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09/11/2015 08:45AM EDT


By Seung Min Kim (skim@politico.com or @seungminkim)

BEHIND PELOSI'S IRAN DEAL CAMPAIGN - POLITICO's Lauren French: "For weeks, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has been penning handwritten, personalized thank you notes to the nearly 150 House Democrats who publicly backed President Barack Obama's nuclear deal with Iran ... In an interview with POLITICO on Thursday, Pelosi said she worked hand-in-glove with the White House, pinpointing skeptical Democrats and helping to make sure Obama called them all."

--"It was a marked shift for congressional Democrats, many of whom have complained that the president hasn't done enough over the last 7 years to build relationships. In the end, fewer than two dozen House Democrats ended up voicing opposition to the deal. 'All I was looking for was winning,' Pelosi said inside her Capitol office ... During the August recess, Pelosi sent Obama a list of 57 lawmakers that the president needed to personally call to secure their support. Senior Democratic aides said he called them all. And she ensured that lawmakers who came out early in support of the deal were properly thanked by the White House." http://cl.s4.exct.net/?qs=4d1c80bb08a0ac261a4b74e3d0cafd99920fa47b04ac45903b891539fbc12c22

--But Obama's lobbying in Congress can only go so far. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) tells CNN's Manu Raju that the president called him while Manchin was on his boat parked at National Harbor, but Manchin ultimately voted against the Iran deal: http://cl.s4.exct.net/?qs=4d1c80bb08a0ac26ebd78eecd8b98e7583585ce07ac305852b4ff3cd2ac18894

--Patricia Zengerle and Richard Cowan recap Obama's big Iran win in the Senate for Reuters: http://cl.s4.exct.net/?qs=4d1c80bb08a0ac2646d4421ed428a40eebc2110e99bcf6d8fe32aa607eca6dfb

--But despite yesterday's outcome, the undeterred House is pushing forward on its own Iran plan today. Per AP's Deb Riechmann: "On Thursday, the House adopted a resolution on a vote of 245-186 saying that Obama had not complied with the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act ... On Friday, the House will consider whether to hold a vote to approve of the nuclear deal and whether to pass a resolution to suspend until January 2017 the president's authority to waive or suspend sanctions on Iran." http://cl.s4.exct.net/?qs=4c118b89a297803f67ba111ba0afb00d206b5e6845411ce179b51f4a03e66566

--And Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) leaves the door open on a lawsuit against Obama over Iran. HuffPo has his remarks: http://cl.s4.exct.net/?qs=4c118b89a297803f595092ddeecc6c819d81bbc2965835b06e7fc4ff9e5d568c

GOP EYEING POLITICAL PAYBACK ON IRAN - From POLITICO's Burgess Everett and yours truly: "It may be years before the political fallout of the Senate's mostly party-line vote Thursday to preserve the Iran nuclear agreement becomes clear. But it's already a defining campaign issue - and like the Iraq War and Obamacare votes last decade, looks likely to remain a stark dividing line in many election cycles to come."

--""Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell plans to return to the floor next week to force Democrats to take more votes Republicans say they'll regret as soon as Iran violates the terms of the deal or sponsors terrorist attacks, which critics believe is just a matter of time. After that will come the attack ads, national GOP officials say ... 'It will be very harmful to their chances,' said National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Roger Wicker of Mississippi." http://cl.s4.exct.net/?qs=4c118b89a297803f617bdcd58341378c98b0de7ebf2e15878bdf3fdab12d8b40

CRUZ BLOCKING USAID PICK - Carl Hulse for the New York Times: "As the international community confronts a refugee crisis, the nominee to head the American agency responsible for overseas humanitarian issues is stalled in the Senate, leaving the Obama administration with a critical vacancy as it grapples with how to assist those displaced by conflict in the Middle East and Africa. The nominee, Gayle Smith ... remains tied up in a partisan Senate fight over nominations despite bipartisan backing for her confirmation."

--"Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, announced this summer that he would object to considering any nominees for State Department posts because of his opposition to the nuclear deal with Iran, complicating efforts to move ahead quickly with floor votes on the president's picks for international posts. A spokesman for Mr. Cruz said Thursday that those objections still stood." http://cl.s4.exct.net/?qs=4c118b89a297803fe128871503943e00522d94692e016c08a15a3544b21a25ee

FREEDOM CAUCUS DRAWS LINE ON FUNDING - CQ Roll Call's Matt Fuller: "On Thursday, the conservative HFC took their seventh official position: They will oppose any spending bill that doesn't defund Planned Parenthood ... It's a significant statement from the conservative group. It takes a four-fifths majority for the Freedom Caucus to take an official position, meaning Republicans would probably need Democratic votes to pass a CR if HFC members make good on their pledge ... With at least 42 members, the House Freedom Caucus could cause some vote problems." http://cl.s4.exct.net/?qs=4c118b89a297803f606d34df7a376bf16dd30d12535fd69ac2c8924f8961c209

--In an interview with C-Span's "Newsmakers," Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the group's chairman, insists that Republicans can win the government shutdown fight if they play their card right: http://cl.s4.exct.net/?qs=4c118b89a297803f3e23a8bfc2239e3654d209ce92f120cb0f0de4abdaca586e

** A message from the J Street Education Fund: Pro-Israel, Pro-Peace Americans are advocating that Congress support the nuclear agreement as the best way to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. American and Israeli security experts agree: The deal makes us safer. Get the facts at irandealfacts.org **

It's Friday, Sept. 11, 2015 and welcome to the Huddle, where we're remembering the victims of the horrific terrorist attacks 14 years ago. You can reach me at skim@politico.com, or find me on Twitter at @seungminkim. Lauren French is taking over next week; she's at lfrench@politico.com and @laurennfrench.

My new followers include @Lily_NEA and @BridgeProject21.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The House is in at 9 a.m., with votes between 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on Iran measures. The Senate is out until Tuesday at 1 p.m.

AROUND THE HILL - Quiet.

GUN VICTIM'S DAD PUSHES GOODLATTE, CONGRESS - CQ Roll Call's Hannah Hess: "After Andy Parker's 24-year-old daughter was shot and killed during a live WDBJ-TV broadcast, the Virginia father vowed he would do 'whatever it takes to fix this problem,' then started pressing Congress to expand background-report checks to all gun sales. Fewer than 24 hours before Parker was scheduled to headline a high-profile Capitol lawn rally, he got a call from a staffer with House Judiciary Chairman Robert W. Goodlatte.

--"The Republican, who represents the district where WDBJ is located, asked to meet with Parker 'at the very time that I'm meeting with you all here,' Parker announced to the crowd. 'How convenient,' hollered one woman, who was among the gun-violence victims and advocates who rallied in more than 50 communities across the nation Thursday to call for tighter gun restrictions." http://cl.s4.exct.net/?qs=62b6dd17dcaa5f0a03f3accf2383973a10776dfcb22870bdaf81e4d9a9fc8246

SENATE EYES 20-WEEK ABORTION BAN - The Hill's Peter Sullivan: "The Senate could vote this month on a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, amid a continued firestorm over Planned Parenthood funding ... A vote this month on the 20-week abortion ban bill could help divert anti-abortion energy away from a riskier government funding fight over Planned Parenthood. But Rep. Diane Black, who has introduced several defunding bills in the House, said the Senate's bill would not do enough to punish Planned Parenthood for the alleged wrongdoing." http://cl.s4.exct.net/?qs=62b6dd17dcaa5f0a0ce841db25d0b8511e99dd412ca182de423ac9add52c4235

--At a news conference after the Iran vote, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) lamented the vote as "just more wasted time."

MENENDEZ BLASTS FEDS IN CORRUPTION CASE - Attorneys for the indicted senator fire the latest volley in the increasingly nasty legal battle, accusing Justice Department prosecutors of running an "obvious political smear campaign." POLITICO's John Bresnahan: Menendez's lawyers also argue that the Justice Department officials and FBI agents engaged in a deliberate pattern of media leaks that damaged Menendez's credibility with the public and made it more likely he would be indicted. They claim prosecutors abused their power in pursuing the criminal allegations against Menendez, and were especially interested the New Jersey Democrat's sex life." http://cl.s4.exct.net/?qs=62b6dd17dcaa5f0ad7ec6de6834a065e1db98cdf34dec66fb609aa65e8b3ff0a

EX-CLINTON AIDE TAKES THE FIFTH - The latest in the House Benghazi committee drama, from the Wall Street Journal's Byron Tau and Emma Court: "Bryan Pagliano, an IT staffer who worked for the State Department and was paid by [former Secretary of State Hillary] Clinton to help maintain her personal email server, invoked his Fifth Amendment right to refuse to answer questions that could incriminate him, in front of the House Select Committee on Benghazi."

--"The Republican-led committee subpoenaed Mr. Pagliano, compelling him to appear on Thursday. The committee had prepared 19 pages of questions. The congressional committees investigating Mrs. Clinton's email arrangement must now decide whether to offer Mr. Pagliano immunity to compel his testimony ... Rep. Trey Gowdy (R., S.C.), the committee's Republican chairman, acknowledged Mr. Pagliano had the right to invoke the Fifth Amendment, but hinted that the committee might call him again." http://cl.s4.exct.net/?qs=62b6dd17dcaa5f0a7ae08eded629f0bb97b5d326fe7d2ef7b8979f699bb6cc2d

THURSDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Patrick Boland and Sebastian Silva answered within seconds of each other that former Gov. Mel Carnahan of Missouri was convinced by Pope John Paul II to commute the sentence of a death row inmate.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Patrick has today's question: Who is the only member of Congress to have a unit of measurement named after them, and what does it measure?
The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. E-mail skim@politico.com.

GET HUDDLE emailed to your Blackberry, iPhone or other mobile device each morning. Just enter your email address where it says "Sign Up." http://cl.s4.exct.net/?qs=62b6dd17dcaa5f0a69488f34b154fb8e5c4b50302428e58081d9f487eb88e0a1

** A message from the J Street Education Fund: Pro-Israel, Pro-Peace Americans are advocating that Congress support the nuclear agreement because it is the best way to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. The J Street Education Fund has launched TV and print ads in key states, highlighting American and Israeli national security leaders, generals, and scientists who agree: The deal will block Iran from getting a nuclear weapon and make us stronger and safer. J Street is taking senior Israeli military officials across the country to explain why this deal is the best way to neutralize the Iranian nuclear threat. National polls commissioned by J Street have demonstrated strong support
for the agreement among American Jews. It's vital that Members of Congress hear from constituents who have the facts. Get informed at irandealfacts.org. **


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