirmed is also that way. On the Senate floor, Grassley said Roberts' comments justify Republicans' decision to block
President Barack Obama's nominee to fill Scalia's seat." AP: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1183a1c0aa61ac96dfb09892fa58370423b1e1743c9766e6510d10cc23e0b102

Good morning D.C. And welcome to the Huddle, your play-by-play guide to everything Capitol Hill, where lawmakers pretend to rep colleges from their state that they never attended. Please send tips to beverett@politico.com and follow along on Twitter @burgessev.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The Senate is in at 10 a.m. and will take a cloture vote on the FAA bill at 11 a.m. The House remains in recess subject to the call of the wild.

AROUND THE HILL - At 9 a.m., Senate Democrats led by Amy Klobuchar will have a Supreme Court roundtable in S-207. At 9:45 a.m. Sen. Dick Durbin meets with Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland in S-321. At 11 a.m. Sens. Harry Reid and Martin Heinrich talk monumental designations in S-115. At 3 p.m. Sen. Barbara Mikulski and other Democrats call for passing the Paycheck Fairness Act in S-211. At 3:45 p.m. in Hart 331, Sen. Dianne Feinstein meets with Garland and at 5 p.m. in Hart 530 Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse meets with Garland.

Sensing a theme? Those are all Democratic events.

TUESDAY'S MOST CLICKED: Lauren French's excellent tale about the battle for the Maryland Senate seat really brought in the clicks.

MURPHY WHACKS SANDERS: Sanders's interview with the New York Daily News ed board has gotten him in hot water with gun control advocates after he said he does not believe victims of gun crimes should be able to sue manufacturers. Now, I've talked to Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy about Sanders's campaign many times, and he's always been diplomatic. But this comment was too much, sending Murphy onto Twitter: "For Sanders to say that the Sandy Hook families should be barred from court, even if the weapon was negligently made, is wrong ... Bernie is a friend, but this is really bad. Dems can't nominate a candidate who supports gun manufacturer immunity ... And if this isn't Sanders' position -
if he supports full return of liability for sellers and makers, then he should clarify immediately." NYDN: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1183a1c0aa61ac96e9b34516e23542c5fd9eea39a44bfa42489a654f53ce8555

NRSC RALLIES AROUND MORAN: Rep. Mike Pompeo won't rule out running against Sen. Jerry Moran and Kansas, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee won't rule out pummelling Pompeo if he decides to make the plunge. With Pompeo mocking Moran over his Supreme Court decision, national Republicans are giving the House member some free advice: Stay out. "'I would hope he would not run. I would hope that Rep. Pompeo would make a decision to stay in the House of Representatives,' [NRSC Chairman Roger] Wicker said, calling Moran a 'champion for not only Kansas values but also conservative Kansas values' ... The affable Moran insisted he's ready to take on a tough primary challenger. In
addition to Pompeo, Milton Wolf, who lost to Roberts, has also made some noise about possibly taking on Moran. Though Pompeo called him out 14 times in his news release, Moran would not respond directly. 'I'm not sure what [Pompeo's] motivation was,' Moran said Tuesday." SMK and I have it for ya: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1183a1c0aa61ac9634b822926f7481edabf6fae7050db73897004dd570a5b95a

Meanwhile, in Indiana: The battle between Reps. Marlin Stutzman and Todd Young to replace Sen. Dan Coats is getting real. "So far, Young has seen the establishment support flock his way, thanks in large part to the perception that Young can do better against Hill than Stutzman.He entered 2016 with $2.6 million in cash on hand, compared to Stutzman's $1.1 million. Young will also receive support from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ...Stutzman has, on the other hand, drawn support from many of the major Tea Party groups, which has translated into financial help, too." The winner faces former Rep. Baron Hill (D) in a state that Democrats are desperately trying to put on the map. The Hill:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1183a1c0aa61ac96b15fbbb6533ebd0a724fc5ad1479a17370e81e96ed96dc65

GRAYSON PROBE HALTS: Chief muckraker in charge John Bresnahan reports that "The House Ethics Committee will not conduct a full-scale probe into allegations that Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson improperly received compensation from a hedge fund and other entities he controlled while serving in Congress, despite several potential violations found by an independent ethics watchdog." Grayson is running for the Florida seat that Marco Rubio is vacating, and national Democrats really, really prefer Rep. Patrick Murphy over Grayson, a wealthy trial lawyer and liberal bomb thrower. Grayson hailed the announcement as a victory -- but it still could be a potent issue in the Democratic primary, and
beyond. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1183a1c0aa61ac96f18662b336e49070906bd57a8c889d176bb81da49287226e

TUESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Alex Stroman was the first to answer that Thomas Dewey won the nomination after three ballots in 1948. Faithful Huddle reader Mitch McConnell also had the right answer.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Alex has today's question, and it seems that conventions are on our readers' minds: This Republican President was not even a candidate for President until the 5th ballot and never received more than 50 delegate votes in a single round of balloting--until the final ballot in which he won the nomination. Who was he? The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. Email me at beverett@politico.com

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