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By Kyle Cheney and Austin Wright | 07/07/2017 07:46 AM EDT


MCCONNELL'S BACKUP PLAN -- The prospects for getting a big-ticket health care bill through the Senate appear to have dimmed over the recess week, and now Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is openly floating the option Republicans have dreaded: partnering with Democrats on a limited fix for Obamacare's insurance marketplaces. Speaking in Glasgow, Ky., McConnell said absent a GOP-driven measure to roll back core components of Obamacare, a smaller, bipartisan fix would be necessary. "No action is not an alternative," the leader said, according to an AP account of McConnell's remarks.

It's hard to overstate how big a letdown this would be for Republicans, who have been salivating for years over the chance to hollow out President Barack Obama's most significant legislative achievement. Democrats have said they'd only come to the table if Republicans drop their effort to repeal Obamacare. That's essentially the path McConnell outlined.

Backlash preview: @guypbenson, 6:24 p.m. Thurs.: "1) Campaign vs Obamacare for 7 yrs; 2) Fail to pass replacement; 3) Bail out Obamacare w/ Dems; 4) Ask conservatives to vote for you again [thumbs-down emoji]."

--While McConnell looks to salvage the GOP plan, the Senate looks increasingly unlikely to take a vote on it next week, Burgess and Dawsey report. Lawmakers still need a budgetary analysis of their revised proposals, and other procedural hurdles could push the vote back to late July.

WELL, FRIDAY, WE MEET AGAIN. Welcome to July 7 and thanks for reading POLITICO's Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill.

SCALISE UPDATE -- 5:50 p.m. Thursday, from Medstar Washington Hospital Center: "Congressman Steve Scalise underwent surgery for the management of infection. He tolerated the procedure well. He remains in serious condition." Scalise was readmitted to the ICU Wednesday as he recovers from a gunshot wound.

REPEAL ROUNDUP: Pressure to buck Senate GOP health care bill builds:

-In rural Kansas, Sen. Jerry Moran faced angry protesters (most of whom traveled in from urban areas) and emphasized that he was still opposed to the GOP health care plan. Seung Min brings it to you live from Palco (population 300): http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=320bc9e7e5ecf6c1808bbf28c56c35d7fcb29a0f5e732bfb47f9147821ccbf1f75110f26091fc0ee89f0a6b386de4a0842691e9074eb0ea1

- In another dispatch from Palco, Seung Min looks at what's driving Moran's hesitance to embrace the GOP health care bill, even as he still boasts that he was the first lawmaker to introduce legislation repealing Obamacare. He's being lobbied intensely on all sides of the issue, which is coming to a head just as Kansas grapples with the limits of its own experiment with hardline conservative fiscal policy. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=320bc9e7e5ecf6c124264014c716f1a75a5cbdcc6d0716dfa577c79aba7f3425897089769ec588ef6913269a1cfe56719a7bae60ba34c9e7

-What's up with Rand Paul? The junior senator from Kentucky has confounded colleagues on the health care bill. Though he's largely been written off as a 'no' vote, he's forged an unusual -- and unlikely -- rapport with Trump, a onetime nemesis. And that's kept Paul at the table and in the room as negotiations flounder. Burgess and Dawsey have the details: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=320bc9e7e5ecf6c1a0717b32cba372a9821030212733b7be1d99cf5d08a464aab1d153de49829e45d73b7a0dea9d8849622ecd546b21bba5

-Missouri's Claire McCaskill may be one of the most endangered Democratic senator on the map, but she's found a burst of support in Trump country for her vehement opposition to the Senate GOP health care bill. Elana joined McCaskill in Macon, where the senator found little energy for the Republican Obamacare replacement plan. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=320bc9e7e5ecf6c1c54add58454c3fc0a805abf503bbf8db658c33d4752df3f25a217b517b298df983671f24ffd22b850f189b62bc4421af

SENATE GOP RECRUITING SLOW-GOING FOR 2018: Republicans have seen a few A-list Senate candidates decide to sit out 2018 opportunities in recent days and it's becoming a problem for the GOP. Rep. Ann Wagner decided not to challenge McCaskill in Missouri. Montana Republicans have seen their two top recruits take a pass on challenging Sen. Jon Tester, and a rising Republican star in Wisconsin opted against challenging Sen. Tammy Baldwin. POLITICO Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard and Burgess bring you the latest: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=320bc9e7e5ecf6c114ed14152c3e4e96ca6ca16e273756d71a1f52655856376c371a90fe65e0ec2176e32c1e6a22c3515bda7ecb84a0b9ba

THE OTHER COLLUSION INQUIRY -- Former Obama administration Attorney General Loretta Lynch claims she never assured the Clinton campaign that an investigation into Clinton's handling of classified information wouldn't get very far. Lynch issued a statement through her lawyer rejecting the allegation and pledging to cooperate with the Senate Judiciary Committee's probe of the matter. Austin explains: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=320bc9e7e5ecf6c128fac7bc1b5d15e12d69321d3f4e7f90f0bd03887c01a4c750e8aed0e5a86eab2a4074dd4e030348d80a6f29f25805d7

RUSSIA SANCTIONS BILL HITS NEW HOUSE HURDLES - Elana has the story: "The Senate relented last month on a fix to the sanctions bill after House Republicans raised constitutional concerns with it. But on Thursday, House Democrats objected to speedy consideration of the fix - opening a new partisan schism as Trump prepares to potentially forge a new, more cooperative relationship with Putin during their bilateral meeting at the G-20 summit in Germany." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=320bc9e7e5ecf6c10d07c71a5be5263cb18dbb81f472bff215bdc7689dbe68317eede33f7ecf8141e1a06351d8b57b00c7e44e42ad14e896

KAMALA HARRIS RISING -- The New York Times' Matt Flegenheimer profiles the Democratic senator: "California's very junior senator has emerged as the latest iteration of a bipartisan archetype: the Great Freshman Hope, a telegenic object of daydreaming projection - justified or not - for a party adrift and removed from executive power.

"Like the Senate newcomers Barack Obama or Marco Rubio before her, Ms. Harris - a 52-year-old former prosecutor with a profane streak, a lawyerly aversion to "false choices" and an affection for the rapper Too Short - has insisted that national aspirations are far from her mind. Like those men, she has not exactly ruled out the possibility, either." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=320bc9e7e5ecf6c1657d439ae57501eb01ce10d94645711db9cefe791a6f694896f7414215e0b07151b780afd40eadda80aea482ed45b72c

FIRST IN HUDDLE-- Seven law enforcement organizations are announcing their opposition Friday to legislation that would require states to honor concealed carry firearm permits issued outside their borders. "Police officers will face the daunting task of verifying the validity of different carry permits from the states that issue them," the groups wrote in a letter to Congress. "Twelve states require no permit whatsoever to carry a concealed gun, taking away an officer's ability to determine if a person is carrying legally."

The seven groups: Hispanic American Police Command Officers Association, International Association of Chiefs of Police, Major Cities Chiefs Association, National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives, National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, Police Executive Research Forum, Police Foundation. They've opposed similar bills before but lawmakers have renewed their call for this latest proposal in the wake of last month's shooting at a congressional baseball team practice.

TODAY IN CONGRESS -- Did we mention it's Friday? And a recess week?

DEPARTURE LOUNGE -- Today is the last day on the Hill for Reggie McCrimmon, the Congressional Black Caucus' director of member services and external affairs. He's leaving to join HQ Community as its social entrepreneur-in-residence.

-Mike Burns, communications director for Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (D-N.J.), is jumping to Rep. Nita Lowey's office, where he'll take on the same role for the New York Democrat. His last day before the switch is Tuesday.

THURSDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Nick Beek was the first to correctly identify Schuyler Colfax, vice president to Ulysses S. Grant, as the Hoosier who's broken the most Senate ties. See the full list for yourself: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=320bc9e7e5ecf6c1058afa46c77d2b39fb073c3724f5c80b5a81106a441b39de6f0e50c8fc7065be32fab62b1997a9301a25105e0fc05ec1

TODAY'S TRIVIA - This one comes courtesy of Nick: Which president made plans to resign immediately if he lost reelection, part of a strategy that would have elevated his potential successor to the White House months before the scheduled inauguration?

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

To view online:
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