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07/24/2017 08:13 AM EDT


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

With an assist from Daniel Lippman

DEMS PROMISE 'BETTER DEAL' IN BERRYVILLE - Democratic leaders will unveil a broad economic agenda later today, hoping to unite the disparate wings of their caucuses and win back working-class voters who fled the party last year. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other top Democrats head to Berryville, Va., to roll out the package under the slogan "A Better Deal" in an afternoon press conference. Democrats chose the predominantly white, northern Virginia area represented by Republican Rep. Barbara Comstock because it's exactly the kind of district they need to win to take back Congress next year.

The deets: The agenda being introduced is "quite different than the Democratic Party you heard in the past," Schumer said Sunday on ABC'S "This Week." "We were too cautious, we were too namby-pamby." To fill that void, Democrats are adding pitches aimed at battling corporate overreach to an economic platform that already includes a trillion-dollar infrastructure plan and paid family leave. More from Elana and yours truly: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cb1c80494a85fbf29a09a222a329d32a00cf3d3d58a0d738288676b4dd74831c8db136a579d0a77cbda4a4beed73486d6059a1c1fe80fab0

First in Huddle: The DCCC is out with a new polling memo showing the agenda is already testing well with Democratic and swing voters in battleground districts. Read the memo here first: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cb1c80494a85fbf2de0bc5417160b9fb4a1284f186b1c3c0c26075c16336543c0a77407da231eb8f94fe616d8d18a0c20a5e04b580d1c7c5

Counterprogramming: The GOP's Congressional Leadership Fund is launching digital ads in the 12 Democratic districts won by President Donald Trump, Kevin Robillard reports for Morning Score. "The 30-second ads link Democrats to the most radical elements of the so-called resistance to Trump and to unpopular House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi." Watch the ad here.

KUSHNER DENIES COLLUSION - Jared Kushner will deny colluding with Russia in the 2016 campaign during closed-door testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee today. The president's son-in-law will also tell the Senate panel he was unaware of the topic when he arrived late to a meeting with Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort and the Russian lawyer claiming to have dirt on Hillary Clinton last year, according to prepared remarks released Monday. "I had no improper contacts. I did not collude, nor know of anyone else in the campaign who colluded, with any foreign government," Kushner said in his prepared statement. The New York Times Matt Apuzzo and Maggie Haberman:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cb1c80494a85fbf281cbbfacded1ea5d6566e2a70f50eed3072ad54f9ff453fcf68ce03b032fd7c5ffd3a75474c51f9822688e7c4ad362dd

-The House Intelligence Committee is set to interview Kushner Tuesday, the panel announced late last week. Austin: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cb1c80494a85fbf22fb9448b638891c1ba12bc7905b771b3cb67ea6ca3ac633cbeab957b141df172e6ce4cb15c0566df3ec17157dbb5c55c

CRITICAL HEALTH CARE VOTE THIS WEEK - Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is going ahead with a push to begin debate on the GOP's health care plan, even though it appears Republican leaders will fall short of the 50 votes needed to move forward. Some senior Republicans think the high-profile vote, which is expected Tuesday, could provoke enough backlash to bring senators back to the negotiating table. But senators don't even know what bill they'd be moving on to - the 2015 repeal or the GOP's repeal and replace plan - if enough members agreed to start debate. With two senators on record against proceeding and Sen. John McCain's absence, the vote is on track to fail without last minute
changes, Jen Haberkorn and Seung Min report. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cb1c80494a85fbf2b58bf26bfb50ba44585c775d40255256b2e20467fccbb2b6ca661e76664bf053a7e06b0a6d92b451b525c21ec87bc7b4

Further complicating things, the Senate parliamentarian on Friday afternoon ruled against key provisions in the GOP's repeal and replace plan, including language targeting Planned Parenthood and restricting health care plans that provide abortion coverage, Jen and Seung Min report. The ruling against the abortion language is a huge hurdle in the House, report Jonathan Cohn, Laura Bassett and Matt Fuller for HuffPost. "Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows suggested that, without that prohibition, the bill could not pass the House on the way back from the Senate." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cb1c80494a85fbf2d224a58edd3903d9b506177a5b87d9c87fcfd5a67c23aa3ba2432b6d9b126dfe2ab39b9611c782feb1852072b4c94129

WE'VE GOT A CASE OF THE MONDAYS TOO, Y'ALL. Welcome to July 24 and thanks for tuning into POLITICO's Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill. And a very special happy birthday to my dad Ricky, who can give a wedding toast that's outta this world and cut a rug like you've never seen.

FRIDAY'S MOST CLICKED: The latest on the Russia sanctions package, via Elana, was the winner.

DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK - The Blue Dog Coalition, a small group of conservative House Democrats, is eyeing an aggressive comeback in the 2018 election, arguing candidates that back their platform are the key to taking back the House next year. "People want to purify," Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), one of the Blue Dog's three co-chairs, said about the Democratic base's surge to the left. "[But] without Blue Dogs, we don't have a majority. That's the bottom line." With only 18 members, the group has a long way to go. But the Blue Dogs are working closely with House Democrats' campaign arm on recruitment, a relationship the group says hasn't been this good since Rahm Emanuel ran the DCCC a
decade ago. My story: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cb1c80494a85fbf297699dd833e0ed981ddfd60fd4df74cde92f50b158acc3e50913a2d1e22fb989edbd58816f9f399af44c674441290830

SANCTIONS PACKAGE HITS HOUSE FLOOR - A package of sanctions against Russia, Iran and North Korea is set for a House vote Tuesday after lawmakers reached a final deal late Friday night following weeks of negotiations. The legislation, which does not include many of the changes sought by the White House to make it easier for Trump to ease penalties against Russia, is expected to pass by overwhelming majorities in both chambers. The accord - a remarkable thumb in the eye to Trump from a Republican-led Congress - gives GOP leaders a major bipartisan achievement to tout heading into August recess. Elana and your Huddle host with more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cb1c80494a85fbf27852a7fbd59fde1c22585cd7df40f0497bf24bfad10df7bed95064052a8e52e57719d60acb6dfc571c6c005eabd5c25f

Even with the sanctions deal, here's a helpful reality check from Playbook's Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman: "CONGRESS is likely to leave for August recess without passing a budget, spending bills, an infrastructure package, a bill to lift the debt ceiling and tax reform. 52 DAYS in session between now and the end of the year."

DEMS PROTEST CUTTING INTEL DEBATE SHORT - House GOP leaders moved late Sunday to sidestep a lengthy debate over the intelligence community's budget by teeing up the bill for fast-track passage. Republicans' decision to bring up the intel authorization bill under suspension of the rules, which requires two-thirds support for passage, "prompted howling from Democrats that the GOP was attempting to limit discussion about ... ongoing investigations into election interference by Russia," Kyle reports. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is urging Democrats to vote against the bill. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cb1c80494a85fbf28a45acb20c35f1eeeb79156dbc3dc504e47211520cb899082703bc9120027ec9cd190e9f90a77b4abe199e37bf6dcac7

CLYBURN MAKES HIS CASE - Assistant Democratic Leader James Clyburn turned 77 last week, but he's showing no signs of slowing down and says folks would do better not to focus too much on his birth date or the age of others in the top tier of leadership. "We'd do much better up here as a party if people stop worrying how old [Nancy] Pelosi is, and [Steny] Hoyer, and yours truly, and start figuring out how they can be of service in these communities where we're trying to win elections," Clyburn told Emma Dumain with the Post and Courier. Much more from Emma on the gaping hole Clyburn will leave in South Carolina politics whenever he retires: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cb1c80494a85fbf2d7af783ec46a14c8ff7a4a0d259223f196d5448d18e08c50c1cb633249c3dfabd11e5f484ab899436a59fa79c18ff972

TRUMP JR. AVOIDS PUBLIC HEARING - Senate Judiciary leaders have agreed to let Donald Trump Jr. and Paul Manafort avoid testifying publicly about a meeting they had with a Russian lawyer last year. The two will now be interviewed behind closed doors and not under oath. Committee leaders did issue a subpoena Friday for Glenn Simpson, founder of the firm that commissioned the dossier on President Trump, after Simpson's lawyer said he is on a lengthy vacation and can't testify. Austin and Josh Dawsey: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cb1c80494a85fbf2ff466df4b6cc7a6aa1026f22ccf791c7703fe2e8cf2018cdcde819b3fe4841e8e603ddb0a9a94ea9787642c257bf3666

ARRIVAL LOUNGE - Heather Neilson has started as press secretary for Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.). She was previously at the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The House meets at 12 p.m. with votes postponed until 6:30 p.m. Today's agenda: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cb1c80494a85fbf2a56a6b68ea6ae2a71c6a3abd3cd2c669c6a3610653703da14c815cefecb0976d75e6d4a39c20f156eb0142c939fcaf9c The Senate gavels in at 4 p.m. with a confirmation vote on David Bernhardt, Trump's nominee to be Interior deputy secretary, at 5:30 p.m.

AROUND THE HILL - House Judiciary ranking member John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Reps. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) and Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) hold a bipartisan forum on press freedom at 3 p.m. in 2167 Rayburn.

FRIDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Anthony Crisci was the first to guess that Ezra Taft Benson served as Agriculture secretary under President Eisenhower and was also leader of the LDS church from 1985 until his death in 1994.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - This southern lawmaker, who worked as a land surveyor and fought in the War of 1812 before coming to Congress, has a distinct honor in House history. Who is this person and what is he notable for in the House? 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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