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By Heather Caygle and Austin Wright | 07/06/2017 07:47 AM EDT


With assists from Kyle Cheney and Burgess Everett

SCALISE BACK IN INTENSIVE CARE: House Majority Whip Steve Scalise has been readmitted to intensive care because of infection concerns. MedStar Washington Hospital Center issued a statement at 10 p.m. last night, saying his condition is "listed as serious" and that it will provide another update today. Seung Min has more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f6bd149c96873b9fe7a1ff279cd8422932fffa839a2db15616a93346eed268fed78133c6d4a0fef8d1ac5cd3b5a5d5ace394d5918f552e98

DEMS' NEW PITCH TO VOTERS: A 'BETTER DEAL' - Democratic leaders have faced a barrage of criticism for lacking a clear economic message during the 2016 presidential election, and instead believing they could just run against Donald Trump. Now they're zeroing in on a mantra for their long-promised economic agenda: a "Better Deal." The rebranded package is centered on infrastructure, trade and hiking the minimum wage. Elana and Heather have the story, including some moderate Democrats voicing skepticism: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f6bd149c96873b9f60aa331c88247d49d7f90ba871b1b7355fb0ef42fe391acffa325fa331790a3dc2893ec421e19b6d0492a40c2338198a

Meanwhile, House Democrats' campaign arm is testing out a few potential slogans of their own including, "Democrats 2018: I mean, have you seen the other guys?" The slogan was one of four sticker suggestions in a fundraising email DCCC circulated Wednesday. House Republicans' campaign committee responded with its own suggestion: "Democrats 2018: We win moral victories, not elections." The Hill's Josh Delk: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f6bd149c96873b9f77126ddeff5da941722dcb81f730000a4aa16194ff9341ca20d35fe6150bdf805452a572658603e533af28221003832b

RIGHT THREATENS MCCONNELL'S OBAMACARE REPEAL: FreedomWorks and the Club for Growth are both backing a move by Sens. Mike Lee and Ted Cruz to move the Senate GOP health care bill further to the right, setting up a major confrontation next week. Burgess with more:

"On Wednesday afternoon both FreedomWorks and the Club for Growth urged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to adopt an amendment from Cruz of Texas and Lee of Utah that would largely gut Obamacare's regulatory regime. The move is significant: Without at least a neutral stance from conservative groups, it could be impossible for McConnell to find the 50 votes needed to pass a repeal this month. But what the right is asking for may not be able to pass the Senate either." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f6bd149c96873b9f06368046d5b606a2d5ee78d53ba4325905bbf2e87c31130b82b90e1b59b12b1fb3f2253332e38cc90fbc0dd8550a7fbc

And POLITICO's Joanne Kenen writes that the GOP health care bill does little to tackle the underlying causes of rising health costs in the United States: the expenses of prescription drugs, doctor visits and hospital stays, which continue on a "dangerous upward trajectory." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f6bd149c96873b9fffac3308c0c39606767bc7e3c2c88695e531ff3ac7f3933b117d95ade4ef7500e72130e6ecc826b61361449c70374bfa

TOTALLY THURSDAY. Welcome to July 6 and thanks for reading POLITICO's Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill.

WEDNESDAY'S MOST CLICKED: Patrick Svitek's reporting on protesters challenging Sen. Ted Cruz during a July Fourth event in McAllen, Texas, was the winner.

WE'VE GOT A DATE - The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a confirmation hearing next Wednesday for Christopher Wray, Trump's pick to lead the FBI. Expect both the ongoing FBI investigation into possible coordination between Trump's campaign and Russia and the abrupt firing of FBI Director James Comey to be hot topics. Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley has also raised questions about whether acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe has conflicts of interests in the ongoing Russia probe. Austin with the deets: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f6bd149c96873b9f34dc6a6da82c98f05e7f5730b19849e7443fd6997586cb04af50591671a434ba1262f50e2696aae6167feb25c35f99c4

DEMS PLAN HEALTH CARE BUS TOUR, via McClatchy's Alex Roarty: "A consortium of liberal groups is launching an effort this month against the Republican health care bill, targeting GOP lawmakers who have supported the legislation with a bus tour that will visit their states and districts during the August congressional recess. ... Officials say they want to mirror the pressure brought to bear eight years ago, in 2009, when tea party activists nearly derailed passage of Obamacare during an August recess famous for angry constituents confronting Democratic lawmakers." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f6bd149c96873b9f27b46fe5ad0d56cc34765af75169cd1631a369ce8f62969330c44ff7c7347540ef3472a1555a8bdf5d5f86b1ab4956be

MEANWHILE ... IN POLAND - President Donald Trump, speaking in Warsaw, said he's considering "pretty severe things" in response to North Korea's recent missile tests. "I don't like to talk about what I have planned but I have some pretty severe things that we're thinking about," Trump said. "That doesn't mean we're going to do them, I don't draw red lines." His remarks come as members of Congress in both parties are clamoring for a forceful response after North Korea announced it has launched an intercontinental ballistic missile. POLITICO's Michal Broniatowski and Michael Crowley have more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f6bd149c96873b9febc823b353e24c2f548ff42fcdf87d680f698006ffa58aa134b248cea31a840ceee6fb2ae1d5bbcabd3174a913b6ace8

CASH DASH: HATCH STILL FUNDRAISING - Orrin Hatch turned 83 earlier this year and still has not made a final decision on whether to run for his 8th Senate term. But the Utah Republican is still raising money in case he does and still has an imposing war chest that could scare off any Republicans still eyeing his seat (Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman Jr. have been discussed as potential successors). Hatch raised $1 million in the second quarter and has $4.1 million on hand, according to numbers first provided to POLITICO. He raised about $1.5 million in the first quarter. The Senate Finance chairman seems unlikely to make a final decision until the GOP's agenda shakes out further.

PAUL RYAN CHALLENGER PULLS IN SOME QUICK CASH, via Max Greenwood of The Hill: "Randy Bryce, a Democrat challenging House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) for his seat, raised more than $430,000 in the first 12 days of his campaign. That money, according to Bryce's campaign, came from more than 16,000 donations, amounting to an average contribution of a little more than $25. Bryce, a labor activist and ironworker who stumped for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) during his 2016 presidential bid, launched his congressional campaign last month." More here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f6bd149c96873b9ff0bd7f74a7e7630b77ee6feaf6d226fa56cca3ff4929cacfd9ff4ebe516f7950e5b3de19a1a30dc91d7185b7268f5f66

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

AROUND THE HILL - Alright, where's happy hour at tonight y'all?

WEDNESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Amanda Campbell was first to guess that aside from George W. Bush, John F. Kennedy and Ulysses S. Grant were the two other presidents with both parents alive at the time of their inaugurations. And as Logan Ferree pointed out, only Grant's father attended his swearing-in ceremony.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Vice President Mike Pence has already broken three tie votes in the Senate. Of the other former vice presidents from Indiana, who cast the most tiebreaking votes?

The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send answers to Kyle Cheney at kcheney@politico.com

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