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08/01/2017 07:59 AM EDT


By Heather Caygle (hcaygle@politico.com or @heatherscope)

With an assist from Daniel Lippman

REPUBLICANS GIVE TRUMP REALITY CHECK - Senate Republicans have no plans to revive their Obamacare repeal effort this summer, despite Twitter taunts from President Donald Trump, who called them "total quitters" over the weekend. "Until somebody shows us a way to get that elusive 50th vote, I think it's over," said Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the third-ranking Republican. "Maybe lightning will strike and something will come together but I'm not holding my breath."

McConnell, notably, did not bring up health care in his opening floor remarks Monday afternoon. And Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) pushed back on comments from OMB Director Mick Mulvaney, who said the Senate shouldn't do anything else until it votes on health care again. "I don't think [Mulvaney's] got much experience in the Senate, as I recall," Cornyn said, reported the Washington Post. "And he's got a big job. He ought to do that job and let us do our job."

The White House is still trying to rebuild momentum, pushing a proposal from Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to block grant health care funding for states. Cassidy met with top Trump aides, GOP governors and HHS Secretary Tom Price about the idea on Monday. But many Republicans are ready to move on, with "the idea of taking another heart-stopping vote with little chance of success" not high on their priority lists, Burgess and Jen Haberkorn report. "I don't think there's the appetite to have a vote in the next two weeks," said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.).

What's next: "Trump is threatening to cut off health insurance subsidies for low-income people, which could spur Congress to act - though Trump could veto any bill providing funding for that assistance," Burgess and Jen report. Trump is expected to decide as soon as today whether to continue making the payments. More on the state of play: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=22df237673bb31ac7a4e09a8ca564005101342c340db466ea53c7239155f9d6b1d4f11e1230a9b4aa0c20c6883ac25e2831e900eae6d7656 And Paul Demko explores what would happen if Trump actually did cancel the Obamacare subsidies: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=22df237673bb31ac62506974ed0f3cce2d0923a24f58c11887e36842048f7e4c3deb4050ccea0d06b4bb7219d513b0005abf93de759b1d89

Related read: "Lessons for Trump: Hardball against senators is a game he can lose," via Carl Hulse (There's even a Roll Tide reference!). The New York Times: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=22df237673bb31ac147bfdf90bdf9dc07de1c16725942e3c6ebee54fffa78e0ddd148791fd126946abda96ce98508707594135dd75854dac

GONE TIL NOVEMBER - Republican leaders are ready to pivot to something they feel is a little bit more in their control (albeit not much easier): tax reform. And the White House has its own ambitious agenda for overhauling the tax code, with legislative liaison Marc Short saying Monday the administration wants to see markups in September with floor action in the House and Senate finished by the end of November. That's an aggressive timeline to say the least. In September alone, Congress will have to keep the government running, lift the debt ceiling and reauthorize critical programs for flood insurance, children's health insurance and the FAA. Aaron Lorenzo has more:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=22df237673bb31ac21c32e883c338e544b4ad3f5f14f143aded037fc74e2bf938822fb327daab4dc8dd86b739e30a8339a289b0a36c3f582

Side note: Remember earlier this year when Republican leaders insisted they'd have tax reform and health care finished by August? Those were the days.

Senate Democrats, meanwhile, are urging Republicans to go the bipartisan route on tax reform and are already laying out the conditions to secure their votes. "In a letter to Trump and GOP leaders Tuesday, 45 of the 48 members in the Senate Democratic caucus urged the GOP not to use arcane budget reconciliation procedures to shield any tax reform bill from a filibuster," Elana reports. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=22df237673bb31ac4d4c792996ff04e7dfbc994b8ab68e68aedf81b873150bdc6fc83e5566edfa40863fec656acd4fe7666dd83d9f664b45

SUMMER READING: 'MY PARTY IS IN DENIAL ABOUT TRUMP' - POLITICO has an except from Sen. Jeff Flake's new book and not only does he take on Trump, the Arizona Republican also criticizes his leaders and fellow Republicans for the "Faustian bargain" they made with president. "It was we conservatives who ...have maintained an unnerving silence as instability has ensued," Flake writes. "To carry on in the spring of 2017 as if what was happening was anything approaching normalcy required a determined suspension of critical faculties. And tremendous powers of denial." Much more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=22df237673bb31ac1a1fc5974da88ed05f992ffd4def9df4ba7c5766fb354461b62fb540c6b6872b28e33f2786b0f7b9656eb9c6f2ac77dc

WE MADE IT TO AUGUST, Y'ALL. College football is so close. Welcome to Tuesday, Aug.1, and thanks for tuning into POLITICO's Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill.

MONDAY'S MOST CLICKED: My story with Paul Demko on centrist lawmakers backing a bipartisan health care bill was the winner to start off the week.

IF YOU LEAD, WILL I FOLLOW? Democrats rolled out their 2018 agenda to much fanfare last week. But what remains to be seen is who in the party will go along and who will peel off and do their own thing. Not every incumbent wants to be associated with the party's message, Gabe, Elana and your Huddle host report. And many of the party's influential groups - including the Democratic National Committee and individual state party committees - are busy preparing their own, independent lines of messaging. "Just as there isn't one kind of Democrat, there are not just one kind of message that works," said Rep. Jim Costa, a Blue Dog co-chair, who like several moderates endorsed the broader idea of an
economic message without backing the progressive policies outlined so far. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=22df237673bb31aca61e520e863ae2b5c490db1b38e21d3f915d29455f39137ad1e10847c4eaf293c20ba970f5c28dd56eaba419ee67c98b

BARLETTA PLANS SENATE BID - Pennsylvania Rep. Lou Barletta, one of Trump's biggest supporters on Capitol Hill, will challenge Democratic Sen. Bob Casey next year, the AP reports. "A person familiar with the discussions told The Associated Press that Barletta began telling party officials of his decision last week, several months after he began considering it. ...In a text message Monday, Barletta said that his conversations have been 'very positive' and that he will announce his decision in a few weeks." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=22df237673bb31acdca9a3f7154eb0f66e2c275b515d5eb13b2b48404210e17a74e529fc425c9e482dfcebc72e4d6b44a3b56048e9a635d0

WATCHDOG WANTS WASSERMAN SCHULTZ PROBE - A right-leaning watchdog is pushing for an ethics probe into Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) after she kept an IT staffer employed for six months after he became the focus of a criminal investigation in February. The staffer, Imran Awan, was fired last week after he was arrested on one count of bank fraud during an attempt to leave the country. FACT, the watchdog, says Wasserman Schultz may have violated House rules by continuing to employ Iwan as an IT staffer over the last six months even though he was barred from using the House network. The Florida Democrat shot back, saying Awan did a variety of administrative duties and calling the
complaint "entirely baseless." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=22df237673bb31ac14a35a748c287ddfd5ffc19fc558efdd22dcd77a97a9fdadd8ce0255b8c24ba21c3bbb36f8adb65705355c1bdcf53638

RETIREMENT WATCH: DUNCAN OUT - Rep. Jimmy Duncan, the Tennessee Republican who has been in Congress since 1988, won't run for reelection next year, he told the local CBS affiliate Monday. But it's unlikely Duncan's Knoxville district will be a top target for Democrats. As Kevin points out, the seat has been in Republican hands since 1859.

BIG ISSUES IN THE BIG TENT? Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), chairman of House Democrats' campaign arm, caused a little stir Monday when he told the Hill that the DCCC wouldn't shy away from financially supporting candidates who oppose abortion. The news shouldn't come as that big of a surprise - House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) made clear earlier this year that there wouldn't be a "litmus test" for Democratic candidates. And the DCCC has been working closely with Blue Dogs, who already count three pro-life Democrats as members, on recruitment. But former DNC Chairman Howard Dean tweeted the news would prompt him to withhold support from the DCCC if true.

POLICE DIRECTED TO WRONG SITE IN SCALISE SHOOTING - The Capitol Police has opened an internal investigation after its officers initially responded to the wrong site during the congressional baseball practice shooting that severely wounded House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) in June. The Capitol's elite tactical team was initially sent to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's house in Georgetown, several miles away, Billy House reports. "The tactical squad did make it to the Eugene Simpson Stadium Park in Alexandria, Virginia, where the shooting took place and it's unclear how much time the unit lost because of the mix-up. It also wasn't clear whether the squad arrived at Pelosi's house
or was redirected en route." Bloomberg: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=22df237673bb31acaad5d8f64f69a9daf9abaea6ef990c055ba331813326039afd2e966e73b12325fd45ed8c8fec845cea07340fd626495a

MOVIN' ON UP - Natasha Hickman, longtime aide to Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), has been promoted from legislative director to chief of staff today. Natasha started her Senate career with Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and also served in the Bush Administration. Christopher Toppings, deputy legislative director, has been promoted to legislative director.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The Senate gavels in at 10 a.m. with weekly caucus lunches from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. The House is gone for recess.

AROUND THE HILL - Senate Republican and Democratic leaders hold separate press conferences following their weekly party lunches, around 2 p.m.

MONDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Dave Bass, assistant sergeant at arms, was first to correctly guess that Nebraska Sen. Ed Zorinsky suffered a fatal heart attack in 1987, just hours after performing a song-and-dance routine poking fun at his decision to switch parties from Republican to Democrat.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Dave with today's question: What senator holds the distinct honor for the shortest pro forma session and how long was it? The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send answers my way: hcaygle@politico.com

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