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06/06/2018 07:52 AM EDT


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

DEMS DON'T WHIFF IN GOLDEN STATE - After weeks of hand wringing and millions of rescue-mission dollars spent, Democrats are on track to avoid lockouts in a number of key battleground House districts in California. "With the votes still being tallied early Wednesday, Democratic candidates were in second place" in three critical Southern California districts seen as key to winning back the House, Elena Schneider and James Arkin report this morning. Key state-by-state results: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=25f010b82393cb3d23cb139a8785327bffd124372cc9f6e32eeefb526b071db820baa88d1c0585f3868792948db1f85e

Top takeaways from Super Tuesday: 1. Bruised feelings but no lockouts in California ... 2. Trump scores symbolic victory as Republican advances in Golden State gubernatorial race ... 3. California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom expected to cruise to governorship ... 4. New Jersey voters send Sen. Bob Menendez a message ... 5. Another good night for Democratic women ... 6. Bernie Sanders' sputtering revolution ... 7. Roby pays after Trump diss. David Siders, Natasha Korecki, Carla Marinucci and Steven Shepard with much more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=25f010b82393cb3dcab78fbac099846dc4f327ea6d318b1d389973e7750ffa9cf5426336db7db72409135374c401d3b6

It's not over yet: Votes are still being counted - and current tallies are very close in a number of key House races in California. Track live election results here.

Other election coverage not to miss: Alabama GOP Rep. Martha Roby forced into runoff against former Democrat, via Elena and Daniel Strauss; Feinstein romps to victory in Senate primary, the AP reports; Montana state Auditor Matt Rosendale will face Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, via Scott Bland.

MANCHIN: MAYBE MAGA AIN'T SO BAD - Sen. Joe Manchin really likes President Donald Trump - so much so, the vulnerable West Virginia Democrat hasn't ruled out endorsing him in the 2020 election. Yes, really. More than any other Democrat in Congress, Manchin has positioned himself as a vocal ally of the president, Burgess reports from Ranson, W. Va. "I'm open to supporting the person who I think is best for my country and my state," Manchin told Burgess this week from the driver's seat of his Grand Cherokee. "If his policies are best, I'll be right there."

But Manchin, whose state Trump won by more than 40 points, is a top target for Republicans this fall. "If Joe Manchin says that he votes with the president 50-60 percent of the time? In my book that's a failure," said Manchin's opponent, state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.

And what about all that hugging? "The president recently mocked Manchin in front of the Senate GOP caucus as trying to hug him all the time - only a slight exaggeration, by Manchin's telling. 'We just kind of do the man-bump type thing. That's it. And I think he's pulling me as much as I'm pulling him,' Manchin said in describing his physical embraces with the president." Much more from the Mountain State: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=25f010b82393cb3d2d6697b7036839fff141e0055321608ad8721b7b253489551e875514d327969ac574cbb880a18539

GOP SCRAMBLES FOR DACA DEAL - Republican negotiators are scrambling to reach a DACA deal that would head off an immigration showdown on the House floor. With two Democratic holdouts relenting Tuesday, GOP moderates are now within three signatures of forcing a vote if they can't reach an agreement with Republican hardliners first. The outstanding issue is whether both sides can agree to some sort of legal status for Dreamers. "We want clear, concrete protections for Dreamers and a bridge into the legal immigration system. That's not negotiable," centrist Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.) told Huddle while declining to say if he would accept a deal that didn't offer Dreamers a pathway to
citizenship.

What's next: Negotiators for both sides will meet with Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and other GOP leaders today to continue talks with a full Republican Conference meeting tomorrow. Bres and yours truly: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=25f010b82393cb3ded9b4939c3bcca334d1ad7fcc58fc76a63376dc170ce91631e374e339dd11d9fe60dd4decdb9dd0e

Related read: "I'm not writing one penny to any of them" until DACA is resolved, Florida GOP megadonor Mike Fernandez tells Natasha Korecki.

** A message from the American Clinical Laboratory Association: Millions of seniors who depend on lab tests to manage their health are facing reductions in access to Medicare lab testing because of HHS' flawed implementation of the Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA). HHS is putting the nation's most vulnerable seniors at risk. It's time for Congress to act. Learn More. **

ALRIGHT WEDNESDAY, WE'RE DOING THIS. Welcome to June 6 and thanks for reading POLITICO's Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill. I'm Heather, your former Huddle host back on the mic for one day only as Nolan is enjoying a little vacay time. Since y'all haven't had me around in a while, here's a cute pic of my pup Biggie Smalls on vacation herself last week.

MINIBUS HITS A ROADBLOCK - House Democratic leaders are urging their members to vote against a normally noncontroversial spending package (known around here as a "minibus") slated for a vote later this week, Sarah Ferris reports. The Democratic plan "threatens to put a chokehold on the GOP's spending strategy this year," she writes. "They're attempting a redo of last year's spending strategy, which forced House GOP leaders into painful negotiations with their divided caucus to put up the 218 votes for spending bills themselves." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=25f010b82393cb3dd48ba4f28803cc69fa0dae562e5d2a55359124059c0a3fd07e82048995d578e241d39d20766d7fbd

McCABE WANTS IMMUNITY FOR SENATE TESTIMONY - Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe says he will have "no choice" but to invoke the Fifth Amendment if he is forced to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee next week about the FBI's 2016 probe into Hillary Clinton without "suitable legal protection," his lawyer said in a letter to the panel. Because McCabe is subject to a referral for criminal prosecution stemming from the inspector general's conclusion that he had lied to investigators, immunity would be required in order to secure his testimony, Elana reports. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=25f010b82393cb3d17453b2a28f96e021029331470db32acab1fb486ac7e1674b1c97484bf7f2db069063f67ccbd46e1

BYE-BYE RECESS - After weeks of speculation, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced Tuesday he was canceling three weeks of the August break. McConnell blamed it on Democratic "obstruction" preventing the quick approval of Trump's judicial and executive branch nominees. But the cancellation has the added bonus of keeping several vulnerable Democratic senators in Washington instead of back home campaigning. "There are 10 Democrats up for reelection in states that Trump won, and just one Senate Republican, Dean Heller of Nevada, who is trying to get re-elected in a state won by Hillary Clinton," Burgess and Elana report.

You've got mail: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) will send McConnell a letter today requesting the Senate use its newfound work time in August to vote on Democratic-backed health care proposals, Elana reports.

Trump weighs in: "Mitch McConnell announced he will cancel the Senate's August Recess. Great, maybe the Democrats will finally get something done other than their acceptance of High Crime and High Taxes. We need Border Security!" the president tweeted at midnight.

The House is unlikely to follow suit, though, according to multiple sources. One key reason? Republican leaders in the House basically have the opposite problem: They have a number of vulnerable members who need to spend that month campaigning in their districts if the GOP wants to avoid a wipeout this fall.

SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED - Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison made it official Tuesday, jumping in the Minnesota attorney general's race on the last day candidates could file. Ellison isn't resigning from Congress but won't run for reelection. He also plans to remain deputy chairman of the DNC. Ellison first toyed with entering the race last year, Edward-Isaac Dovere reports, and enters a crowded primary field with high name recognition.

REVOLVING DOOR - Dan Holler, a prolific tweeter and founding staffer for Heritage's lobbying arm, is leaving the organization to join Sen. Marco Rubio's office as deputy chief of staff, Roll Call reports. "The new gig will reunite him with his recent Heritage Action boss Michael Needham, who left in April to become Rubio's chief of staff," writes Kate Ackley.

SADLER OUT AT WHITE HOUSE - Kelly Sadler is no longer at the White House as of Tuesday, nearly a month after the communications aide made a crass comment about Sen. John McCain's health. "The White House had been strategizing an exit for Sadler for the last two weeks, a senior administration official said," CNN's Noah Gray, Kevin Liptak and Pamela Brown reported. It's unclear if Sadler left the administration all together or was relocated somewhere else. Sadler, who came under fire for saying McCain's opposition to Trump's CIA nominee didn't matter because McCain was "dying anyway," never publicly apologized.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The House meets at 10 a.m. with first votes around 1:30 p.m. and last votes (on amendments to a water resources bill) around 9:30 p.m. tonight. The Senate gavels in at 10 a.m. with a confirmation vote on judicial nominee Annemarie Carney Axon at 11 a.m.

AROUND THE HILL - Reps. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.), José Serrano (D-N.Y.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) and Darren Soto (D-Fla.) hold a press conference at 9:30 a.m. in the House triangle on hurricane recovery efforts in Puerto Rico and updated mortality numbers.

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), GOP Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Rep. Rob Woodall (R-Ga.) take questions from reporters at 10 a.m. in HC-8.

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) hold a press conference at 1 p.m. in HVC Studio A.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and actress Alyssa Milano will hold a press conference on the equal rights amendment at 1 p.m. in the House triangle. A forum on the amendment will follow at 3 p.m. in 2247 Rayburn.

TUESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Arik Wolk was the first to guess that George H.W. Bush was first to visit six of the seven continents as president.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Myles Ambrose with today's question: Twenty of the first 21 vice presidents have a bust in the gallery of the Senate chamber. Who is missing and why? The first person to correctly answer gets a shout out in tomorrow's Huddle. And don't forget, send suggestions for trivia questions my way: hcaygle@politico.com

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** A message from the American Clinical Laboratory Association: Millions of seniors depend on lab tests to manage their health. Yet steep cuts by HHS to vital lab services put seniors on Medicare at great risk. By reducing access to vital lab tests for heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and many other conditions, other health care costs are sure to increase. Worst of all, these cuts will hit the most vulnerable seniors -- like those in nursing homes or in rural areas -- the hardest. HHS has deliberately ignored the law and Congressional intent, which will reduce access to lab testing for America's seniors. Congress must act now to restore the true intent of the Protecting Access to Medicare
Act (PAMA) and protect seniors from HHS' penny-wise and pound-foolish approach. Learn More. **

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