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By Heather Caygle | 07/05/2017 07:47 AM EDT


FOURTH OF JULY FIREWORKS - Liberal activists and demonstrators opposed to the Republican plan to replace Obamacare planned to mobilize this week, using the recess to ramp up pressure on wobbly GOP senators who are already leaning against the bill. But, as the Washington Post points out, more senators joined a trip to Afghanistan this week than scheduled town halls, with many choosing to make themselves scarce rather than face public heat back home. "After the parades, there will be few chances for Better Care Reconciliation Act critics to face their senators during the recess. ...Activists are encouraging one another to get more ambitious - and creative."

Have you seen my senator? "Last month, when Congress broke for the long holiday, just four of the Senate's 52 Republicans - [Maine Sen. Susan] Collins, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.), and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) - announced appearances at Fourth of July parades. Just three - Cruz, Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) - said they would hold public town hall meetings." David Weigel, Murray Carpenter and Julia O'Malley: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fcbf8ef893a71fc2fd381913c673e5ec48e19f28b7716a3377c68ca25aa72978be971243a208352ee8f9a41a50c86abb176ed959f56dae13

Constituent services: Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (W.V.), Rob Portman (Ohio) and Cory Gardner of Colorado (who hasn't held a town hall this year) are just a few of the many senators who didn't take part in public events Tuesday. "Though on July 3, [Gardner] could be seen on his front lawn in his hometown, Yuma, playing with squirt guns and smoke bombs with his children," report Campbell Robertson, Dave Philipps, Jess Bidgood and Emily Cochrane for the New York Times.

Siren: "Never before, in the 15 times that I've marched in this parade, have I had people so focused on a single issue," said Sen. Susan Collins. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fcbf8ef893a71fc259b0445dee1e764b74939505fadb0864c5c5a6446ac793b677ac876466c6a496c415f3bf52bf83201ce1fba29db63a20

'Isn't freedom wonderful?': Cruz got an earful on the health care bill during his July 4th speech in Democrat friendly McAllen, Texas, yesterday, Patrick Svitek reports. Cruz had to talk over demonstrators "for most of his speech at an Independence Day ceremony, twice pausing to address the commotion. They were countered by a similarly vocal group of Cruz supporters... 'Isn't freedom wonderful?' Cruz said shortly after taking the stage." The Texas Tribune dispatch: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fcbf8ef893a71fc292fb73f5a80661dedb2031982d534668914a20b1f6b1624d19405c70e8aa94960f71a70e52ce821146fb91974f99e2b1

WOOHOO WEDNESDAY. Welcome back, it's July 5. Thanks for reading POLITICO's Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill. We're happy to be bringing you the news again after a nice holiday break that included temporary "USA" glitter tattoos, lots of swimming and a drive up and down the southeast.

FRIDAY'S MOST CLICKED: You guys loved the CBC's pic of Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) in his polka dot coat/sunflower tie combo and Speaker Paul Ryan giving Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) bunny ears in a pic.

WAGNER PASSES ON SENATE BID - Republican Rep. Ann Wagner will run for re-election in the House next year, ruling out a long expected challenge to Missouri Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill over the holiday break. "Republicans will turn their attention to other potential McCaskill challengers, including state Attorney General Josh Hawley and Reps. Blaine Luetkemeyer and Vicky Hartzler," Kevin Robillard reports. "Hawley, in particular, had emerged as a potential primary challenger to Wagner before the congresswoman decided not to run for Senate." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fcbf8ef893a71fc251a9435436b7801a0d0ce2a91c1ea5f39dc34ae1c52045699c89219616bd352ccbeafad15fe1327eefb3eaf58868e9dc

THE INSIDE GAME - Cruz and frequent cohort Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) are known for being the architects behind a two-week government shutdown in 2013 to protest Obamacare's implementation. The two are still working to gut the health care law, but their game this time around is much more inside baseball, Burgess reports. "They aren't firebombing McConnell on TV or on the Senate floor after many tangles with him in the past, but instead are intent on using their status as conservative negotiators inside the room as part of McConnell's working group."

'New but good': "If Lee and Cruz are able to help craft a compromise that can win 50 Republican votes, their support will go far in easing concerns from other conservatives who still deride the bill as Obamacare-lite," Burgess reports. But the further the bill moves right, the harder it is to keep moderates on board. Cruz has "'been an honest broker in this whole process. It's new, but it's good,' said Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.). Heller would not say, however, whether it was possible for him, Cruz and Lee to all support the same bill." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fcbf8ef893a71fc26426d486710c8935c0ed3ef3257df26d5ceaaada9e5fef123eb82ed01ce833af4c1f429e1ba00525b7a1ef92893c4dbf

'NOT EASY' MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN - Just hours after President Donald Trump tweeted that Republicans should repeal then replace Obamacare if they can't do both at the same time, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) promptly slammed the door on the idea. "McConnell told reporters after an event Friday in his home state of Kentucky that the Republican health care bill remains challenging but 'we are going to stick with that path'" the AP's Adam Beam reports. "It's not easy making America great again, is it?" McConnell told a gathering of Republicans earlier in the night. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fcbf8ef893a71fc29ce4766cf193f6af0379950642328d3d07ea69e8676d49c2e92a350945132f203d2ae7541d6a2da3f800cc758b8646e8

THE INTERNET NEVER FORGETS - "Virginia Rep. Dave Brat has deleted a photo from his Instagram account that pictured the Republican congressman smiling with a constituent holding a sign that read 'Hillary for U.S. Ambassador to Libya,'" Peter Grieve reports for CNN. "'Sign says it all,' the since-deleted post was captioned." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fcbf8ef893a71fc2a3a8e5055ece46a5521d69c533d07832839000eec55534bbce0dafa2a65d8d344107b643e3ef5a1a5b5f571520d52464

NOT TOUGH ENOUGH - Both Republicans and Democrats aren't satisfied with the White House response to North Korea, saying Trump should have a more forceful reprimand after the country this week successfully launched a missile that could reach the U.S. Aside from a pair of tweets, "Trump said little about the latest international provocation that will further complicate his meetings with world leaders later this week at the G-20 in Hamburg, Germany," Annie Karni reports. "Instead of vague Twitter bluster, President Trump should answer North Korea's dangerous test with a coherent strategy," said Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.). More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fcbf8ef893a71fc2920fa5d10c4f967ff2adca21fdb4bb36d2ad2cbf24232e5d3fc1a36168e2382a9f8d6d5c88d51ee079dd995c6e64dee1

SENATORS WARN TRUMP ON VACANCIES - A coalition of senators visiting Afghanistan this week "issued a stark warning on Tuesday to President Trump to fill vacant embassy and State Department positions here in order to better address the country's mounting military and political crises," Mujib Mashal reports from Kabul. "Led by Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, the American delegation in Kabul voiced what has been a concern for months now in the absence of a permanent American ambassador." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fcbf8ef893a71fc2d6a072be0ec8c7a253b8a44335ac07d38767a5855f855650d6c988c55046cbc8d4405219685cc97d9b215d337bfef35b

TOO MUCH TIME ON OUR HANDS - Huddle told you last week about the Judicial Crisis Network's new ad campaign against Michigan Democratic Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, accusing them of holding up a circuit judge nominated from the state. Now Stabenow is defending the delay, saying the two are just doing their "due diligence" on Judge Joan Larsen because they weren't consulted by the White House first, as is tradition. "We've said nothing at all that would politicize this process," Stabenow told the Detroit News. "The wisest thing for her supporters would be to give us constructive input." More from Melissa Nann Burke: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=037776d7e7679ec001476ee4c1a45a7d82557f6a99ff39a8adceb0f1e3d0178ed1268328720ab65000472d16fb918088ec7bc9d68dcdca4b

LAWMAKER CRITICIZED FOR FILMING CONCENTRATION CAMP - "A video U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins recorded in part from inside the Nazis' Auschwitz concentration camp last week has drawn criticism on social media for what commenters described as its disrespectful and self-serving content," Jed Lipinski reports for the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "Everyone has the right to personal reflections," the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum tweeted. "However, inside a former gas chamber, there should be mournful silence. It's not a stage.'" Full story: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=037776d7e7679ec0ce514a30e6ab9dacdcfcba3677518a3a227f39289abb91e48d60281e600a910f4954b3ad40c1278aa68ac0f1d4eb4b79

TODAY IN CONGRESS - Congress is gone, gone, gone until July 10.

AROUND THE HILL - Staffers taking it easy on that first post-July Fourth day back in the office.

FRIDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Joseph Pratt was the first to guess that Andrew Jackson was the first president to be born in one state/territory and serve in another. Jackson was born in the Waxhaw Settlement on the border of North and South Carolina and served as senator from Tennessee. George W. Bush is the most recent president before Barack Obama to do the same. Bush was born in Connecticut but was governor of Texas before being elected to the White House.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Joe with today's question: George W. Bush is also the most recent president (out of three) whose biological parents both lived long enough to see their son sworn in as POTUS. Name the other two. 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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