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01/11/2016 07:41 AM EDT


By Seung Min Kim (skim@politico.com or @seungminkim)

OBAMA + HILL REPUBLICANS = ALMOST OVER - POLITICO's Burgess Everett and Jake Sherman explains how Obama's long, tortured relationship with the congressional GOP is coming to an end: "It's happened over and over again since 2011. A deadline quickly approaches. Congressional Republicans and President Barack Obama are locked in a stare-down for weeks. Then, just before calamity hits, a deal is struck - usually. But as Obama comes to Capitol Hill for his final State of the Union address on Tuesday, the political dynamics have shifted dramatically. Both sides have lost their most powerful tool to get stuff done - leverage."

--"The government is funded until a month before the election. The debt ceiling won't be hit until 2017. And that means the spurt of bipartisan deal making that Congress and White House managed in 2015 will probably come to a screeching halt until Obama's successor takes office. 'There isn't the sense of urgency on a lot of these issues that there was last year,' said John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 3 Senate Republican. 'Needing the president as a partner to do things? A lot of the stuff we needed to get done, got done last year.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6dd64a3a4364ad1d8a2b70e914d71fbc9f4d3e29db7d323e25efeadd41dc66c9

DEMS PRESSURING OBAMA ON IRAN - WSJ's Kristina Peterson: "Congressional Democrats are intensifying pressure on the Obama administration to hold Iran accountable for its testing of ballistic missiles ... The administration in late December told lawmakers it planned to impose new financial penalties on nearly a dozen companies and individuals for their alleged role in developing Iran's ballistic missile program. It then reversed course, saying it needed more time for diplomatic work with the Iranian government, but it hasn't given a timeline for when they would be imposed."

--"The delay has put some Democrats, particularly those who represent large Jewish constituencies and donors, in an uncomfortable position ... 'They ought to impose sanctions because we have to show we take this seriously,' Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D., N.Y.), who backed the nuclear deal, said in a recent interview. 'Iran is very destabilizing, very aggressive and very badly behaved and we have to do what we can to stop that.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6dd64a3a4364ad1d7c3c068bb29e779f3d5aeace749d3f05c8e89b9ead58f1c8

MIKE LEE GAINS HILL CLOUT - Burgess and your Huddle author recently sat down with the conservative Utah senator, who's crafted a reputation as a stalwart tea party darling who nevertheless can strike major bipartisan deals: "In his five years on the job, Lee has agitated his own leadership with stubborn partisanship one moment, teamed up with Democrats on ambitious legislation the next - and became a sought-after endorsement in the GOP presidential primary. Now he's embarking on his biggest project yet, one that places him directly at odds with [Ted] Cruz: Reforming the nation's criminal justice system."

--"Though by some metrics Lee is among the most partisan senators to serve in the Senate in decades, he's simultaneously pursued party-splitting deals like reforming surveillance laws and scrapping mandatory minimum sentences - crusades that have put him at odds at times with each of the senators running for president. 'When you have members of your own party who don't like legislation that you're working on, that does create a need for a tricky balance. But I don't feel conflicted on it ideologically,' the 44-year-old lawmaker said in a recent interview with POLITICO in his office."

--Immigration junkies will enjoy this anecdote from the Lee interview: "After he arrived in the Senate in 2011, Lee began working with [Chuck] Schumer on reforms to the U.S. visa system. Two years later, Schumer came calling to see if Lee would be interested in going bigger: Would he join immigration reformers on the Gang of Eight? Lee didn't immediately rule it out. But later, Lee recalled, he had a fateful conversation with Schumer. 'The threshold we are about to cross, if you stay on, you got to agree in advance [that] you are going to support whatever we put out regardless of what is in it,' Schumer said, according to Lee's account. A Senate Democratic aide disputed that Lee was ever
told he'd have little say in the end product ... 'I just got kinda freaked out about that,' Lee said." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6dd64a3a4364ad1db25499c3ca71370ba955c4eff3962b10c6b9282f38b03bc6

--From the cutting room floor of our Lee story, how the senator gets confused when he gets fundraising appeals from his buddies: "You know, I'm sure there are millions of Americans with Republican Party political activity in their background who get similar emails every day. But these typically aren't their coworkers who are getting them. So when I get one ... it always has some clever caption like 'We need to talk' and I think oh, it's [a] legislative issue. And it's just, oh, they're asking for money again."

SUNDAY SHOW WRAP-UP -

--Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell dismisses the prospects of an AUMF, telling ABC's "This Week": "I think an AUMF ... that ties the president's hands behind his back is not something I would want to do to a new president who's going to have to clean up this mess." ABC: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6dd64a3a4364ad1d790b6b3a81245d4ea7939ec37eb2f99f9c7948aa56dd57de

--He adds the Senate won't step in with a resolution declaring Ted Cruz a natural-born citizen, like senators did in 2008 for then-GOP presidential nominee John McCain. "I just don't think the Senate ought to get into the middle of this," McConnell said on ABC. The Hill: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6dd64a3a4364ad1dba0997f81e28e439fd67ddc3c1277002811f4cce234e8ffc

--And Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) says on CBS' "Face the Nation" that he regrets not campaign more in economically hard-hit neighborhoods when he was the GOP vice-presidential pick in 2012 - a decision he said was due partly to pressure from political consultants. The Wall Street Journal: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6dd64a3a4364ad1d50db47ef242d946f655e8f27c6bd836ce4a8e862db121a6c

WELCOME TO MONDAY, Jan. 11, 2016 and you're reading the Huddle, where unfortunately - due to McConnell's Sunday show comments - we can no longer be a birther-free zone. Talk to me: I'm at skim@politico.com or on Twitter at @seungminkim.

My new followers include @ElenaH_19 and @BAShopGirl.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The House is in at noon with votes held at 6:30 p.m. on a handful of suspensions, including the North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act. The Senate is back at it at 2 p.m., with a vote at 5:30 p.m. on confirming Luis Restrepo to the Third Circuit.

AROUND THE HILL - Sen. Chris Coons will lead a foreign policy conference call at 11 a.m. Dial-in: (202) 228-0808 and conference ID: 323405. Rep. Rosa DeLauro will lead an anti-TPP press conference with other House Democrats and several union leaders at 4 p.m. in 2168 Rayburn.

--And you're invited to Morning Money with Rep. Kevin Brady: POLITICO's Ben White discusses the upcoming State of the Union address, the U.S. economy and what it means for your hometown with House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas). AIA District Architecture Center - 421 7th St. NW; Monday, Jan. 11 - 5 p.m. RSVP: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6dd64a3a4364ad1dfcaa408881cdfa239d315bfb5887a3676d134f479b21793b

ICYMI - Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) will deliver the Spanish-language rebuttal to Obama's State of the Union address. Huddle is wondering whether Diaz-Balart - an avid proponent of immigration reform - will freelance a bit, much like Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.) did last year: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6dd64a3a4364ad1d4cef5a8018e2d66b335cb2f806f6c26d8209861e0b5bd6b7 Buzzfeed story on Diaz-Balart here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6dd64a3a4364ad1d04c160e16deffae8f6e2fca9f038b17e4583a92f23655d4b

--SOTU Attendance Watch: Ted Cruz will skip the annual address, while the other three senators in the 2016 race - GOP Sens. Marco Rubio and Rand Paul, and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders - will be there, per The Hill: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6dd64a3a4364ad1d97729c746523149f72f97abeb55f531344f4eb77ed717f08 Rubio's guest will be Conner MacFarlane, whose father was killed in Afghanistan when he was 15 years old. Tampa Bay Times: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6dd64a3a4364ad1d843410caac41fa94bbd00cdbe0e72b5abeea1c52d69168b2

HOUSE TAKES UP OPEN-RECORDS REFORMS - From the New York Times' Gardiner Harris: "Fifty years after Congress passed a law opening most government records to public scrutiny, the House is expected Tuesday to take up the most important open records overhaul since 2007 ... Republicans in the House, frustrated by what they call the State Department's incomplete and slow response to inquiries about Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while she was secretary of state, have complained that the open records process 'is broken' and that the Obama administration has ignored the law. Democrats, while defending the administration, agree that the records law needs strengthening."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6dd64a3a4364ad1dacc7d0cff25ae8ee69c42f4273d206e9ad906df85e9d4978

W.H. DEFENDS RAIDS AS DEMS FUME - The furor from Democrats over controversial immigrant raids continued Friday as the White House pledged that the strategy will continue, from HuffPo's Elise Foley: "'We're of course aware of these concerns, but the enforcement strategy and priorities that the administration has articulated are not going to change,' Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Friday ... Earnest noted ... that the families fit into the administration's stated priorities for deportation, along with convicted criminals and others considered a potential threat to public safety, due to their status as relatively recent arrivals."

--"But Democratic critics and immigration activists are throwing the oft-used 'felons, not families' line back at the administration, and asking why women and children are being targeted in their homes." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6dd64a3a4364ad1d79e5e05a55eaafb0b8a56c7bc81305541a559e887cf5bd61

--WaPo's Greg Sargent has details on a letter circulated by Democrats urging Obama to give Temporary Protected Status to the immigrants from Central America who came here illegally since 2014: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6dd64a3a4364ad1d8eff756079cba568ea522f0545c623623678acd50f2ee154

GOP BENGHAZI MEMBER: 'HOPEFUL' CLINTON WILL BE CHARGED - The AP's Matthew Daly: "Rep. Mike Pompeo of Kansas said there is increasing evidence that 'an enormous amount of information' on Clinton's private server is classified ... Pompeo said he is 'anxious' for the Justice Department and FBI to make a determination on whether to bring charges against Clinton as quickly as possible. If charges are made, a grand jury will determine whether to indict. 'I think that there is only one answer that can be reached, and I am hopeful that will be the outcome that the FBI achieves,' said Pompeo, who also serves on the House Intelligence Committee." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6dd64a3a4364ad1d85be3da9b194b99bb5d502b92d02c4b04956705dc5bfe969

OBAMA VETOS OBAMACARE REPEAL - Obama did what was long expected - vetoing the first bill sent to his desk that dismantled his signature domestic policy achievement. House Republicans are planning a veto override vote on Jan. 26, pegged to the Jan. 22 March for Life in Washington. More from the AP here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6dd64a3a4364ad1d4c083a823eec0d18312c5b5ca5d312289e39da60a0c62bdb

COCHRAN AIDE SENTENCING POSTPONED - Spencer Hsu reports for the Post that Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) had planned to speak on behalf of Fred Pagan, who has pleaded guilty to methamphetamine charges: "After a series of traumas and emotional injuries during his life, Pagan's attorney wrote in court filings, 'one family has always stood by Fred - the Cochrans.'"

--"Pagan's attorneys are asking for three years' probation and drug treatment, citing his exemplary work for Cochran - beginning as a 16-year-old page and progressing to be office manager, personal assistant and one of his highest-paid aides - after surviving an abusive childhood and the psychological toll of life as a mostly closeted gay man." The sentencing has been rescheduled to Jan. 15. More from the Post: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6dd64a3a4364ad1d46b4331127333bbb11d448f7b5db0b82d8a39d0c0346cb13

'ALOHA' TO ALOHA FRIDAYS? Huddle would love to hear from former Speaker John Boehner - a stickler for proper attire - on this: "It's Aloha Friday, and U.S. Rep. Mark Takai wants to be able to don an Aloha shirt on the floor of the House of Representatives ... The Hawaii congressman said his office has observed 'Aloha Fridays' since he came into office in 2014. 'However, when House votes occur on Fridays, it is harder to get into the spirit, as Aloha Wear is forbidden by the House rules, which requires that full business attire be worn on the Floor,' Takai wrote today in his letter." From the Honolulu Star-Advertiser: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6dd64a3a4364ad1d58ce86fe16cb6be4f189dc07a748859006daab69fb4c7b65

FRIDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - No one got the question, which was: Who was the first professional football player to be elected to Congress? What was his team and what state did he represent? The answer is Adam Martin Wyatt, who served in the House from Pennsylvania and played pro football for the Greensburg (Pa.) Athletic Association from 1895 to 1897. Well, two people answered correctly, but didn't include all three parts of the answer, so they were automatically disqualified. We run a tight ship here at Huddle trivia.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Huddle reader Bradford Fitch has today's question: What was the last film to be made on the Capitol grounds using actual U.S. Capitol buildings? The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. E-mail skim@politico.com.

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