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06/29/2018 07:55 AM EDT


By Nolan D. McCaskill (nmccaskill@politico.com or @NolanDMcCaskill)

WHITE HOUSE BEGINS SEARCH FOR SCOTUS NOMINEE -- President Donald Trump could name his nominee to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy shortly after lawmakers return from Fourth of July recess. The White House hopes to announce a decision before the president leaves for Europe on July 10 and is expected to begin interviewing candidates early next week. "The goal is to hold confirmation hearings in August or September, so that any confirmed justice can join the court in early October, before the next term," Nancy Cook reports. "Top contenders include Raymond Kethledge, Thomas Hardiman, Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amul Thapar -- though the person involved with the
process stressed that other potential nominees from Trump's list of judges could also get a hard look.'" More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7872da8b467e63aa95263ce2e816093829eab7560577de24e60043ba14619c98ca2877804b6d67a9410ed5db31e1a18b

The White House's timeline aligns with the Senate's. Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) expects the confirmation vote to occur in September after Labor Day, though he's "not opposed" to voting sooner. "Republicans have already made clear that they don't plan to heed Democratic calls for a delay in the Supreme Court confirmation until after November's election to give midterm voters a chance to weigh in," Elana writes. "Republican senators anticipate dedicating much of August to passing appropriations bills, meaning that a final Supreme Court vote would wait until September. The high court's next term is set to begin on the first Monday of October." More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c7c5bde132e13e9e8f4c015194bc0f8427218d5d332183421f4918bbeb2c383daa5baa1f644e8a9e7d5f56bdae1406f6

Related: "McConnell defends push to confirm new justice before midterms," by Brent D. Griffiths: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b20b6e81a6c3911d298458113a73a9c8e0220d3594c1cce03f637660385e3c6b0ec5e9f8286cb2456473f2ef4e165db2 and "Inside the White House's Quiet Campaign to Create a Supreme Court Opening," from The New York Times' Adam Liptak and Maggie Haberman: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=71be993bfad70850640b340df3ccd2f294d81f24eaa51de83dedc3e63888b2551169ff428bd055945a6e1876a87cb969

SENATORS TO WATCH -- The president last night met with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and five key senators: moderate Republicans Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and the three red-state Democrats who voted for Neil Gorsuch: Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Joe Donnelly (Ind.) and Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.). White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the president's team has also spoken with more than a dozen other senators "as part of ongoing outreach to get views and advice from both sides of the aisle." But the fate of the high court could hinge on just two senators: Collins and Murkowski.

The pair, along with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), sank the Senate's push to repeal Obamacare last year but voted for Gorsuch. The two received calls Thursday from White House counsel Don McGahn, and Murkowski had a private meeting with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). As Burgess and Bres report, they are "about to be squeezed more than ever -- by liberals seeking a Republican to stop the court from outlawing abortion rights, among other potential conservative rulings, and by their fellow Republicans looking for a show of party unity on a hugely consequential vote. But the two senators said Thursday they won't simply fall in line behind whomever Trump nominates." More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5179cc1115962c0c0f689cc9c02de9a719e5f7829e8f64667bd1834519e70d4e8a891cc3399af48e03f204fe0472ffad

Related read: "Could a woman be what Trump needs for SCOTUS?" via Josh Gerstein: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fc1274dffed63e20d545fba5394297b6ae501f30b5d02855cd3b1146aa451c1c59c4138acf396ef34df993c8ac2a7dd9

DEMS SEEK SCOTUS STRATEGY -- Democrats are also feeling the squeeze. Liberal activists want a brawl with the president's nominee. But there are vulnerable red-state Democrats who risk losing reelection if they heed the left's call to resist. "A handful of red-state Democratic senators began talking privately on Thursday about carving their own path on the confirmation," Elana reports. "Other top Democrats are already shifting away from their initial demand to delay a confirmation vote until after the midterm elections and toward a push highlighting the record of Trump's still-unnamed pick on abortion, health care and more."

The dilemma for Democrats, whose options to slow down a nominee are limited, is this: "Pressing Trump's pick on the merits, without using base-pleasing delaying tactics, could help Democrats court potential swing-vote Republicans such as [Susan] Collins, [Lisa] Murkowski and Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona," Elana writes. "But the minority also has to please its intensely energized left flank, especially in the run-up to the midterms." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3fe2dec9768e5684e6e7f516909cf161836913b5f7e5ca534c55ca0d053e4f4f1a820971fba4664d46d91647d6aa474c

Related: "Denied a Filibuster, Democrats Eye Other Tactics in Supreme Court Fight," per The New York Times' Carl Hulse: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=adbce55356b680fc39c0869434510c486e400b06e17695c30a9ae7e0921e23283244b6f5c6c59fd3727537011ebc8e0e

HAPPY FRIDAY! Thanks for reading Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this June 29.

THURSDAY'S MOST CLICKED: Rachael's inside story on how House Republicans' immigration push collapsed was the big winner.

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HOUSE GOP CLASHES WITH ROSENSTEIN, WRAY -- House Republicans put Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray in the hot seat during a Judiciary Committee hearing that came as the chamber voted along partisan lines to demand that DOJ immediately produce sensitive documents, an extraordinary rebuke of the Republican-led Justice Department. "The hearing with Rosenstein and Wray was the culmination of months of intensifying conflict between House Republicans and leaders of the Trump Justice Department, who have refused even under pressure from the president to hand over reams of documents they say are highly sensitive," Kyle reports. "The divisions got contentious
several times throughout the hearing." More on that here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d2decc35a87e7234312e14b18d5a940a0969b2573f0259297afd0e29267e1fe82ee8584bb03a29fa14a8cda9dd60b0e1

Related reads: "Mueller took 'steps' to shield Russia probe from bias, DOJ says," by Kyle: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cc205cf0c5fdc836f116a06e17280034c2047f6ac3f0f946e47a637bf45847271f22122b128f7cada53a696dab100a16 "FBI's Strzok asked to defend anti-Trump texts at public hearing," also from Kyle: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=82f01366171c38bcd515c48fc554fb88ccc9cf127c6de57d87229ade9715b765f0898dd1ecea174f1b20e3133df1d350 and "Dems tell Rosenstein, Wray not to bow to GOP pressure," via Stephanie Murray: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d8a14a810a72d7d3caab26d8f658091df8efd9b164b05303f50ef43357a04dde1a64a706336e640e41452b43cd1f79e0

HOUSE EASILY PASSES DEFENSE BILL -- The House passed a $675 billion defense spending bill that includes provisions barring the Pentagon from doing business with Chinese telecom firms ZTE and Huawei, 359-49. "The House appropriators struck first in the annual defense appropriations process, breezing through just over 50 amendments in three days of debate," Connor O'Brien and Gregory Hellman report. "The Senate Appropriations Committee [considered] its version of the Pentagon funding bill Thursday. And Senate leaders are eyeing combining it with legislation funding labor, health and education programs to ease its consideration on the floor."

The House bill continues GOP-led efforts to build up the military. It would grow the military by 15,600 active-duty and Reserve troops and fund a 2.6 percent raise for troops. It would also allocate $606.5 billion for base Pentagon spending, another $68.1 billion to fund war efforts through the Overseas Contingency Operations account and $22.7 billion to build 12 new Navy ships. Additionally, the measure would boost funding to purchase 93 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. What else is in the bill: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=888619dfb66e96351606ba20b8e3cbf69fa4355dd14836269f8ae390dcc441163d66a539c43624a391ec2a861c9bf9ea

CONGRESS SET FOR FOOD STAMP BATTLE -- The Senate passed an $867 billion bipartisan farm bill, 86-11. Its passage comes a week after House Republicans narrowly passed their partisan version with no support from Democrats. Both chambers will have to reconcile their differences before the bill gets to the president's desk -- the current farm bill expires Sept. 30 -- but the Senate believes it has the upper hand in upcoming negotiations. "Key differences between the House and Senate bills, primarily in regard to the food stamp program, farm subsidy caps and conservation initiatives, set up potentially contentious negotiations between the lawmakers who will be tasked with melding the two
versions into one," Catherine Boudreau and Liz Crampton report.

"The farm bill would authorize for five years a sweeping array of programs ranging from nutrition assistance and farm subsidies to rural development and agricultural research," they add. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) had threatened to block amendments until an impasse over Cuba provisions was resolved, but the issue was settled Thursday when Sen. Heidi Heitkamp's (D-N.D.) amendment was changed to appease the Florida Republican. An amendment from Sens. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) to give Congress authority to approve or disapprove of the president's authority to impose tariffs on national security grounds, however, was blocked from getting a vote. Much more on the two bills:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7f63ecc83d18414248f37ec6720da2dbd9f6a7b76494c21d6dfba14f4cc4285cb7b97722e5b9bf80a569eafe22856186

AMBASSADOR TO SOUTH KOREA CONFIRMED -- The U.S. finally has an ambassador to South Korea after the Senate confirmed retired Navy Adm. Harry Harris by voice vote. The post had been vacant since the Trump administration took office. The former commander of U.S. Pacific Command was initially nominated to serve as ambassador to Australia until Secretary of State Mike Pompeo intervened. "Now Harris faces the challenge of helping Pompeo facilitate the next step in talks with [North Korea] -- which, despite Trump's claim to the contrary, remains a nuclear threat, according to the secretary of state's testimony on Capitol Hill this week," CNN's Zachary Cohen and Elizabeth Landers report. More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c3cbbb0298314d078a2335f1487c75ab5d82bc1d35788b3672f69a3fb3ab97e133379dc229a658db00472695d888f49a

BARBARA LEE CONSIDERING LEADERSHIP BID -- Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) is talking to Democratic colleagues about potentially running to succeed Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.) as House Democratic Caucus chair. "If this were not an open seat, I'd be making a different calculation," Lee said. "But things move fast around here, and I didn't want to wait until November to start looking at this." Lee, one of the caucus' most liberal Democrats, was the only member of Congress to vote against the authorization of military force after 9/11. She lost an extremely close race to Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) for vice chair of the caucus in 2016. The leadership vote will likely occur shortly after the midterms. More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f9db14c5a8a1451a3c52ef7b2e90798fe2eeb935a76ae42ffc2e9b9e50626625b79816a54238a10a49a78569af950daa

Related: "California representatives considering House Democratic leadership bids," per the Los Angeles Times' Sarah D. Wire: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=afe621d420fe1321194f8cdb3a61fb25ab345dd019f37d8fd2a659118b7f518141d82cc2f86bad14869aba66476acd72

WHAT A COUNTRY! -- Rep. Carlos Curbelo's (R-Fla.) "What a Country!" PAC, a platform to support like-minded Republicans on immigration, gave more than $152,000 to 61 House Republicans over the past three years. "But when Curbelo most needed their support, most of those Republicans deserted him," Marc Caputo reports. Indeed, Curbelo needed just 25 Republicans to back his discharge petition to bring a series of votes on immigration bills to the floor. But only 20 of the 61 members he contributed to signed it, leaving it two shy of the requisite 218. An additional 13 recipients refused to sign the discharge petition and voted against the GOP's compromise bill this week.

"That failure is now haunting him on the campaign trail in Florida's 26th congressional district, the nation's most Democratic-leaning seat held by a Republican running for reelection," Caputo adds. For his part, Curbelo said he was "grateful" for the members who received PAC money and supported the measure. "There is no quid pro quo when people receive contributions from a political action committee," he acknowledged. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ace9d79fd3e5b42f3c81a150cf7e4ab3a694554f5d3d80f73df73a630d031bf086c9fc25ffcf321ae255aafe40373124

Related read: "Failed immigration bills leave House GOP at square one after weeks of negotiations," by The Washington Post's Mike DeBonis: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dc2040b9c4be3fa3583ec5d8413fe9a4549878109f464aacf0d408e2690a6d1f459258ad8cc0ba62b858033e5a3d0441

ETHICS PANEL LAUNCHES PROBE INTO SCHWEIKERT, AIDE -- The House Ethics Committee is investigating Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) and his chief of staff, Oliver Schwab, over allegations the congressman misspent official funds and received illegal campaign contributions from Schwab and other employees. Schweikert framed the probe as a matter of "clerical mistakes," suggesting there was no intentional violation of House ethics rules. The ethics panel has created a special investigative subcommittee to conduct the investigation. "It's wonderful, because we have been asking to have a formal review so we can present our information since almost December," Schweikert said. Bres with more:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c02e90c8daa1f3fc7881e661e39ad837d6a733a9de401f5752b125557842e400010194e07e6befc55459c9c072b7e25f

TRANSITIONS -- Jay Khosla starts July 9 as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) chief economic policy counsel, overseeing tax, trade, banking and other economic policy issues. Khosla currently serves as staff director for the Senate Finance Committee.

TODAY IN CONGRESS -- The House and Senate are out.

THURSDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER -- Katherine Schrett was first to correctly guess that former Rep. Joe Cannon is the Illinois congressman who nearly blocked the construction of the Lincoln Memorial, famously saying, "So long as I live, I'll never let a memorial to Abraham Lincoln be erected in that g-------d swamp."

TODAY'S TRIVIA -- From Katherine: Which vice president cast the most tie-breaking votes while leader of the Senate? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your best guess my way: nmccaskill@politico.com.

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