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03/20/2017 08:01 AM EDT


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

With assists from Burgess Everett and Daniel Lippman

WHAT A WEEK - FBI Director James Comey testifies before the House Intelligence Committee today, where he's expected to be grilled by Democrats about President Donald Trump's wiretapping claims. Also today, the Senate Judiciary Committee kicks off its four-day confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. And House GOP leaders will be furiously whipping votes this week in the run up to the big vote on the Obamacare repeal Thursday, seven years to the day that President Barack Obama signed the ACA into law.

GORSUCH TO GET GRILLED - Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch has one goal when his confirmation hearings kick off today: Be boring. But Democrats, who have struggled to make their criticisms against him stick, have other plans. Democrats plan to throw a barrage of attacks at the SCOTUS nominee, knowing one slip up has the potential to dominate the news cycle for days, Seung Min reports. But should Gorsuch breeze through, it will give Republicans a "major, much-needed political win as they head home for the Easter recess." Watch live at 11 a.m.: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9558353398861fd4c9bdcb5cace6e5fd49088c50b0bbfae88792f52319054939a42596e67a1e1564b1bff2fa03720d93

Five things SMK is watching this week: 1. How much will President Donald Trump factor in? "Few obstacles are a bigger liability for Gorsuch." 2. Which senators will stand out? Watch ranking member Dianne Feinstein and Sens. Al Franken and Lindsey Graham. 3. What is Democrats line of attack? The short answer: Multiple strategies.

4. How will Gorsuch handle hot button issues? From abortion to campaign finance, he'll get questions that run the gamut. 5. How long will this last? The four-day hearings kick off today with opening statements and Gorsuch's bipartisan introduction from Colorado Sens. Michael Bennet and Cory Gardner. Much more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9558353398861fd4faca2e3fbb9e864763310d9ab1332827154cd1dbed6418176d12dbebd63e3c57b1440b39ad574999

Inside Dems' battle plan: Democrats have spent weeks combing through Gorsuch's legal rulings and here is where they will focus their attacks: 1. Contraception and Obamacare 2. His tenure at DOJ under President George W. Bush 3. Judicial independence from Trump 4. Workers' rights and 5. Chevron defense. SMK breaks it all down: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9558353398861fd47108e32dc66f1ff91b19636475c9e152110eedafb5e0f419a6d59ba608b4c101b9669ee883a08d3a

More Gorsuch reading: Josh Gerstein introduces you to Trump's "central-casting pick" for SCOTUS: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9558353398861fd469f34aa62567ed18cf32ecd9db7b197bb2fd8b1c5c2262c173ef4ddd5326e325449d1fda39b0d81f And Annie Karni with details on Trump's winning SCOTUS strategy: staying out of the fight.

-Jennifer Steinhauer writes about the committee leaders, Sens. Chuck Grassley and Dianne Feinstein, facing tremendous pressure from their parties to deliver on Gorsuch: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9558353398861fd4a573ac3ec4c6a279145294a117c0a05fb38a520004db75e08832981d6a3cae56b5607ec5f252e120 And NPR reports on a former Gorsuch student who alleges the SCOTUS nominee told his class "women manipulate companies" for maternity benefits. Arnie Seipel and Nina Totenberg: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9558353398861fd4ef8cb68631512770d19e4c4cf23edb5bfd3908dcf7462b44fe4498b9d74e74bc7b19d9712aeea253

-One more thing: Seung Min has spent nearly the last two months preparing for this week's events, including many long hours reading thousands of legal pages that would put anybody else right to sleep. She's got this. Follow her: @seungminkim

COMEY IN THE HOT SEAT - Ask many Democrats and they'll tell you FBI Director James Comey cost Hillary Clinton the election. Since then, he's continued to frustrate lawmakers on both sides by not stating whether the bureau is investigating potential ties between Trump and Russia and not publicly shooting down Trump's wiretapping claims. Expect lawmakers to try to change that when Comey testifies before the House Intelligence Committee this morning. "I think he can be the exclamation point at the end of this," said ranking member Adam Schiff.

NSA Director Mike Rogers will also testify at the hearing, which kicks off at 10 a.m. Austin and Martin Matishak with more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9558353398861fd488ee2ae05bb1daeeb590add7cace9a893894f94300f080428d92ad7ea2869945d1268735c3e01278

POTUS this morning: @realDonaldTrump: The Democrats made up and pushed the Russian story as an excuse for running a terrible campaign. Big advantage in Electoral College & lost!

SHOT: Trump ally @RogerJStoneJr: @RepSwalwell is a punk-ass coward. Hides behind his Congressional immunity and defames me #Liar has NO proof of Russian Collusion. CHASER: @RepSwalwell: Hiding? I'll be on Capitol Hill tomorrow for a #RussianHacking hearing. Why don't you show up & explain why you helped Russia? See ya there?

BETTING IT ALL ON REPEAL - House Speaker Paul Ryan and President Trump are both staking their reputations on repealing Obamacare, with a sure-to-be dramatic House vote later this week. For Trump, failing to roll back the law would be a major blow to the rest of his legislative agenda, including tax reform and infrastructure. For Ryan, he's betting his speakership on dismantling President Obama's signature achievement.

The bottom line: "The rest of the GOP agenda will be endangered if Ryan loses Thursday's vote. The House majority would likely be at risk from emboldened Democrats. And Ryan can expect a fresh wave of criticism from conservative hard-liners, who have already turned against a man they backed for the job. Ryan and his allies believe he'll win but that it will be razor close." Bres and Rachael: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9558353398861fd4fca1ad6e42745dcffe989d6f33692e7e7e562f701cc955a138ac5765a3883f5b4a963a062c334e74 And more Obamacare repeal news below the jump.

MONDAY, HI. Welcome to March 20 and thanks for reading POLITICO's Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill.

FRIDAY'S MOST CLICKED: The Freedom Caucus' alliance with Steve Bannon, written by Rachael, Tara and Kyle, got the clicks.

TRUMP TO CONSERVATIVES: TIME TO GET IN LINE - The White House has spent the past several days signaling to conservatives that the window to negotiate on the Obamacare repeal is quickly closing. The president's top advisers met with three of the plan's biggest critics over the weekend at Mar-a-Lago, Sens. Ted Cruz and Mike Lee and House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows. Trump also met with more than a dozen members of the Republican Study Committee Friday, promising a number of tweaks to the draft and then going around the room, asking each member if they'd vote for his bill. They all said yes.

Today Trump is meeting with Speaker Ryan and others in the Oval Office. Ryan said over the weekend they're planning changes to bring both moderates and conservatives on board, including more generous health care tax credits for the elderly to please centrists and optional work requirements for Medicaid recipients to appease the far-right. But from the White House to the Hill, top GOP officials by-and-large "feel talks with the far-right are just about done."

Hotline bling: Trump's and Ryan's leadership teams were working the phones over the weekend and will continue furiously whipping the bill in the coming days to ensure it gets the 216 votes needed for passage. More from Rachael, Josh and Burgess: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9558353398861fd48b648ce326420113eccf51186d953daaf510ccaa31764f93749c62d7b229981857b0b06e206d6db5

Steve Scalise's email last night to "Whip Team Colleagues" with the subject line "We ran for Congress to do big things": "These next few days could define us for years to come. We ran for Congress to do big things and save our country from leftist progressivism." More from Playbook: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9558353398861fd49ccc21babf5332c42ac5c195349abe41fd0a7855391e0b5647bc4f366995e71118e19b63347e552f

** A message from the Coalition to Protect America's Health Care: The current bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act could slash the number of Americans that are able to afford or maintain health coverage. Speak up today and tell Congress: Don't support the ACA replacement bill. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9558353398861fd4a89f8c6d837936e8ca6197c604bf536f57f83b2d815785bdf1537524f1822c6fe623eadf64ecf684 **

And don't miss: The 12 GOP senators elected in the 2014 class came into Congress shouting "hell no" to Obamacare. But now, with a repeal vote looming, those same senators are sounding a lot more apprehensive. Burgess from Cedar Rapids: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9558353398861fd4a677e0f51dc7ab03a237b12bf86fbe87e8c93ba59d7208e6bd1bc0a4398343811febcffb643a20da

What to watch: Language in the Obamacare repeal dealing with abortion funding could face a significant procedural hurdle in the Senate, Jen Haberkorn reports. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9558353398861fd48e3c281b3e1676576ce6709dd49bab86010d340d3a1af1140dec46226733600cb3b83e05f7af8947

DEEP DIVE: Can Chuck Schumer check Trump? "The power of the Senate minority is purely negative: it can't pass legislation; it can only block it. But even exercising negative power requires a great deal of discipline-potentially more than the Democrats can muster," Elizabeth Kolbert writes for the New Yorker. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9558353398861fd46b78695218c5e18ec1a6f8bb60a11e5893f17ee932ffde35faa8f33c7ccf6b2ffbda9c6fdd0c8f92

BRING 'EM OUT, BRING 'EM OUT - Sen. Joni Ernst, facing a fairly unfriendly crowd at a townhall Friday, said she thinks Trump should release his tax returns. Burgess with more from Cedar Rapids: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9558353398861fd42961266f0f331fc7f28d3ce11208b6b6c439e7bc12c38cddb4609920acd8212100c549ed5b7d84f8

REID AIDE TO TEAM WARREN - Kristen Orthman, a top aide to former Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, is going to work for Sen. Elizabeth Warren on the political side. She has deep ties with the D.C. press, representing a tactical shift from Warren's chilly relationship with the reporters on Capitol Hill.

HE'S AT IT AGAIN - Either Sen. Chuck Grassley doesn't realize his tweets, even those to President Trump, are visible to the world or he just doesn't care. Grassley went on a tweetstorm last night directed at the president, telling Trump to call his office for the name of "a real expert" on the H1-B visa program, which was featured on 60 Minutes last night. "@POTUS If u don't hv time to call tell SecyKelly to call me," Grassley added.

But, Grassley does get results: The Trump White House restarted tours shortly after a Grassley tweet about the program being stalled, prompted by an inquiry from "Mrs. G."

OFF MESSAGE PODCAST: It's been two and a half years since Congressman Dave Brat's shocking toppling of then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in a Virginia primary nearly no one was paying attention to. In the latest episode of Off Message, Brat discusses his frustrations with the politics of Paul Ryan and the Obamacare repeal.

"We have never had a debate between competing ideas. It was, kind of, the better-way agenda which laid out, kind of, bullet points. But it did not contain a lot that's in that bill, right? And that's what's causing a lot of the heartache." Listen and subscribe on iTunes.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The Senate doesn't vote today. The House meets at noon with votes at 6:30 p.m. Today's schedule: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9558353398861fd460dac1e856556eb03a3970c1f9e1cc7c25eb40560247636e0c08979342c25061f73150d2182908a7

OFF THE HILL - President Trump meets with Speaker Ryan, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, HHS Secretary Tom Price and Dr. Zeke Emanuel in the Oval Office at 11:30 a.m. Rep. Joe Wilson, who visited North Korea in 2003, participates in a discussion about the growing threat of the country's missile program at the Hudson Institute starting at 11:30 a.m.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell joins Trump in Louisville, Ky., for a rally tonight. McConnell wrote an op-ed in the Courier-Journal welcoming the president: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9558353398861fd40cf0e2104b52a1f40e81832b8a26350832936535a7ae212aadc6f9b12961b752aab2e8d14da6e698

FRIDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Seung Min was first to guess that former Sen. Jon Kyl, who is lobbying in favor of SCOTUS nominee Neil Gorsuch, is the son of former Rep. John Kyl from Iowa. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was a close second.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Seung Min with today's question: As a lawyer in private practice, Gorsuch once argued that "some of the most impressive judicial nominees are grossly mistreated" by confirmation politics in the Senate. Who are the two judges he singled out as examples of mistreatment?

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

THE GLOBAL POLITICO PODCAST: THE RUSSIA TRAP: Are the spiraling investigations around Trump and Russia "a conspiracy trap"? How much is Trump like President Putin after all? Russia-born author and journalist Masha Gessen joins The Global POLITICO this week to talk about the strange confluence of these two leaders - and what we should really be afraid of when it comes to these two nuclear-armed tough guys. Listen and subscribe on iTunes.

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** A message from the Coalition to Protect America's Health Care: The American Health Care Act could create tremendous uncertainty for families and individuals looking for affordable coverage. The health care bill could also limit benefits for current Medicaid enrollees and harm programs for our most vulnerable Americans - including children, the elderly, and the disabled.

And these health care changes could affect us all by reducing our community hospitals' ability to provide essential quality care. A decrease in health coverage and continued cuts to hospital funding will impact patient access to care and hospital services.

Tell your senators and representative: Protect patients and access to care. Don't support the American Health Care Act. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9558353398861fd44e015e0db5601ba4f215ff50fe2c68dfcfe704a0a9b0c6a5f5a5679643e39f4a357344fd5f144986 **

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