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06/01/2016 07:34 AM EDT


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

CORKER DISMISSES FED PROBE - John Bresnahan talks with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, who's in the spotlight more than ever as he gets shortlisted for a role in potential Trump administration - while his personal finances are under federal scrutiny: " 'In some ways, you could look at what has happened over the course of the last year - if that was something that was gonna matter - you could almost look at it as a blessing,' the Tennessee Republican said in an interview, referring to the inquiries by the FBI and the Securities and Exchange Commission. 'From the standpoint of my finances, I will be the most vetted person here.'"

--"Federal investigators are looking into possible financial irregularities involving CBL & Associates Properties, Inc., a Chattanooga, Tennessee-based real estate investment trust that owns or manages dozens of shopping centers and malls across the country. Corker has bought and sold millions of dollars in CBL stock since he was elected to the Senate in 2006, but failed to disclose several of those transactions." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3fff08e94112e7214b8fa8d6c1ba3d4ef9ebfffe5710929c26bf88fe4c4912f1

--More from the world of Senate GOP and Trump: Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) pens an op-ed urging Republicans to embrace the political outsider, likening Trump to his own anti-establishment campaign in 2014: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3fff08e94112e721a9eab35be4fce9d7e36bf6d2ca8776d9028905ae9cb16c0e

HOUSE, SENATE POISED FOR SPENDING CLASH - The Hill's Alex Bolton and Scott Wong on yet another difference in the leadership styles of Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell: "The two top Republicans in Congress are pursuing strikingly different strategies on spending bills this year, setting up a possible collision when funding for the government is scheduled to expire just weeks before the presidential election. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is betting control of the upper chamber on the argument that Republicans know how to govern."

--"One of Speaker Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) top priorities is to fulfill his pledge to give rank-and-file members more input into the legislative process ... Senate Republicans are concerned these clashing priorities will undercut their efforts to get Congress working again." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3fff08e94112e721b7d2699eee2aa42f9e854b691d7fad3ea9bf408d83e24036

QUOTE OF THE DAY - Nancy Pelosi, in this Ed O'Keefe/Mike DeBonis piece about how Dems are using Trump to chip away at the House GOP majority: If the election were held today, she said, "We would win. We would pick up more than the 20, we could get to the 30. But it's not today." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3fff08e94112e72175598cf1a956edc2abaf8e010e1c436d488647c7865bee23

MCCARTHY RAKES IN CASH FOR GOP - Bres and Rachael Bade with the scoop: "House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy ... has donated $2 million - more than any other member of leadership - to GOP candidates and incumbents from his reelection campaign and leadership PAC, Majority Committee PAC ... McCarthy also has transferred $5.5 million directly to the National Republican Congressional Committee and taken part in nearly 200 fundraising events." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3fff08e94112e72180d038791d30d1629cfb6931a41e029b79dfbb664e3cdd74

TRANSITIONS - Danielle Varallo, press secretary for Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), is leaving Capitol Hill to join United Healthcare as its associate director of communications. She writes in a farewell email to colleagues: "Working for Senator Kirk has been an incredible adventure and I will be forever grateful to have learned from a man who taught all of us to #NeverGiveUp."

HELLO, IT'S WEDNESDAY, June 1, 2016 and welcome to the Huddle, where we're plowing through Mitch McConnell's memoir, "The Long Game." One of the more entertaining tidbits do far: How McConnell, in his first bid for the Senate in 1984, had a particularly bad day when a tree in his yard got struck by lightning, his goldfish died and his girlfriend dumped him via answering machine.

As always, I'm at skim@politico.com and on Twitter at @seungminkim.

My new followers include @AmeliaFrappolli and @LaurenCSinclair.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - Nada. Enjoy it.

AROUND THE HILL - Quiet.

MCCONNELL PUSHING RUBIO ON #FLSEN - Via David Wright of CNN: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday publicly urged Marco Rubio to run for re-election, joining a chorus of Republicans anxious to see the freshman from Florida retain his crucial seat in the Senate."

--"'I hope (he runs). We're doing everything we can to encourage him to run,' McConnell said in an interview on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' while discussing the impact of Donald Trump's candidacy on down-ballot Republican candidates in swing states." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3fff08e94112e721a7223f034a3572162a6f682c88ec37908323c355f3d0128f

BENGHAZI DEMS: INCLUDE US! Elise Viebeck for the Washington Post: "Democrats on the House Select Committee on Benghazi are asking to participate in the writing of the panel's final report, which is expected to come out before the Democratic convention in late July ... 'In recent interviews, you have stated that you are close to completing a draft of your report and that you intend to release it in a matter of weeks," the members wrote to [committee chairman Trey] Gowdy."

--"'Since the Select Committee has never held an official business meeting, and since we have not held a public hearing in six months, we have very little information about how you plan to proceed.' ... The two sides appear unlikely to come together before the report's release." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3fff08e94112e7216374dd8d24e7c5068b233781548af85748d90607ea875336

SCOTUS DISMISSES CRUZ CITIZENSHIP CHALLENGE - HuffPo's Cristian Farias explains: "The U.S. Supreme Court won't review a Utah case questioning Ted Cruz's eligibility to be president, one of several similar challenges that have been brewing in lower courts and in which the Texas senator has largely prevailed."

--"Without explanation, the justices on Tuesday declined to review Wagner v. Cruz, an appeal brought by a retired lawyer who claims that Cruz isn't a 'natural born citizen' within the meaning of the Constitution. A lower court dismissed the case on the basis that the lawyer, Walter Wagner, lacked standing to bring the challenge in federal court." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3fff08e94112e72172943fcaa3da10981833e93025391f9f2e9b9f92ee5845bc

MCCONNELL'S FAVORITE DEMOCRAT - It's Barbara Boxer, who's also been named one of Sen. Jim Inhofe's (R-Okla.) top three favorite liberals. CQ Roll Call: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pointed to a liberal stalwart as one of his favorite Democrats in the Senate. 'I'm shockingly enough a big fan of Barbara Boxer,' the Kentucky Republican told Yahoo News during a Tuesday interview. McConnell cited working with the California Democrat to craft a deal on a highway bill last year. He said the pair 'enjoyed each other's company after many years of being on the opposite sides of everything.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=10dc6f224d293f08fc7dc2014225656d074483b74feddb0911bac44b2b05b5fe

A SWEET LYFT RIDE - Who's that lawmaker using his Honda (with congressional plates attached) to moonlight as a Lyft driver? Turns out it's not a member, but the daughter of Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), who's been using the car to pick up some extra cash for school expenses. Cummings has since asked daughter Adia to remove the Hill plates. Via WaPo: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=10dc6f224d293f08f56c4ede8b5b5d5c1a43826d5d6e4ca392155666d6f2cb50

TUESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Ryan McDevitt was the first person to correct answer that Lyndon B. Johnson was the former House member and later, senator, who would always plant a kiss on Speaker Rayburn's bald head when visiting him.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Here's one from frequent Huddle trivia player Patrick Boland: While the Electoral College determines the president, what is the closest margin of victory in which the winning candidate won both the popular vote and Electoral College vote? The first person to correctly answer will get a mention in the next day's Huddle. E-mail skim@politico.com.

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