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By Scott Wong (
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swong@politico.com or @scottwongDC)

HUNDREDS FETE BAUCUS -- More than 400 past and present staffers, fellow senators and friends toasted Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus at a Wednesday reception saluting his nearly four decades of service in Washington. Hosts were careful not to bill the gathering in the Rules Committee room as a farewell party since the Senate has yet to confirm the Montana Democrat as ambassador to China. But it's expected to be the first of many celebrations before he takes his new post in Beijing. Utah Sen. Orin Hatch, Finance's top Republican, presented Baucus with a ceremonial gavel. Guests were greeted by an iconic photograph of Baucus with icicles hanging from his eyebrows - it was taken
outside Yellowstone during his first campaign for the House as he walked across the entire state of Montana.

-- Those on hand included: Sens. Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, Jon Tester, Al Franken, Kirsten Gillibrand, Jeanne Shaheen, Mike Crapo, John Thune, and Mike Johanns, as well as former staffers Jim Messina and Scott Mulhauser.

THE ROGERS REPORT: FARM BILL CLEARS HOUSE - "Given up for dead just months ago, a new five-year farm bill easily cleared the House Wednesday morning, raising hopes that Congress can send it to President Barack Obama next week. The strength of the House's 251-166 vote makes this easier, and it's now expected that when the bill papers arrive in the Senate Thursday, cloture will be filed promptly, setting up a pivotal roll call vote Monday. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) has said she wants to finish no later than next Wednesday, and aides in both parties said this was certainly doable."
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C-SPAN's homepage has a new look:
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**A message from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce: Released this week, the GIPC International IP Index is a comprehensive study that sheds light on progress and deficiencies in 25 countries' intellectual property environments, including the U.S., UK, China, India and Canada. Learn more:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=27f9266a4ff6ac4a5ad2405a40f0427280d1b90ac7de801867c9c5a4a0d3cb0c
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A GRIMM SPECTACLE - POLITICO's Hadas Gold and Dylan Byers write that this week's threat against a NY1 reporter is part of a pattern of bad behavior: "Rep. Michael Grimm stole the post-State of the Union media spotlight when he was caught on tape threatening to break a reporter 'in half like a little boy' when the journalist wanted to ask about a federal probe dogging the Republican congressman. Grimm, 43, of Staten Island, has since apologized for his behavior, but one thing he couldn't claim: that this was an isolated case. Tuesday night was typical bad behavior for Grimm, who has endured a long string of controversies and confrontations the media has seized - from an investigation into
his campaign finances to questions about his notorious temper. ...

-- "In private conversations, Hill reporters share Grimm stories as well. Marin Cogan, a former POLITICO congressional reporter, wrote an article for National Journal on Wednesday in which she recounted one episode where the congressman 'repeatedly [yelled] that he 'did not serve 10 years in the FBI!' to have to put up with something like this.' ... But Grimm's most notable public dust-up took place in 1999, four years after he joined the FBI, where he was tasked with investigating Wall Street corruption. At a club in Queens, N.Y., Grimm got into an argument with his date's estranged husband and, according to Gordon Williams, an off-duty N.Y.P.D. officer who spoke to The New Yorker in 2011,
pulled a gun on the husband and threatened to kill him."
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-- Grimm told reporters Wednesday he had called and apologized to NY1's Michael Scotto, and said the two will be having lunch soon. NY1's Geoff Bennett:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=27f9266a4ff6ac4a2414d2d44264fa0d588b6df69c9a3d1c03e232c70e52b55a
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-- Tuesday night's dust-up could make Grimm's tough reelection chances even tougher, our own Alex Isenstadt writes:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=27f9266a4ff6ac4aa9d09dbeb075b4571b1e16d352dfdcc16aaf009357ad83f6
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=27f9266a4ff6ac4aa9d09dbeb075b4571b1e16d352dfdcc16aaf009357ad83f6

-- The Staten Island congressman, who made colorful threats against Scotto, apparently has a penchant for quoting movie lines. Here he is during a 2010 debate doing his best Colonel Jessup impression from "A Few Good Men."
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-- The Washington Post has compiled the eight greatest politician-vs.-reporter run-ins, including Carl "I'll take you out, Buddy" Paladino and George Bush calling Adam Clymer a "major league a------."
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http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7c68937beb13633f4393fed970b2cbf83db0ade64697a9ad0631ed683846d5b9

-- Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) had a little fun with the Grimm story as well, tweeting at a reporter: @jahimes: Hey
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7c68937beb13633f863e2b97498ff72847def20711676e078995b0a77f2a3746
@ MEPFuller! I wa not sitting on Rep Synema's lap at
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# SOTU! Please meet me at the Cannon balcony.
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DEM'S 2014 STRATEGY: CEDE HOUSE, SAVE SENATE - Alex Isenstadt reports for POLITICO: "With Democrats' grasp on the Senate increasingly tenuous - and the House all but beyond reach - some top party donors and strategists are moving to do something in the midterm election as painful as it is coldblooded: Admit the House can't be won and go all in to save the Senate. Their calculation is uncomplicated. With only so much money to go around in an election year that is tilting the GOP's way, Democrats need to concentrate resources on preserving the chamber they have now. Losing the Senate, they know, could doom whatever hopes Barack Obama has of salvaging the final years of his presidency.

-- "The triage idea is taking hold in phone conversations among donors and in strategy sessions between party operatives. Even some of the people who have invested the most to get House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi back into the speaker's chair are moving in that direction."
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EXCLUSIVE TO PROS LATER TODAY: POLITICO Pro will publish a special report on President Obama's executive power maneuvers, with a dozen stories looking at virtually every area of regulation, rule-making and executive action coming from the administration. The special report will dive into the president's State of the Union promise and will reveal a much deeper regulatory and executive power agenda for the final years of Obama's term. Look out for an e-mail later this evening, customized to your policy interests.

GOOD THURSDAY MORNING, JAN. 30, 2014, and welcome to The Huddle, your-play-play preview of all the action on Capitol Hill. Send tips, suggestions, comments, complaints and corrections to
mailto:swong@politico.com
swong@politico.com . If you don't already, please follow me on Twitter
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My new followers include
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TODAY IN CONGRESS - The House has left for its annual retreat in Cambridge, Md. The Senate meets at 10 a.m. and at 11:15 a.m. will hold votes on amendments to the flood insurance bill. The Senate is expected to vote on final passage at 2 p.m.

AROUND THE HILL - Sen. John Thune helps kick off YG Network's new phone call series "On the Radar," at 9:30 a.m. Dial-In: 1-800-657-1508. Sens. Barbara Boxer, Patty Murray,Debbie Stabenow and other Democratic women speak on the minimum wage at 2:15 p.m. in the Senate Studio. Sen. Tom Coburn joins a conference call to announce the launch of
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7c68937beb13633f25e9294ab6d25a9e4417e2cefee55f27e898f7ba52cdcce0
SackNFLTaxBreaks.org , which seeks to educate the public about the government subsidization of the NFL and its nonprofit tax-exempt status, at 3:30 p.m. Call 866-952-1907, ID SACKNFLTAXBREAKS.

RYAN REBOOTS - POLITICO's Jake Sherman files this report from San Antonio: "This is Paul Ryan's interregnum - and he's making the most of it. More than a year after he and Mitt Romney failed to topple Barack Obama, and a year away from deciding whether he'll seek the White House again, the Wisconsin Republican is beginning to sketch the outlines for the next stage of his career - whatever it might be. Lingering over the 44-year-old is an unavoidable - and perhaps unanswerable - question: What's next? Ryan says he doesn't want to be speaker of the House, he has given mixed messages about his desire for a high-profile chairmanship and is leaving the door open for a White House run in 2016.

-- "In the meantime, Ryan is sifting through the lessons of his political past to shape a new persona. The 15-year House veteran seems resolute about a mission with an uncertain ending. The Wisconsin Republican is, in part, betting that incrementalism - legislative half-steps toward conservative solutions - is the best look for Republicans in a divided Washington. The recent budget agreement is a perfect example. The Ryan who wanted to remake America is now trying on modesty. Ted Cruz he's not."
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REID REJECTS OBAMA'S TRADE PUSH - Eric Bradner and Manu Raju write for POLITICO: "President Barack Obama's push for the two largest free trade deals in U.S. history has hit a major roadblock: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. The Nevada Democrat said he opposes a bill that would fast-track the Pacific Rim and European Union pacts through Congress with limited debate and no amendments - which the White House says is crucial to gaining concessions from other countries to finalize those deals. Reid made it abundantly clear that he has voiced his concerns to Obama's administration, as well as the outgoing chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus (D-Mont.), and his replacement, Ron
Wyden (D-Ore.), who would take the lead on the issue once Baucus departs to become U.S. ambassador to China."
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-- WSJ, A1: Reid Deals Body Blow to Obama on Trade":
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IMMIGRATION SHOWDOWN AT GOP RETREAT - Russell Berman writes for The Hill: "Top House Republicans will face growing skepticism from reform-minded conservatives when they pitch their principles for an immigration overhaul Thursday at the party's annual retreat. In interviews over the last several days, conservatives said that while they expect the principles to be broadly acceptable, they are less inclined to support a push by Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and others to advance specific legislative proposals heading into the midterm election campaign. 'I think the willingness to go so far as specific legislation has cooled considerably for different reasons over the
course of the last couple weeks,' Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) said Wednesday.

-- "The principles will include support for giving probationary legal status to many illegal immigrants, Ryan confirmed in an interview Wednesday on MSNBC. That would be distinct from a so-called 'special path to citizenship' that Republicans have long opposed."
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-- THE DCCC is out this morning with a video calling the House GOP's retreat the "Republican Civil War." Watch here:
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UNION LEADER: HOUSE GOP IMMIGRATION PLAN 'FOOL'S GOLD' - David Nakamura writes for the Washington Post: "AFL-CIO President Richard L. Trumka, a major backer of President Obama's immigration push, said in an interview Wednesday that a border plan being developed by House Republicans was a "nonstarter" because it would stop short of offering citizenship to the nation's 11 million undocumented immigrants. The head of the nation's largest labor union said that the emerging House GOP proposal, which would offer immigrants limited legal status, was 'fool's gold' that would be strongly opposed by labor and other key interest groups on the left."
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"HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?" -- That's the banner headline on A1 of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "The stranded: Thousands of students stuck at school and weary travelers finally make it home." "The firestorm: Public safety officials and government leaders respond to criticism over the chaos." AJC front page:
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-- SEN. JOHNNY ISAKSON (R-GA.) said his son got stranded in the Atlanta storm: Humberto Sanchez and Niels Lesniewski report for Roll Call: "A snowstorm that shut down metropolitan Atlanta forced the youngest son of Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., to abandon his car and walk 10 miles in the cold. 'My youngest son abandoned his car and called me at 2 a.m., when he finally got home,' Isakson said when asked about the storm. 'He walked 10 miles because you couldn't move anywhere because everything was blocked.' ... 'It's a disaster, you've seen the pictures on TV,' Isakson said of the situation. The storm dropped 3 inches of snow on the city and covered its streets with ice, causing traffic
accidents and forcing many to abandon their cars, while others were stranded.... He declined to pass judgment on the whether local officials should have been more prepared. 'I'm 600 miles away,' Isakson said. 'I think the forecast was not as accurate...those kind of things happen.'"
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WEDNESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Patrick Sheridan was first to correctly answer that more states were admitted to the Union during Benjamin Harrison's administration: The five states were North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington and Wyoming.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Rep. Michael Grimm threat to toss NY1's Michael Scotto off a Capitol balcony certainly wasn't the first altercation between a member and reporter. Name the reporter who fatally shot a former congressman on a Capitol stairway. The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. Email me at
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swong@politico.com .

GET HUDDLE emailed to your Blackberry, iPhone or other mobile device each morning. Just enter your email address where it says "Sign Up."
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**A message from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce: Released this week by the U.S. Chamber's Global Intellectual Property Center, the 2014 GIPC International IP Index, Charting the Course, is a comprehensive study that sheds light on progress and deficiencies in 25 countries' intellectual property (IP) environments. Among the countries surveyed are select Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement participants and other key markets including Brazil, China, India, Russia, etc.... India, again, receives the lowest score taken into account the deteriorating IP environment. The report also highlighted the need for an IP chapter within the TPP that is robust, commercially meaningful, and provide
incentives to innovate and create. Learn more:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=27f9266a4ff6ac4a5ad2405a40f0427280d1b90ac7de801867c9c5a4a0d3cb0c
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=27f9266a4ff6ac4a5ad2405a40f0427280d1b90ac7de801867c9c5a4a0d3cb0c . **

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