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03/17/2017 08:00 AM EDT


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

DHS CHIEF HUDDLES WITH HOUSE DEMS - Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly will be on Capitol Hill this morning to sit down with House Democrats in a meeting that could get heated. Democrats want answers on President Donald Trump's new travel ban and his expanded immigration enforcement policies, which lawmakers say could lead to mass deportations. "We're going to keep the pressure on all of these issues," Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Michelle Lujan Grisham told Huddle.

There's already bad blood between the caucus and the department after several Democrats were booted from a meeting with top immigration officials in February. That meeting was requested after nearly 700 undocumented immigrants were arrested in nationwide raids. "We're still incredibly upset and disturbed that they have taken this long and have ignored written requests for information," Lujan Grisham said about the raids. "We've made it clear they should be bringing data on the updated numbers and the answers to the questions we posed at the [earlier] meeting."

Senate Dems, not so lucky: The confab with House Democrats comes at the same time DHS officials have rejected attempts by 16 Senate Democrats to secure a meeting with Kelly on Trump's immigration policies, Seung Min scoops.

BETTING THE HOUSE WITH BANNON - House conservatives have taken a risky tack in the Obamacare repeal fight: circumventing congressional GOP leaders to instead negotiate directly with the White House. But while it's paying off for now- they've found a sympathetic ear in chief strategist Steve Bannon- things could go awry if the bill totally blows up. "The alliance with the White House has emboldened the Freedom Caucus," Rachael, Tara Palmeri and Kyle report.

One example: HFC Chairman Mark Meadows on Thursday slammed a news report from last week that said Trump would back primary challengers to members who oppose the repeal. "The kinds of things that are happening, they don't bring us closer to yes. If anything, they have an opposite reaction," Meadows said. The story also made Bannon, who met with Meadows over the weekend, furious. On Tuesday, Trump was pressing Speaker Paul Ryan to move the bill further right. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=43ebf681dc1886d6a8bfbb00a9dbbcf546c785e588afbbd1b1ef04d769c7456f5ee221ce600c95a8a7aa3fb6504cef99

Uh-oh: "Sen. Susan Collins on Thursday said she couldn't back the House GOP's Obamacare repeal-and-replace legislation, an expected - if crucial - defection for Republicans trying to corral enough votes to enact a repeal bill." Dan Diamond with the deets: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=43ebf681dc1886d61c645e525beef9d41e10094565a58f2949b37179485680d9114bcfd9b87776ab2f88df981657d4aa

WE'VE BEEN HERE BEFORE - Trump may be introducing his first budget but Republicans have already seen this plan four years ago and it didn't end well. This time, the GOP doesn't have President Obama to blame. "Paul Ryan, then chairman of the House Budget Committee, proposed almost exactly what Trump wants now: big increases for the military combined with tens of billions in cuts to nondefense programs. The House went along, and within months the whole appropriations process collapsed, setting the stage for a costly government shutdown in the fall of 2013," David Rogers reports.

"Trump's budget is driven more by Steve Bannon than by getting to balance. So where does that leave Republicans in Congress and will they end up negotiating only with themselves?" Don't miss it: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=43ebf681dc1886d697f5210f3c6de45842f624c45a0feecd73baa66bec6b3689114c7b2153a90cf18d3d2553f3b04ab6

Republicans on the Hill panned Trump's budget blueprint Thursday, Bres, Sarah Ferris and Jen Scholtes report. And Democrats look at Trump's plan with an eye toward 2018: Republicans are "writing a lot of our campaign message" House Budget ranking member John Yarmuth told Huddle. More from me and Elana: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=43ebf681dc1886d6057370c9f84249133ecab5fb0b0ba079197303486c1e5ccf68106d67038e09b48d56a38b8378b1b7

WHAT THE HILL IS READING: "Tillerson says 'all options are on the table' when it comes to North Korea," via Anna Fifield for the Washington Post.

A GUINNESS FOR EVERYBODY. Welcome to Friday, March 17. Happy St. Patrick's Day and thanks for reading POLITICO's Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill.

THURSDAY'S MOST CLICKED: Shane Goldmacher's story on Trump's budget was the winner

HILL LEADERS DISMISS WIRETAPPING CLAIMS - Senior Republicans across the Capitol have rebuked Trump's wiretapping claims this week, even as White House press secretary Sean Spicer says the president stands by his assertions. Speaker Ryan told reporters Thursday he's seen "no evidence" of wiretapping and Senate Intel leaders issued a similar statement.

"Based on the information available to us, we see no indications that Trump Tower was the subject of surveillance by any element of the United States government either before or after Election Day 2016," Sens. Richard Burr and Mark Warner said.

Tune in: FBI Director James Comey will be asked about the issue during the House Intel hearing on Russia Monday. Austin with more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7d746a531d95ef9f5ddc04e72c381376b43a10aa463b933a875be9b153ec9f6624693b4e9b0092e874e8adf0e4f16ac2

NEXT WEEK: TRUMP TO MEET WITH CBC - President Trump will meet with the Congressional Black Caucus next Wednesday and things could get a little awkward. CBC members have routinely blasted Trump and his policies, saying the president has repeatedly shown little understanding of African American voters.

And CBC Chairman Cedric Richmond recently apologized after telling a lewd joke about Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway during a press dinner. Richmond told Huddle Thursday he hasn't "given that any thought" to whether he'll talk to Conway during the White House visit. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7d746a531d95ef9fb32fb552ad2ff74a09a661e90ebc12bb8315d15b09cc50bf2824448012df42ec9bef0fc452bb47d9

FRIDAY JAMZ - Can't get enough of Reps. Will Hurd's and Beto O'Rourke's bipartisan road trip? Well, you're in luck. Congress' dynamic duo du jour released a Spotify playlist Thursday inspired by their cross-country trek. A sampling of what you'll find includes everything from "I Would Die 4 U" by Prince to Bruce Springsteen's classic "Born to Run" to "Under Pressure" by David Bowie and Queen. Tune in: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7d746a531d95ef9ffde861ac7ef7edbe31608f5bdb0e8ec620166c2242c3e1fc5a1429b02f439a86c62f515625a8b7e1

TWEET DU JOUR: @SenatorBurr: .@HurdOnTheHill @BetoORourke glad y'all made it in time for votes. Let me know if you need a ride back to Texas. With an updated pic of "The Thing" here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7d746a531d95ef9fed4bd9b97711609b3dd7170aaee397095a923ce28aa254f31028419ce4793e3036561205678acb8d

FLYNN'S RUSSIA CONNECTIONS RUN DEEP - "President Trump's former national security adviser, Mike Flynn, was paid tens of thousands of dollars by Russian companies shortly before he became a formal adviser to the then-candidate," according to documents released by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee. Shane Harris, Paul Sonne and Carol Lee with the Wall Street Journal: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7d746a531d95ef9f515a741f2ebae047bb7217d5fa2a6714a398ad7acb3eb4a26a315fd7affaef766502e1c69a918e4e

ON SECOND THOUGHT... Rep. Brian Mast says he's planning to return $5,400 in campaign donations from a Florida businessman accused of stealing millions of dollars in an invention-marketing scam. Scott Cooper, president of World Patent Marketing, donated to Mast's campaign last year after naming the future lawmaker as a member of his company's board. Mast now says he was never involved with the company or its board and will be giving back the campaign donation. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7d746a531d95ef9fc71b9ecf4cf01945df6fa0a2b462d23a6138d2876ccb1b4df3ebe4c1fa52d6cb6611fcdbe7c6ddd5

A QUESTION WORTH ASKING - "Obamacare required members of Congress to enroll in the law's health insurance plans. But so far, Republicans aren't planning to require lawmakers to participate in the new insurance market they're proposing," Jen Haberkorn reports. "In fact, no one really knows where lawmakers are going to have to get their health insurance under repeal. 'I haven't given thought to that,' Speaker Ryan told reporters on Thursday." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7d746a531d95ef9fe5785cb1371873e4a16d1d94c82a1f16b0b730d5bbe8ea69cfa78d5f83c2ffadacef8272f37b3432

ROUND TWO, LET'S FIGHT - Sen. Rand Paul fired back at his GOP colleague Sen. John McCain, who accused Paul of "working for Vladimir Putin" earlier in the week. "I think he makes a really, really strong case for term limits," Paul said Thursday on MSNBC. "I think maybe he's past his prime. I think maybe he's gotten a little bit unhinged." Andrew Hanna with more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7d746a531d95ef9f3fb9fd0aa9a61603d5b78e990346ef868a63ba4c917d1a705cb16d30d7349f01c8eba6fda90ccaae

KING: COLLEAGUES 'PATTING ME ON THE BACK' - Rep. Steve King says he hasn't noticed the blowback to his controversial comments about "somebody else's babies" this week despite several Republicans publicly rebuking the Iowa congressman. "My colleagues have generally been coming by and patting me on the back," King told the Hill. Christina Marcos: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7d746a531d95ef9f264f4952993f85ecbb295a335aacd3af1120c1315ef2d2d89cd3d2acc1151463cefe3e40a1937818

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The Senate is out until Tuesday. The House meets at 9 a.m. with first and last votes at 11 a.m. Today's agenda: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7d746a531d95ef9f3051e6e9d6528cd93e79cce866f45aa9eaed1cdb724991300b0dff4ea5c7ab86f1ff4bf54b6094fd

AROUND THE HILL - HHS Secretary Tom Price joins House Republicans at a press conference on the Obamacare repeal at 8:45 a.m. in HC-8. House Budget Committee ranking member John Yarmuth and Reps. Cheri Bustos, Collin Peterson and Tom O'Halleran hold a press conference on Trump's budget at 9:15 a.m. in HVC Studio A.

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley, Vice Chair Linda Sánchez and Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Michelle Lujan Grisham hold a press conference at 11:30 a.m. in HVC-215 following a caucus meeting with DHS Secretary John Kelly.

OFF THE HILL - President Trump meets with members of the Republican Study Committee at 9:30 a.m. in the Oval Office.

House Speaker Paul Ryan will appear at the National Review Institute ideas summit with Rich Lowry at the Mandarin Oriental at 11 a.m. Speaking of Lowry, he wrote a critical piece on the GOP for POLITICO magazine this week: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7d746a531d95ef9fd2fdebd8e756641bcd882e06d62d5d607bff6c157423892fedcb6e1f59cd2c4af96c0ade03f45be5

THURSDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Ciaran O'Malley was the first to correctly guess that Rogers Morton was the last person to go directly from serving in the House to Interior secretary in 1971.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Peter Roff with today's question: This former member of Congress who was recently recruited to assist with Neil Gorsuch's SCOTUS nomination is also the child of a prominent political figure. Who was this person's father, what office did he hold and where did he serve? The first person to correctly answer gets a shout out in Monday's Huddle. And don't forget, send suggestions for trivia questions my way: hcaygle@politico.com

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