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BUDGET WEEK: MURRAY, RYAN ROLL OUT RIVAL BLUEPRINTS - Janet Hook and Kristina Peterson preview the fight on A1 of the Wall Street Journal: "Congress opens a new chapter in the budget debate this week with the introduction of dueling blueprints from two lawmakers who illustrate their parties' vastly different approaches to the role of government. Sen. Patty Murray (D., Wash.) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.), heads of the Senate and House budget committees, will propose budget resolutions that set tax and spending targets for the entire federal government starting Oct. 1. Their work marks an attempt to steer Congress back toward its traditional role of passing a budget each year, rather
than the stopgap funding measures used to keep government running in recent years.

-- "The blueprints, from the parties' budget chiefs, cement how far apart Democrats and Republicans are on tax and spending policy. Mr. Ryan's budget will include no new tax increases or Pentagon cuts while advancing big changes to Medicare and Medicaid, all with the goal of erasing the annual federal deficit in 10 years. Ms. Murray's plan is expected to increase taxes on upper-income households and corporations and make modest spending cuts to domestic programs; it wouldn't balance the budget anytime soon. Lawmakers are hoping that having members of both parties spell out budget priorities away from Congress's recent constant-crisis mode could help foster the kind of
deficit-reduction plan that has eluded Washington. While the House has regularly passed partisan blueprints, Senate Democrats haven't drawn up a budget since 2009."
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MORE ON RYAN BELOW

SENATORS REACH DEAL ON PATH TO LEGAL STATUS FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS - Brian Bennett reports in a 6-col A1 lead for the Chicago Tribune: "Eight senators who have spent weeks trying to write a bipartisan bill to overhaul immigration laws have privately agreed on the most contentious part of the draft - how to offer legal status to the nation's 11 million illegal immigrants. According to aides familiar with the closed-door negotiations, the bill would require illegal immigrants to register with Homeland Security Department authorities, file federal income taxes for their time in America and pay a still-to-be-determined fine. They also must have a clean law enforcement record. Once granted
probationary legal status, immigrants would be allowed to work but would be barred from receiving federal public benefits, including food stamps, family cash assistance, Medicaid and unemployment insurance....

-- "Still undecided is how long illegal immigrants would need to wait before they could apply for permanent resident status and eventually become citizens. The delay for a green card probably would be 10 years or longer, the aides said. Also unresolved are such politically charged topics as how many visas to issue to high-tech specialists and other guest workers; how to keep track of when visitors leave the country; and how to pay for more Border Patrol officers, fencing and other security measures in an era of shrinking budgets, the aides said. The eight senators met Tuesday and Wednesday, alternating between a private office in the Russell Senate Office Building and a marble-floored
ceremonial room off the Senate chamber."
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N. KOREA WON'T PICK UP PHONE , U.S. & S. KOREA RUN MILITARY EXERCISES - Ed Payne reports for CNN: "A new joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States began Monday amid heightened tensions across the region. In a sign of crumbling relations, North Korea refused to answer its hotline with Seoul, South Korea's unification ministry said Monday, according to the Yonhap news agency. The ministry said the North did not answer two attempts to communicate by telephone at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. local time. The latest military drills involving the two allies are called Key Resolve. They follow the Foal Eagle joint exercises that began March 1, which are scheduled to last two
months. More than 3,000 U.S. forces are taking part in Key Resolve, according to United States Forces Korea."
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GOPers WON'T BUCK LEADERS ON DEFICIT DEAL - Manu Raju reports for POLITICO: "Saxby Chambliss appears to be a ripe target for President Barack Obama on the grand bargain: He's a retiring Republican senator who for years has been eager to cut a large-scale deficit deal. But will he and other GOP senators buck their party's leadership in order to strike a deal with the White House? 'It's not going to happen,' Chambliss told POLITICO. 'We're not going to negotiate; that's the leaders' role.' As the White House tries to circumvent party leaders and talk to rank-and-file Republican senators, those same senators are saying they're not prepared to freelance without the buy-in from their party's
leaders on a deficit-reduction package. The hesitance - expressed by a host of senators whom Obama has personally reached out to in recent days - underscores the steep climb for a major deficit deal despite the renewed optimism in Washington."
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LIBERALS WON'T GIVE GROUND ON ENTITLEMENTS - Kate Nocera reports for POLITICO: "President Barack Obama may be thinking about a 'grand bargain' to address spending and the federal deficit, but there's a key constituency he has to persuade to come along. Democrats. The talk of any deal with congressional Republicans - and for now, it's just that: talk - has liberals worried the White House will give in to changes to safety net programs including Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Republicans say such changes are an essential part of any big deal. And Obama previously has been open to a number of reforms that irk the liberals, such as raising the retirement age of Medicare, means-testing
and adopting an inflation calculation, known as chained CPI, for Social Security. Inevitably, if there is an agreement on a big deal, Democrats will have to get on board for it to pass. But the 2012 election brought in new Democratic members of the House and Senate who are more liberal and more outspoken, strengthening the left wing of the caucus."
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-- The WSJ editorial board says "count us skeptical" that Obama's serious about a grand bargain.
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Washington Post, A1 centerpiece, " The Sequester: At Yellowstone, a geyser of discontent," By Lisa Rein in Mammoth Hot Springs, Wyo.: "The giant yellow snowplows that wake Yellowstone from its winter slumber every March are idled, waiting for the sun to make up for federal budget cuts that are forcing the park to open late for peak season. Mandatory cuts kicked in three days before the plows were to start clearing snow and ice from 300 roads at altitudes that reach 11,000 feet. Faced with an order from Washington to slice $1.8 million from his budget, the park superintendent, Dan Wenk, had considered his options. He could slash the ranks of the 430 seasonal rangers, guides and other
employees who help keep Yellowstone running every summer. But it would mean fewer visitor centers open, fewer walking tours and a risk to public safety. He could halt the bison-management program - but the program is required under a court settlement. He could close the park for two weeks before the fiscal year ends Sept. 30, but that would mean shutting out 267,000 visitors.

-- "Or he could keep the seasonals, just fewer of them, and bring them on two weeks later, saving $450,000. He could freeze all permanent hires ($1 million), delay the snowplows ($250,000) and open most entrances two weeks late. About 50,000 visitors would be lost, and hundreds of fishing and hiking guides, rangers, and concession workers would lose their livelihoods. But it seemed the best bad alternative. The sun would melt and soften the snow, saving $30,000 a day. ... At parks, military bases and federal agencies across the country, managers such as Wenk are weighing choices being forced by the budget reductions known as sequestration."
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-- Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee, responded to the Yellowstone cuts in an email: "America's national parks are incredibly valuable to visitors and to our gateway communities.Keeping our parks open and accessible should be a top priority. After years of wasteful Washington spending, our nation is now more than $16 trillion in debt.The result is we have to make some tough decisions about spending taxpayer money.If we fail to make thoughtful, targeted spending cuts, our children and grandchildren will be even further buried by the mountains of debt.

"The fact is folks in Wyoming and around the country are going to feel the impact of some of these cuts. I believe we need to remain focused on cutting the well documented waste and duplicative federal programs.Last week, I voted to give the President more flexibility to responsibly prioritize needed spending reductions while supporting important priorities - like our national parks.Instead of accepting this flexibility to cut waste, he chose to move forward with indiscriminate across the board spending cuts."

SENATOR SQUATTER? HELLER WON'T GIVE UP OFFICE SPACE - Meredith Shiner reports for Roll Call: "Staffers for Sen. Dean Heller have been bullying other senators' aides to protect the Nevada Republican's space in the Russell Senate Office Building, CQ Roll Call has learned. As part of the biennial Senate office lottery, junior members are obligated to show their office suites to more senior members, who then have 24 hours to decide whether to claim that space as their own. Heller's office suite - which he inherited after the scandal-fueled resignation of Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev. - may be particularly attractive to other senators because its floor plan includes a larger-than-average member
office. Though special courtesies are usually extended to aides and members visiting offices, Heller staffers repeatedly tried to keep them from seeing the spacious member office, sources reported, saying meetings were ongoing and could not be interrupted. Several Senate offices lodged complaints with the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, according to several sources familiar with the attempted visits to Heller's office. 'This is beyond silly. We're disappointed that this has become fodder for pettiness among staff members,' Heller spokeswoman Chandler Smith said. ...

-- "A visit from Sen. Saxby Chambliss' staffers was particularly contentious, and the tension between the two offices only appears to have deepened in the weeks after the tour. When the Georgia Republican's staff asked to see Heller's suite, Chambliss had not yet announced his decision to retire in 2014. According to sources familiar with incident, Heller Chief of Staff Mac Abrams joked that Chambliss' staff should ask Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga., if he would like the suite. ... According to some sources told about the exchange, Heller's chief of staff then offered $10,000 in campaign contributions from the senator's PAC if Chambliss declined to take the suite. Heller's office disputes this
claim."
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GOOD MONDAY MORNING, MARCH 11, 2013, and welcome to The Huddle, your play-by-play preview of the day's congressional news. Send tips, suggestions, comments, complaints and corrections to
mailto:swong@politico.com
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My new followers include @stephwilken and @bertpellis.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The House is out today. The Senate meets at 2:00 p.m. and considers the nominations of Richard Taranto to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Federal Circuit and Andrew Gordon to be U.S. District Judge for the District of Nevada.There will be at least one roll call vote beginning at 5:30 p.m. on the Taranto nomination.

SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY

-- Paul Ryan told "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace that his budget assumes Obamacare will be repealed, a scenario Wallace said "is not going to happen."
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-- Ryan also said that Thursday's lunch with Obama at the White House was his first real conversation with the president.
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-- Sen. Tom Coburn, one of the Republicans who dined with Obama last week, said that "scabs and sores" between the president and the GOP are still healing.
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-- DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said even after better-than-expected jobs numbers Friday, the GOP seems to be rooting for sluggish growth. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) called that characterization absolutely "false."
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THE ROGERS REPORT: SENATE CR WON'T INCLUDE OBAMA PRIORITIES - "Paying a price for his indifference, President Barack Obama is expected to get little or none of the extra money for health care and Wall Street reforms that the administration has been seeking in a six-month stopgap spending bill coming to the Senate floor this week," writes David Rogers. "Bipartisan Senate talks continued through the weekend in hopes of filing final legislation late Monday afternoon. Action by Congress is needed before March 27 to avert a government shutdown and the measure stands to greatly influence how agencies operate in the wake of the across-the-board cuts ordered under sequestration. The White House had
wanted $949 million added within the Department of Health and Human Services to help lay the groundwork for setting up state health-care exchanges to begin enrollment next fall. ... House Republicans refused to include any of these requests in their version of the stopgap bill adopted last week."
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POTENTIAL McCONNELL RIVAL FACES QUESTIONS ABOUT PAST WORK - Alex Bolton reports for The Hill: "Matt Bevin, who may challenge Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), is distancing himself from improper activities that took place at an investment company where he worked a decade ago. ... Bevin's tenure as director of product management at a division of Invesco from 2001 to 2002 could provide McConnell's campaign with a target. The Securities and Exchange Commission found Invesco Funds Group participated in a market-timing scheme from 2001 to 2003 that diluted shareholder value for the benefit of large privileged investors. Invesco settled the SEC enforcement action by agreeing to
pay $325 million in disgorgement and penalties after the agency determined its market timing trades were 'detrimental to Invesco funds' shareholders.' Bevin said he had no knowledge of the market-timing activities connected to Invesco Funds Group, based in Denver. He said he worked for a Kentucky-based division of Invesco that 'was never associated with any market timing and was never a part of any settlement that was made by Invesco.'"
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THE SENATE'S BIG-STATE, SMALL-STATE GAP - The New York Times' Adam Liptak: "Vermont's 625,000 residents have two United States senators, and so do New York's 19 million. That means that a Vermonter has 30 times the voting power in the Senate of a New Yorker just over the state line - the biggest inequality between two adjacent states. The nation's largest gap, between Wyoming and California, is more than double that.The difference in the fortunes of Rutland and Washington Counties reflects the growing disparity in their citizens' voting power, and it is not an anomaly. The Constitution has always given residents of states with small populations a lift, but the size and importance of the gap
has grown markedly in recent decades, in ways the framers probably never anticipated. It affects the political dynamic of issues as varied as gun control, immigration and campaign finance.

-- "In response, lawmakers, lawyers and watchdog groups have begun pushing for change. A lawsuit to curb the small-state advantage in the Senate's rules is moving through the courts. The Senate has already made modest changes to rules concerning the filibuster, which has particularly benefited senators from small states. And eight states and the District of Columbia have endorsed a proposal to reduce the chances that the small-state advantage in the Electoral College will allow a loser of the popular vote to win the presidency.To be sure, some scholars and members of Congress view the small-state advantage as a vital part of the constitutional structure and say the growth of that advantage
is no cause for worry. Others say it is an authentic but insoluble problem."
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FOR WHITE, TOUGHEST QUESTIONS COULD COME FROM DEMS - Dina ElBoghdady reports for the Washington Post: "Any resistance to the confirmation of Mary Jo White as head of the Securities and Exchange Commission is not likely to follow the usual script, with Republicans trying to land a devastating blow as Democrats work to protect the White House nominee. In fact, when White appears before a Senate committee for her confirmation hearing on Tuesday, some of the tougher questions are expected to come from Democrats concerned about her close ties to Wall Street. Given her distinguishedlegal career defending some of Wall Street's biggest names, Democrats want assurances that these relationships won't
interfere with White's resolve or ability to effectively police corporate America."
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FRIDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Norb Trenor was first to correctly answer that the last Saturday session held in the Senate was on Dec. 17, 2011. The Senate held four votes on Omnibus Appropriations, Disaster Relief, Payroll Tax Cut, and Unemployment Compensation.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Stewart Verdery has today's question: In Netflix' "House of Cards" series, House Majority Whip Francis "Frank" Underwood, played by Kevin Spacey, represents a rural South Carolina district. Who represents that district in real life?Bonus question: In reality, who represents the district of another character, Rep. Peter Russo?First to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. Email me at
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