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By Burgess Everett (@burgessev or
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TRADING BLOWS: There's been a lot of talk about how trade is the one big deal that President Barack Obama and Republican majorities can reach during this Congress. Now it's time to find out if that's true and if the president's lobbying efforts with his own party are enough to get trade legislation across the finish line. First up is a Tuesday vote in the Senate on the legislative vehicle for fast-track Trade Promotion Authority, which is under parliamentary assault by Democratic Leader Harry Reid. Reid wants to block the bill temporarily to make Republicans confront those pesky transportation and surveillance deadlines, and his tight grip over the whip operation has Republicans worried. "I
don't even want to speculate on that," Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said of Reid's influence on the vote.

House of trade blues: Though the fight is on in the Senate, where Democrats are pushing to add bills dealing with customs enforcement and trade with sub-Saharan Africa, things are much shakier in the House. "Upward of 60 House Republicans are expected to vote against TPA despite a push from Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) ... That means Obama and Boehner would need 30 or more Democrats to back the bill - a tough sell within a caucus that is both deeply skeptical of labor provisions and pushing for the inclusion of enforceable currency language in the pending Trans-Pacific Partnership ... Lawmakers such as Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) have been fiercely whipping members
against fast track for a year. She brought 151 Democrats together to oppose the legislation last year and predicted on Friday that if the House were to vote on the measure this month, it would fail. 'I'm very confident, so what does that tell you?' she said." A collabo with John Bresnahan and Lauren French:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=879f3c15a72893f3bc961cfebdea551c068d88405fecdaf1fe99eefe9dab1754
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=879f3c15a72893f3bc961cfebdea551c068d88405fecdaf1fe99eefe9dab1754

OBAMA AIMS AT PROGRESSIVE OPPOSITION: Sen. Elizabeth Warren's argument that a future president could use new trade deals to undo Dodd-Frank financial laws is "absolutely wrong," says President Obama. "'The truth of the matter is that Elizabeth is, you know, a politician like everybody else,' he said. 'And you know, she's got a voice that she wants to get out there. And I understand that. And on most issues, she and I deeply agree. On this one, though, her arguments don't stand the test of fact and scrutiny.'" Yahoo:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=879f3c15a72893f35f50784a916167d0853117f0b755cf36e78d0ca665a9bcfd
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=879f3c15a72893f35f50784a916167d0853117f0b755cf36e78d0ca665a9bcfd

UNA HISTORIA de AMOR -- MENENDEZ Y LOS LATINOS: Seung Min Kim takes a look at the unconditional love that Sen. Bob Menendez is receiving from the Latino community; he is after all the only Hispanic Democratic senator. "The U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce talked with New Jersey's other Democratic senator, Cory Booker, about efforts to show public support for Menendez, according to officials at the group. Menendez has been asked to be the grand marshal at the Elizabeth, New Jersey, Cuban Day Parade later this month, and he's scheduled to be honored as the distinguished Cuban-American of the year at another Cuban Day Parade in North Bergen, New Jersey." But you really should click through
for Seung Min's killer lede anecdote.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=87d8213f0ac9f9e3df3c6f0e7f415d00d534040dadc44ab540d1dba9297ddae8
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=87d8213f0ac9f9e3df3c6f0e7f415d00d534040dadc44ab540d1dba9297ddae8

McCONNELL AT KENNEDY INSTITUTE: The first big speaker at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute's lecture series was none other than the Senate majority leader. Sen. Mitch McConnell had nice things to say about his former liberal adversary, of course, as a principled lawmaker that also knows when to strike a deal. But McConnell was equally full of praise for his own Republican Senate, which is about to face its biggest deadline crunch of the year: "A real sense of renewal is taking hold in the Senate."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=87d8213f0ac9f9e38f93024003a2fddd8f50e728454b7bd711cc5cabf101fc7f
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=87d8213f0ac9f9e38f93024003a2fddd8f50e728454b7bd711cc5cabf101fc7f

Best line, per transcript from @stewsays: "A lot of folks like to joke about the odd couple that was Ted Kennedy and Orrin Hatch. But I think Mitch McConnell and Barack Obama may have them outdone. I had to warn reporters not to faint last week before offering the President some praise on trade. I'm even getting handwritten notes from the President these days. He sent one the other day to thank me for supporting the nomination of Loretta Lynch."

IT'S A TWO-WEEK SPRINT IN CONGRESS. And you're in the right place to follow along with the Huddle, your play-by-play guide to everything Capitol Hill. Please send tips to
mailto:beverett@politico.com
beverett@politico.com and follow along on Twitter @burgessev.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The Senate is in at 3 p.m. and will vote at 5:30 p.m. on a resolution prodding Iran to release four American citizens. The House is not in session.

SHUSTER THE VIRGIN ISLANDS BOOSTER: The U.S. Virgin Islands had been struggling to compete with its British neighbor due to a regulation limiting the number of passengers on uninspected charter boats. Enter House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster. "The Pennsylvania Republican championed a provision that doubled the number of passengers permitted to be on board. That same month, Shuster hosted a fundraiser and collected more than $33,000 in campaign contributions from Virgin Islands donors who had never given to him before. Several of the donors told POLITICO they donated to Shuster specifically because he worked to change the regulation."

Rockefeller collabo: The powerful House chairman was not alone in his quest to change the obscure law for the islands. "Shuster had a willing partner in former Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), who also vacations on the island. Rockefeller, who left the Senate in January, had not received any contributions from Virgin Islands residents since 2011 ... That powerful partnership - Shuster and Rockefeller - helped break a legislative logjam that stymied former Virgin Islands Del. Donna Christensen during her entire 18 years in Congress." Another one by Jake Sherman, Anna Palmer and John Bresnahan:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=87d8213f0ac9f9e3c5e91ab80984111ae4c48d970b81c13ca2c593f17b94d4fc
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=87d8213f0ac9f9e3c5e91ab80984111ae4c48d970b81c13ca2c593f17b94d4fc

SUNDAY SPEED READ - Burr defends Patriot Act ahead of expiration: The Senate Intelligence chairman has been taking his pro-extension gospel to the Sunday show circuit since the GOP took the Senate and gave Sen. Richard Burr a big promotion. Ending bulk data collection, Burr said on ABC, should not be in the cards: "We've had absolutely no incident of anybody's privacy being intruded on ... We might have been able to stop 9/11 with bulk collection."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=87d8213f0ac9f9e32aa4358b95da4bbed841595b51f18206e03b7216ea41d451
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=87d8213f0ac9f9e32aa4358b95da4bbed841595b51f18206e03b7216ea41d451

Sanders's litmus test: I still haven't decided whether to start putting the (D) next to Sen. Bernie Sanders's name, but Sanders has decided on what sort of judges he wants if he's elected president. "If elected president, I will have a litmus test in terms of my nominee to be a Supreme Court justice and that nominee will say that they are going to overturn this disastrous Supreme Court decision."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=87d8213f0ac9f9e3fdcc32856b6ffcf7ac23ca5ffd0fb857a864df593af8e199
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=87d8213f0ac9f9e3fdcc32856b6ffcf7ac23ca5ffd0fb857a864df593af8e199

COUNT ME AS SKEPTICAL: Trent Lott running for governor of Mississippi? Not a hard "no." "I learned a long time ago, never say 'No.' You never know what the good Lord puts in front of you ... I doubt that it would happen.'
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=87d8213f0ac9f9e3482ed8dc306c9e68fa67c32fc855ea84c96a829d1e7737f6
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=87d8213f0ac9f9e3482ed8dc306c9e68fa67c32fc855ea84c96a829d1e7737f6

THE WRIGHT THING TO READ - David Rogers offers the definitive take on former House Speaker Jim Wright's death and what it's meant for the Democratic Party and Congress. "That dream of being an activist speaker in a modern Congress required that Wright first bring a movement with him - something he never had. Instead, he was the last in a long line of white Southern Democratic speakers, whose regional base was already eroding. In fact, Wright might never have been speaker at all but for the fact that two bigger Democrats, each rooted in the reform movement of the 1970s, had destroyed each other's chances and left him the opening."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=87d8213f0ac9f9e3af87b1e446b09f3bb09c878a10a1fa66030487b1886fd606
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=87d8213f0ac9f9e3af87b1e446b09f3bb09c878a10a1fa66030487b1886fd606

YOUNG GUNS: Some interesting stats out of Smart Politics on the race between Reps. Patrick Murphy and Ron DeSantis for the Florida Senate seat. If they are the Democratic and GOP nominees, respectively, it would be the third-youngest Senate matchup of the direct election era. The younger candidates: "Massachusetts' Ted Kennedy vs. George Cabot Lodge in 1962 and New Jersey's Bill Bradley vs. Jeff Bell in 1978."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=87d8213f0ac9f9e36548b5fad95901eae941c1e97ac288f072da3db01e2e283d
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=87d8213f0ac9f9e36548b5fad95901eae941c1e97ac288f072da3db01e2e283d

And in Indiana: Another young man in a hurry, Rep. Marlin Stutzman is officially in the race to succeed retiring Sen. Dan Coats.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=87d8213f0ac9f9e3e34bba474fe91763b46d9dd4aed31dcf6f5eb914b2922a1a
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=87d8213f0ac9f9e3e34bba474fe91763b46d9dd4aed31dcf6f5eb914b2922a1a

BLUNT TALKER: Brian Hart is joining Sen. Roy Blunt as he's communications director. Hart worked for Sens. Judd Gregg and Sam Brownback and will replace Amber Marchand, who is over at Hamilton Insight now.

FRIDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Shelby Boxenbaum was the first to answer that Johnny Cash sang President Richard Nixon these three songs: "What is Truth," "The Man in Black" and "The Ballad of Ira Hayes."

TODAY'S TRIVIA - I've got today's question: This one-time iconic D.C. facility hosted the first Beatles concert in America. Name the building and what it will be used for after it's renovated. 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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