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05/03/2016 08:40 AM EDT


By Rachael Bade (Rbade@politico.com or @RachaelMBade)

With help from Burgess Everett.

TIME RUNNING FOR LAWMAKERS TO ACT ON PUERTO RICO. Your Huddle author and Politico Pro Financial Services reporter Colin Wilhelm: "The island began defaulting on most of a $422 million debt payment Sunday at midnight, but much bigger problems are just around the corner. Congress has just a handful of weeks to hammer out a legislative fix to save the island from financial ruin ahead of a second default on a $2 billion debt payment due in early July. But while GOP congressional staff is working through the break to sketch out a Plan B - with an eye towards unveiling it around May 10 - getting a fix off the ground before July could be a major lift."

"House GOP leadership will have to convince enough conservatives to back a bill that's been labeled a 'bailout' by some. Democrats, too, will likely have to whip their own to back the deal - which could include provisions they don't like, perhaps even a minimum wage cut for the territory. And after all that, the Senate will still have to act quickly - no sure bet, given the chamber's history of taking its time to pass legislation. Meanwhile, lawmakers only have few legislative days in May before they leave for their Memorial Day-recess in late May and early June." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dbee9b2d43e5b0de4da5c7aee34bdae7af29c1a5e7352dab05a3261b1fc4c312

"Pelosi's big Puerto Rico Problem." Huddle still contends this is a waaaay bigger issue for Speaker Paul Ryan than it is for Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, but The Hill's Mike Lillis and Peter Schroeder have a fresh Democratic angle on this: "The Democratic leader aimed piercing criticism at Republicans on Friday for inaction on a host of issues as varied as the Zika crisis and the national budget... then adopted an entirely different tone regarding Puerto Rico's debt crisis... 'I think they're operating in good faith,' she said."

"The shifting tones highlighted the California Democrat's dual election-year roles. As the opposition leader crusading to win back the House, Pelosi wants to do nothing to undercut the Democrats' most trenchant campaign argument: that the Republicans are simply too dysfunctional to govern the country effectively. She's determined to prevent Ryan and Republicans from winning any major legislative victories. At the same time, Pelosi the legislative negotiator is signaling a willingness to work with Ryan on Puerto Rico to ensure a measure gets to President Obama's desk." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dbee9b2d43e5b0deaa1ad654cb2e22a0670198ed1eb51c79f1cb851618e9ba0f

OBAMA TAKES GARLAND PLEA TO SENATE BATTLEGROUND STATES. Hanna Trudo reports for POLITICO: "President Barack Obama praised Supreme Court nominee Judge Merrick Garland on Monday, while urging Congressional Republicans again to grant him a hearing and vote...spoke to outlets from states with Republican Senate incumbents - Iowa (Chuck Grassley), New Hampshire (Kelly Ayotte), Ohio (Rob Portman), Wisconsin (Ron Johnson), Arizona (John McCain) and Missouri (Roy Blunt) - about what he described as an 'unprecedented' process. 'I know that folks like Sen. Ayotte met with him, and the fact that they're not calling for a hearing or a vote means they're not doing their job,' he said about Ayotte, who's
facing a tight reelection contest against Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dbee9b2d43e5b0decc9bfbd81659bfc27a5e099557ceed907eabd83435c9c6ed

Side Note: Those prized local TV interviews with the President came with one condition: local reporters had to promise to ask about Obama's SCOTUS nominee: Cammy Dierking of WKRC in Cincinnati, one of the selectees, explained on air: "Rob, as you mentioned, I was invited to the White House along with five other news anchors from around the country. And really the only requirement we had was that one of our questions to President Obama had to do with the Supreme Court nominee, his nominee, Merrick Garland, Judge Merrick Garland." Video: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dbee9b2d43e5b0dece0c9c73daed321d8f1799673c0fa30746b375ca16a7704d

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's longtime press guy-and-lover-of-dogs Don Stewart was all over this on Twitter last night: "Local affiliates brought in to interview POTUS today had to ask at least one question about the #SCOTUS nominee," he tweeted. Then again: "Wait, you mean the President's #SCOTUS nominee isn't leading the news outside the Beltway? I'm shocked." "What does it mean that the White House had to require local TV stations to ask about his #SCOTUS nominee in order to interview POTUS?"

GOOD TUESDAY MORNING. It's May 3, 2016, and thanks for reading Huddle, where it's lots of meetings during recess - and not a whole lot else. I'm always reachable via email at: rbade@politico.com, or on the twitters: @RachaelMBade

TODAY IN CONGRESS. Recess.

AROUND THE HILL. A lot of nothing.

"DUMMY POLITICIANS." California Rep.-wannabe Sean Flynn, the author or "Economics for Dummies" who's running for Rep. Pete Aguilar's seat, has a new six-figure media buy out today. Kinda fun: The ad dings Beltway insiders as "dummies": "Congress is full of 'em: dummy politicians who don't have a clue. Time for an outsider who can fix it, Republican Sean Flynn. Sean Flynn's no dummy...but he did write Economics for Dummies. The Flynn plan streamline and balance the budget, replace Obamcare, cut regulations to create more high paying jobs...now that's smart. Republican Sean Flynn because we can't afford more dummies in D.C." Watch it: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dbee9b2d43e5b0dea5ca83ce683248f466ddfdf9ede21e6269024295b11b8d94

WHOOPS! DEM CLUB LOSES LIQUOR LICENSE. Capitol Hill Democrats had a bit of a booze problem last weekend. And no, we're not talking about the hangovers post-White House Correspondents' Dinner parties... Little Birdie told my colleague Anna Palmer the National Democratic Club, the lawmaker restaurant on Capitol Hill next to Democratic National Committee headquarters, had shuttered its bar, removed the alcohol from cupboards and taped everything off. Turns out the restaurant forgot to extend its liquor license and was operating without the proper paperwork for several hours last Friday. Tsk, tsk! All fixed now.

A BUSY HILL DEPARTURE LOUNGE. Longtime House Rules Committee staff director for the Dems, Miles Lackey, is leaving the Hill at the end of the month. Just about every member of Democratic leadership put out a statement wishing him well. Here's Whip Steny Hoyer: "During his 25 years of public service, Miles has been instrumental in the passage of numerous key pieces of legislation, including the Affordable Care Act." Don Sisson is now taking over, having been on the panel for more than a decade before becoming special assistant to the President for legislative affairs at the White House.

On the other side of the Capitol campus, Sen. Debbie Stabenow picked up Miranda Margowsky to be her new press secretary and Ian Wilhite as her deputy. Margowsky comes from the House Democratic Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra's office. Wilhite was a senior consultant for public affairs at FTI Consulting. Haley Dorgan also just joined Sen. Jeanne Shaheen's office as press secretary, leaving Sunshine Sachs. Coms director Ryan Nickel writes of her: "Her favorite color is black, her favorite activity is karaoke, her favorite food is tzatziki, her favorite book is 'All The Light We Cannot See' and the TV show she's hooked on right now is 'Broad City.'"

And there's been lots of action on the comms side for Sen. Jerry Moran this week. With Katie Niederee promoted to communications director, Jordan Langdon is coming onboard deputy communications director and Carter Baum becomes press secretary. Langdon comes over from Rep. Jeff Denham's office.

MONDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER: Kirtan Mehta was the first to answer that there are three additional Robert Emmet statuses in Dublin, San Francisco and Emmetsburg, Iowa.

TODAY'S TRIVIA: Comes from our winner: "In honor of Indiana's primary: Indiana has been a very reliably Republican state in the General Election, only going to Democrats twice since 1940. In fact, in two elections since 1940, it was an island of red, with no border being touched by a single other red state. Name those years. " Email me: rbade@politico.com

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