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By Rachael Bade (
mailto:rbade@politico.com
rbade@politico.com or @RachaelMBade)

IN A TRADE PINCH, OBAMA TURNS TO CBC - AGAIN. He's done this before when in trouble on the Hill. Here's our Edward-Isaac Dovere: "Backed into a corner on Capitol Hill, President Barack Obama and his team lean on the four dozen African-American Democrats who are the core of his base. They did it in 2013 when the president was trying to get authority to bomb Syria. Now they're doing it in the search for a few more votes as they try to cobble together a coalition to save the president's trade agenda..."

"It's a frustratingly familiar spot for CBC members. They've grumbled since almost the day he was inaugurated about the distance Obama's kept from them, and though some cluck about being the president's perennial fallback plan, they're still inclined to back him up in a pinch. They hear the case he's making - that trade will directly help their districts through funding included for job training, education investment and new economic opportunities. But they're also still Democrats who've got many of the same concerns that their non-African-American colleagues do."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce0ad67e60abc5c7065d12e37a73b28b66a086525dbd6e69fda846a3f6e1a613
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce0ad67e60abc5c7065d12e37a73b28b66a086525dbd6e69fda846a3f6e1a613

SPEAKING OF CHARM OFFENSIVES ON HILL DEMS--

HILLARY CLINTON WOOS CAPITOL HILL DEMOCRATS who are starving for attention from Obama. And they're loving it, Lauren French and John Bresnahan report for POLITICO: "For as long as Barack Obama has been president, Hill Democrats have complained that he comes around only when he needs something. Clinton's campaign, by contrast, is engaging early and often with them, a sign her modus operandi as president would be much closer to her shmoozer-in-chief husband Bill Clinton, who cultivated deep ties to Capitol Hill during his two terms and to this day is known for calling up members of Congress to talk politics."

"It's also an indication that Clinton learned her lesson from 2008, when she assumed Democratic lawmakers would fall in line behind her only to see many of them jump aboard the Obama bandwagon."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce0ad67e60abc5c755479c8fa8006c28030b0b1f3be3d67f7fef737457e042e0
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HALF WAY TO FRIDAY -It's May 6, 2015. Thanks for tuning in to Huddle this a.m. Send scoops, news, ideas, corrections or whatever, here:
mailto:rbade@politico.com
rbade@politico.com , or Tweet: @RachaelMBade.

TODAY IN CONGRESS: The House is still on recess. The Senate returns at 9:30 a.m. and will shortly thereafter pick up work on Sen. Bob Corker's (R-Tenn.) Iran nuclear agreement review bill. A cloture vote is set to occur, at latest, tomorrow morning.

AROUND THE HILL: At 11 a.m., Sens. Dean Heller, Bob Casey, Jerry Moran, Pat Toomey and Joe Manchin will discuss the continued VA backlog in a press conference. At 11:30 a.m., Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Brad Sherman introduce "Too Big To Fail, Too Big to Exist Act." At 4:15 p.m., Sen. James Lankford andthe American Action Forum's Sam Batkins will discuss regulatory reform and the Senator's new #CutRedTape Initiative.

MCCONNELL ENDS DEBATE ON IRAN. For real this time. Here's Rob Hotakainen for McClatchy: "Seeking to end a Republican feud, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky moved Tuesday evening to wrap up debate on a bill that would give Congress the power to review a nuclear agreement with Iran. 'We're going to move quickly,' McConnell told reporters after meeting privately with GOP senators to plot strategy. With the bill bogged down in the Senate for the last week, McConnell filed a cloture motion, beginning a process that would formally bring debate to an end. Democrats and Republicans alike predicted the bill will eventually pass by a large margin. But McConnell had been under
growing pressure to act after GOP senators filed 67 amendments."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce0ad67e60abc5c7baa3e913b44f3a024c80e9c8a4d5ea183650fb7051f939d5
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AND WAIVES OFF HARRY REID'S TRADE PROTEST. Billy House for Bloomberg: " The U.S. Senate will take up legislation to give President Barack Obama the trade negotiating authority he wants 'very soon,' Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said. 'It's been almost an out of body experience but we've been working closely with the White House,' McConnell told reporters Tuesday as he said the trade bill would follow action on two other measures. 'We're working together to try to get it across the finish line.' Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, a foe of 'fast-track' trade authority, called on Republicans to first consider measures to extend federal highway funding and modify U.S. surveillance
laws."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce0ad67e60abc5c794629ce21c87953efcd14ba33621cf9e788c10fc27f1f266
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce0ad67e60abc5c794629ce21c87953efcd14ba33621cf9e788c10fc27f1f266

WSJ PROFILES TOM COTTON, WHO "STIRS UP THE HILL." Kristina Peterson reports: "Freshman Sen. Tom Cotton's temporary office is located in the less-than-desirable basement of the Russell Senate building, reflecting his rookie status. Like other junior senators, he performs his share of Senate chores, including presiding over the chamber. But the similarities end there. Among this year's crop of 13 newly minted senators, Mr. Cotton, who served one term in the House, has emerged early on as the most vocal and polarizing newcomer, set apart by his headline-grabbing foreign policy.

"The Arkansas Republican's tactics have drawn praise from his conservative supporters, but irritated some GOP colleagues when his moves have conflicted with their efforts. Long gone are the days when Senate freshmen were expected to keep their heads down and mouths closed ... In March, Mr. Cotton provoked White House anger when he wrote an open letter... directly to Iran's leaders criticizing the U.S.-led talks...Meanwhile, four of Mr. Cotton's fellow freshmen senators have yet to speak this year on the chamber's floor."
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http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce0ad67e60abc5c747af67cc773cbc31ef946684a633ac43aa2cf254e9ddd291

SENATE GOP LEADERSHIP EYES SHORT-TERM PATRIOT ACT EXTENSION. Dustin Volz reports for National Journal: "Republican leaders in the Senate may attempt to offer a short-term extension to the expiring surveillance authorities of the Patriot Act, even as they again vow not to take up the issue before first passing legislation on Iran nuclear negotiations and an international trade deal. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday said his chamber would not address government spying reform or highway infrastructure funding, despite fast-approaching deadlines for both looming at the end of the month, until it cleared the deck on Iran and trade."

"But McConnell's top deputy, Majority Whip John Cornyn, said a shorter reauthorization to the Patriot Act authorities could be in the works. 'That's one of the possibilities, because we're going to run into some real time constraints,' Cornyn told reporters, when asked specifically about a short extension...It is unclear how long a shorter extension might be, though it would likely be far shorter than the five and a half years favored by McConnell so far. Multiple sources said an extension ranging from four to six months was one option being considered."
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http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce0ad67e60abc5c7bd9c5852275cc5c92c6e9ea3f01c7a06069659a368e99c7f

CHECK IT OFF THE LIST: SENATE CLEARS HOUSE-PASSED BUDGET. Rebecca Shabad for The Hill: "Congressional Republicans scored a major legislative victory on Tuesday as the Senate adopted the first bicameral GOP budget agreement in a decade. The 51-48 vote capped weeks of work by Republican leaders in the House and Senate, who shepherded the blueprint through a messy debate over defense spending that at times threatened to split their conferences."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce0ad67e60abc5c7d75d139048ab330892a5612fb8314765b4416f0fa0c5b9bd
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce0ad67e60abc5c7d75d139048ab330892a5612fb8314765b4416f0fa0c5b9bd

Voting No: Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), of course.

The Washington Post's Paul Kane puts this in context, noting that while, yes, there is a slight uptick in productivity, it may not yet translate to a total Hill revolution: "What Republicans tout as a sea change, however, Democrats view as a new Congress merely passing the low-hanging fruit of legislation, and even that can still look dysfunctional. Two months ago there was a near-shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, and it took more than a month to approve the legislation creating a fund for sex trafficking victims...The process has left some rank-and-file lawmakers saying that they've seen some substantial progress, only to see a return to old habits."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce0ad67e60abc5c701d82ae288401a813d40fd0928bc0afae08e8d25c95a6774
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce0ad67e60abc5c701d82ae288401a813d40fd0928bc0afae08e8d25c95a6774

WELCOME TO CONGRESS. Stepping in for the disgraced Michael Grimm, here's former POLITICO reporter Alex Burns for the New York Times: "The Staten Island district attorney, Daniel M. Donovan Jr., whose office investigated the chokehold death of Eric Garner in a struggle with the police last year, easily won a special election for the House of Representatives on Tuesday, according to unofficial results. With nearly all precincts reporting, Mr. Donovan, a Republican, was leading with nearly 60 percent of the vote, compared with about 39 percent for Councilman Vincent J. Gentile, the Democratic candidate, in the race to represent the 11th Congressional District. It covers Staten Island and parts
of Brooklyn. The victory makes Mr. Donovan the lone Republican from New York City in the House."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce0ad67e60abc5c74d24b00d8b6489fb4fa6b00b4e6061c3c6c176f6d5822beb
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CAPITOL POLICE DID NOT BRIEF LEADERS ON LOST GUNS. Hannah Hess killing the campus beat over at Roll Call: "House Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., might never have known their bodyguards left guns in the bathroom without CQ Roll Call's report, which has launched a Capitol Police investigation into the source of the leak. Spokesmen for the two GOP leaders on Tuesday made their first comments on the security lapses that were revealed May 1, in a report featuring a photo of the Glock a member of McConnell's detail allegedly left hanging out of a toilet seat cover dispenser in the Capitol Visitor Center's Senate office space. A CVC worker found
the gun on Jan. 29, resulting in a recommendation of six days of unpaid suspension for the officer.

"'Leader McConnell learned about these incidents last week,' Michael Brumas said in an email to CQ Roll Call. 'He takes these security breaches seriously and he awaits the results of a thorough review of the incidents by the Capitol Police Board.' Boehner spokesman Michael Steel also confirmed his boss was not aware until last week of the March 24 incident, when a child visiting the Capitol with his parents allegedly found a loaded Glock lost by a dignitary protection officer in the bathroom of the Speaker's Suite."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce0ad67e60abc5c7b3ae0bbf647496ff9b6242a78e4027afb6b768687dd6ceb0
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce0ad67e60abc5c7b3ae0bbf647496ff9b6242a78e4027afb6b768687dd6ceb0

CONSERVATIVES STOKE TEXAS TAKEOVER FIRE. Catherine Thompson for TPM: "The Pentagon has no plans to stage a military takeover of the Lone Star state. There are no tunnels covertly being constructed under West Texas' shuttered Wal-Mart stores. So why are the fringes of the Internet still abuzz with rumors that the U.S. military is on the cusp of imposing martial law in 'hostile' Texas under the guise of a training exercise dubbed 'Jade Helm 15'?... A slew of other influential figures in conservative circles have either deliberately or inadvertently given credence to those who buy into the wild conspiracy theories: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott... former Rep. Ron Paul... Ted Cruz...Chuck
Norris...Alex Jones... Rep. Louie Gohmert... Rick Perry"
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce0ad67e60abc5c7ee1b64c21628fcff008756f84f729d0291134beadd36c383
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce0ad67e60abc5c7ee1b64c21628fcff008756f84f729d0291134beadd36c383

In related news: "Louie Gohmert Gets Why Some Texans Are Worried About a Military Takeover," by National Journal's Matt Berman:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce0ad67e60abc5c7525c21af078b7225956165ee7d1c4cc063c88206fff2ae66
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce0ad67e60abc5c7525c21af078b7225956165ee7d1c4cc063c88206fff2ae66

SPOTTED ON THE SENATE FLOOR: Rep. Louie Gohmert, chatting up Sens. Cruz, Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and others. One Senator who spoke to him told us Gohmert wasn't discussing the Texas-military hubbub but rather showing relatives around the Capitol.

DESSERT - FORMER GIFFORDS CHIEF LIVIN' RIGHT. Gabby Giffords' former chief of staff Pia Carusone just announced in a mass email to Washingtonians she knows that she's opening a bourbon and vodka distillery called Republic Restoratives in a renovated warehouse in Northeast D.C.:"My long time friend and business partner, Rachel Gardner, and I have been talking about doing this for a while. About three years ago, we got serious. We did a lot of research and found that the demand for craft spirits is on the rise, that bourbon in particular is enjoying new support from women and younger people - not just our grandfathers - and that if we embarked on this adventure, we would be one of a few 100%
women-owned distilleries in the country." Their crowd funding campaign:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce0ad67e60abc5c7dae037289f0d1a9256c71cc73a98d292cdc621dbe1bfaf58
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce0ad67e60abc5c7dae037289f0d1a9256c71cc73a98d292cdc621dbe1bfaf58 And the Post review:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce0ad67e60abc5c7441ef04e2bc5904bbb52e16e710e0c7f4bfd6be9c45c1d4e
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce0ad67e60abc5c7441ef04e2bc5904bbb52e16e710e0c7f4bfd6be9c45c1d4e

TUESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER.Kirtan Mehta, Sen. Joe Manchin's(D-W.V.) leg director, was the first to answer correctly that it was Presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Adams who chipped off a piece of William Shakespeare's chair while touring his home in England together.

TODAY'S TRIVIA: When he appeared on "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!", Bill Clinton correctly answered several questions about what TV show? Email
mailto:rbade@politico.com
rbade@politico.com .

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