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03/13/2017 08:03 AM EDT


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

WELCOME TO ANOTHER WEEK OF OBAMACARE dominating Washington. The Congressional Budget Office score for the GOP's repeal plan is expected to come as early as today. Republicans from the House to the White House have been trashing CBO in recent weeks but their nonpartisan report is expected to give the best estimates of how much the repeal will cost and how many people could lose insurance. The House Budget Committee will mark up its portion of the Obamacare repeal midweek.

Sunday show headscratchers: OMB Director Mick Mulvaney said asking CBO to estimate the impact of the Obamacare repeal "probably isn't the best use of their time." And HHS Secretary Tom Price said he "firmly" believes "nobody will be worse off financially" by the Republican plan.

House Speaker Paul Ryan on how many people will lose coverage under the GOP repeal: "I can't answer that question. It's up to people," he said on CBS' "Face the Nation."

PAN THE PLAN, MAN - Sen. Dean Heller is the latest Senate Republican to come out against the House bill, panning the repeal proposal in a closed-door meeting with constituents over the weekend. "They're talking about 2020, now they're talking about making the changes in 2018," Heller said about the House plan to halt the Medicaid expansion. "That's not enough time for Nevada to adjust. We need time to adjust. I want to move that thing up four or five years," he added.

Fun facts: Heller is the only Senate Republican up for reelection in a state Hillary Clinton won. And Nevada GOP Gov. Brian Sandoval met with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi recently about the Medicaid expansion program. Burgess with much more on Heller's closed-door comments: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6383233e397aa0a90f7ba035a60959abdcea3a2f47f984b1063203e5101d4e39eee29d79292ec83fd60c765b2cd2a780

I WON'T BACK DOWN - Conservative leaders on Sunday reiterated their strong opposition to the House plan, threatening to tank the bill if they don't get concessions. Freedom Caucus leaders Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan said they want the opportunity to amend the legislation in exchange for their votes. And Sen. Rand Paul said the GOP charm offensive from President Trump isn't going to work on its own: "Everybody is being nice to everybody because they want us to vote for this," Paul said on CBS. "But we're not going to vote for it."

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Friday panned conservatives' ideas to change the repeal bill.

The magic number: What's unclear is if the House's entire hard-right flank will fall in line with Meadows, Jordan and Paul. House Republicans can only lose 21 votes and still pass the bill. And don't expect any Democrats to help. Rachael: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6383233e397aa0a98fa449a3e8d7f157df27443926b6292976a0cf8088a3bf99d52e63ecf7f4b3fb205174b1bcdc0d17

WARNING SHOTS FIRED - "Chuck Schumer is warning Mitch McConnell not to include money for a border wall with Mexico in a must-pass government funding bill next month, the first step in what could turn into a pitched shutdown fight over the Southern wall preferred by President Donald Trump," Burgess reports on a letter from Senate Dem leaders to McConnell and Senate Appropriations Chairman Thad Cochran going out this morning.

TO RUSSIA, WITH NO LOVE - House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes and Adam Schiff, the panel's top Democrat, are leading a probe together into Russian meddling in the election-but with two diametrically opposed approaches. "They seem to be eventually on a collision course, but they're trying to make it work," said one member of the Intelligence Committee who spoke to Austin anonymously. "Devin is being torn between two roles, his role as a Trump transition adviser and his role leading a bipartisan investigation."

Value add: "At the end of the day if we end up with two reports we will have added no value," Schiff told Austin. "The only way our investigation will have credibility is if we can reach a common conclusion at the end of the day on the core issues." Stay tuned: The committee will have its first public hearing on the probe next Monday. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6383233e397aa0a953d23c7a091fee89627d41e553aa8156d8350127337c78d9a959ffd5dcf92c2e6946723f01d2f008

Quote du jour: "I think there's a lot of shoes to drop from this centipede," Sen. John McCain said Sunday about the ongoing investigation into connections between Trump's orbit and Russia.

MAKE THIS MONDAY THE BEST ONE EVER. Welcome to March 13 and thanks for reading POLITICO's Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill. And a special happy birthday to my youngest sibling, Brandon, who's turning the big 2-0 today!

FRIDAY'S MOST CLICKED: Elana's and Jen Haberkorn's story about conservatives' quest to blow up Senate rules was the winner

OBAMACARE SHAPES DEMS' 2018 PLAYBOOK - Battered and bruised after four cycles of playing defense on Obamacare, Democrats are ready to go on the attack heading into 2018. "We are on offense and united. [Republicans] are on defense and divided, the opposite of what people would have predicted a month or two ago," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told Burgess. Democrats are betting big on politics of the Obamacare repeal working in their favor, saying it could help them protect vulnerable seats in the Senate and pick up significant wins in the House.

** A message from Drug Benefit Solutions: America's pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) reduce prescription drug costs and protect consumers, employers, and government programs from high drug prices. PBMs will save $654 billion over the next decade. Learn more at DrugBenefitSolutions.com. **

'That shit doesn't work': House and Senate Democrats don't agree on the use of "TrumpCare" but both groups have decided to abandon their "Make America Sick Again" mantra. "That shit doesn't work," Texas Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke said in an interview.

"If I were only listening to Nancy Pelosi, all I would be telling you is the Republicans only want to make America sick again. I mean that's great in San Francisco," said O'Rourke, who is mulling a bid against Republican Sen. Ted Cruz next year. But "it's not what I think, it's not how I speak and it's not what I'm hearing from my constituents." Burgess and your Huddle host with a tag-team special: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6383233e397aa0a90868f91629825aa0a970e44e0a9954e86790b8a1c56409175481d07bba459eb2b18749218ecc4ba4

GOP Sen. Tom Cotton: "Do not walk the plank and vote for a bill that cannot pass the Senate and then have to face the consequences of that vote," Cotton said Sunday about House Republicans to ABC's George Stephanopoulos. "I'm afraid that if they vote for this bill they're going to put the House majority at risk next year."

THE GLOBAL POLITICO PODCAST: CAN IRAQ SURVIVE TRUMP? The Global POLITICO hits the road this week, traveling to Kurdistan to talk to Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani about the the raging battle to retake Mosul from the Islamic State, the "failure of Iraqi politics" - and what America First means to the Middle East. "We are fighting a war of survival," he says, and the outcome isn't at all clear. Listen and subscribe on iTunes.

CRITICS BLAST KING'S CONTROVERSIAL TWEET - Iowa Rep. Steve King, known for making controversial statements, is once again getting hit for a weekend tweet saying America "can't restore our civilization with somebody else's babies." Fellow GOP Rep. Carlos Curbelo, the son of Cuban immigrants, shot back: "What exactly do you mean? Do I qualify as 'somebody else's baby?' #concernedGOPcolleague"

FINDING HIS INNER FIREBRAND - Sen. Bob Casey is known as the nice guy and a solid bipartisan buddy around Capitol Hill. But as Elana reports from Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Democrat up for reelection in 2018 is finding his voice, allying with a liberal base outraged by Trump in a state the president narrowly carried in November. "Casey's approach suggests even vulnerable Senate Democrats who hail from swing states that backed Trump are prepared to align with the party's rising grassroots."

Nice with a side of bland: Casey drew cheers for his promise to "fight like hell" against the GOP's Obamacare repeal and support of multiple investigations into Russia. "He always has been a little bit bland in the past, since he's been in office," said Colleen Frank, who attended the town hall. "But he is stepping up now. He's much more animated." Don't miss it: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6383233e397aa0a9581447a662d3530fed4d7b5a403a3ed4d76a92cc77e7c94848df2362ca43e050020341766614b162

2018 WATCH: "For three hours Saturday, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) endured pointed questions, jeers and derisive laughter during two successive town halls in this northern suburb of San Diego." You'll remember Issa barely eked out a win over a come-from-nowhere Democratic challenger last year. More from Tony Perry of the Washington Post: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6383233e397aa0a99bf054d295926f218e3d476cd54a890eac092b56d3112c70bd9bfb91ab6c068ee24e5bf3dbec096c

ARRIVAL LOUNGE - House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is beefing up her communications staff, bringing back Ashley Etienne to work as communications director and senior adviser with a focus on oversight, ethics and Russia. Pelosi's long-time point man and deputy chief of staff Drew Hammill will now focus more on how to deploy Pelosi herself. Caroline Behringer has been promoted to be senior communications adviser. Edward-Isaac Dovere: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6383233e397aa0a9542d4fd87eb1ab1923f6abc704820479e4069bfa0bb9f5a92556806685cb036b40dee1df4454b3ad

DEMS RAISE $$ FOR REDISTRICTING REFORM - Former Attorney General Eric Holder, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe head to San Francisco next weekend to raise cash for Democrats' effort to reform the redistricting process. Holder leads the National Democratic Redistricting Committee. Isaac again: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6383233e397aa0a9401045e7fcc1eede44069add02a831cb51a671bf3d3fdd502feb62f1568d80e33461b2b1965e5bbe

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The Senate meets at 2 p.m. with a 5:30 p.m. vote on Seema Verma, Trump's nominee to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The House is out. This week's agenda: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6383233e397aa0a9f4b6214a7176ebc12e857c9b31dcab97a533843d55dced5f319fe15b3fc16283de0df6e9eb9eb100

AROUND THE HILL - It's pretty quiet today folks. Wear your snow boots!

OFF MESSAGE PODCAST: "People are scared. Even people that have their documents, that are here legally, are scared." In the latest episode of Off Message, Isaac Dovere sits down with Congressman Adriano Espaillat, the first formerly undocumented immigrant to serve in Congress, who talks about his formative years - coming to New York City for the first time, escaping civil war, and getting politically engaged in his neighborhood - as well as Trump's attitude towards immigrants. Listen and subscribe on iTunes.

FRIDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Joseph Pratt was the first to guess that Sam Houston served as both leader of a foreign nation (the Republic of Texas) and a senator. Sen. John Cornyn now holds that seat.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Joe with today's question: The 1993 political comedy film Dave featured cameos by several senators and celebrities. Which featured senator retired most recently and which featured celebrity has since gone on to be elected to statewide office?

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

GET HUDDLE emailed to your phone each morning.


** A message from Drug Benefit Solutions: Drug price transparency means different things to different people. The wrong kind of transparency would give drug companies inside information that could lead to higher costs. Learn more at DrugBenefitSolutions.com. **

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