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03/10/2017 08:00 AM EDT


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

THE BIG SELL: House Speaker Paul Ryan will be on the Hugh Hewitt Show at 8:30 a.m. continuing his Obamacare repeal sell after a public PowerPoint presentation yesterday that was promptly trolled on Twitter. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Reps. Kevin Brady, Greg Walden and Diane Black, leaders of the committees in charge of marking up the bill, hold a 9:30 a.m. presser on the plan. The committee leaders then head to the White House for a meeting with President Trump.

DO YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR? Since the repeal bill was introduced Monday (I know, it feels like a lifetime ago), Trump has been all over the place -at one point giving a full-throated endorsement and at another, signaling to conservatives he's open to negotiations. The end result? Mass confusion on Capitol Hill as the GOP's warring divisions take Trump's words and argue he's on their side.

The latest: After a lengthy White House meeting Thursday, House Freedom Caucus leaders Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan are redoubling their efforts to halt the Medicaid expansion sooner and suggested to Trump loading up the bill with even more red-meat provisions, setting the stage for war with the Senate.

Conservatives in both chambers want to "push the limits of how much of the health law they can reshape under a powerful procedural maneuver known as budget reconciliation - and to overrule the Senate parliamentarian if she doesn't decide in their favor." Elana and Jen Haberkorn with more on conservatives' improbable push to blow up Senate rules: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=421b269c506ef26ddd89516f7f83c66ab2047be2f291926043e0dfe620b2f0eadd24136749a496b12e0c78ab8dc1e329

Do we play the long game or the short game? Moving the bill further right by speeding up the Medicaid rollback could help bring conservatives on board (although even that's not a guarantee) but would repel moderates in the House and Senate, whose votes are critical too. Remember, Paul Ryan can lose 21 votes and Mitch McConnell can lose only two of his members and still pass the bill. "Bad idea," Sen. Rob Portman said about the conservative Medicaid plan. Rachael and Burgess: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=421b269c506ef26dbced5caabb98cfa8397852499b3d116e207e3051a821c159ab29858e6ff9b3316e705aaea2e32fca

Yo, I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want: Conservatives have found a negotiator in Trump but they can't stop moving the goal posts on their demands. The Republican Study Committee said Thursday it wants to see two additions to the repeal: a plan to halt the Medicaid expansion sooner and work requirements for its recipients.

But Freedom Caucus member Morgan Griffith, who offered the work-requirement amendment, agreed the change wouldn't be enough to win over the HFC. "I think it's a lump of sugar for a three-lump coffee drinker," he said. Rachael and Kyle: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=94609a92bcc4fc09f2a6caab012dc70301d3e679319ac8059f6a022b1c310051e057a5e48de0e7560535f599f4da0418

Republicans 'really don't care': House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi dismissed the GOP framing this fight as "binary choice" between Obamacare or not. "It's really a cruel bill that Republicans have put forth," she told reporters Thursday. "I know that the Republicans really don't care that much about the 20 million people who have been added to the rolls."

It takes two, baby... House Republicans will vote on a second health care bill the same week they vote to repeal Obamacare, Speaker Ryan said on Sean Hannity Thursday. Ryan was light on details but said the bill "would likely allow people to purchase insurance through association health plans." Rachael with more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=94609a92bcc4fc0989ade78af2f9fb51eb721398bf8053fb383eff61718ebd4520bebf4a4eb072c7c6d0a818cbee597b

TRUMP LEANS IN HARD ON REPEAL SELL - "There are East Room meetings, evening dinners and sumptuous lunches - even a White House bowling soiree. Mr. Trump is deploying the salesman tactics he sharpened over several decades in New York real estate. His pitch: He is fully behind the bill to scotch President Barack Obama's signature domestic achievement, but he is open to negotiations on the details." Maggie Haberman and Robert Pear in the New York Times: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=94609a92bcc4fc09ca3c704ef0da6e7ac2767a7ab8ebf01350443796c7582e20ba53ccabd34db16081b8d2f5737b3a71

ON TAP FOR NEXT WEEK: The CBO is expected to release its score for the House GOP repeal Monday. The House Budget Committee will mark up its portion of the bill Wednesday, Sarah Ferris and Jen Scholtes report. The White House is also expected to release its budget Wednesday. Buckle up!

-In the meantime, read Rachana Pradhan's story on CBO Director Keith Hall, the Republican-picked, market-oriented economist who has the fate of Obamacare in his hands: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=94609a92bcc4fc09f47a51531f3541af9467f3f73353c7fc070c928c9d05bd824baf56f1eca05c89fb34f28db79d03a6

ROAD TRIP - House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will tour the U.S.-Mexico border this weekend with Rep. Vicente Gonzalez. Pelosi said her trip is particularly important given that DHS is considering a plan to separate mothers who are caught crossing illegally from their children, possibly putting the kids in foster care. "That's the attitude of this administration, separating children from their parents. Something's wrong with that," Pelosi said Thursday.

We gotta ask: Will there be any pictures of Pelosi riding a horse a la Speaker Ryan's border trip a few weeks ago?

GOTTA GET DOWN ON FRIDAY. Welcome to March 10 and thanks for reading POLITICO's Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill.

THURSDAY'S MOST CLICKED: Graham MacGillivray's gif of Rep. Greg Walden getting hyped up in hour 19 of the E&C markup

COMEY BRIEFS GANG OF EIGHT - FBI Director James Comey was on the Hill Thursday briefing the Gang of Eight amid an outcry over Trump's wiretapping claims. Comey's meeting comes after House Intelligence Committee leaders publicly questioned whether the FBI withheld critical information last year about contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia. "We have some questions about whether or not last year we were read into everything that we should have been read into," House Intel Chairman Devin Nunes said. Austin with more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=94609a92bcc4fc09e05f0ab871fa5f937cbad21b472ea9864864449031ac5f546893c65d65e5af0884c84b21d0be76a5

** A message from Drug Benefit Solutions: Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) negotiate rebates and discounts from drug companies and drugstores that reduce prescription drug costs for consumers, employers, unions, and government programs. Learn more at DrugBenefitSolutions.com. **

COATS CONFIRMATION EXPECTED SOON - The Senate Intelligence Committee approved former Sen. Dan Coats' nomination to be director of national intelligence Thursday, teeing up a full Senate vote soon. Coats has already had to fend off an effort by White House strategist Steve Bannon and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner "to bring in a New York private equity billionaire to run a White House review of the intelligence community," Matthew Rosenberg and James Risen report.

Coats and other senior officials saw the plan "as a White House attempt to curtail their independence and reduce the flow of information that contradicts the president's worldview." More from the New York Times: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=94609a92bcc4fc09839bd80d0165ed3aa7008dac958be825a399f9673c66a87a5a76bcfc534bd04a002d18340ab8ab80

TWEET DU JOUR - @SenatorDole: Sunny day in DC. Do you think @SenateMajLdr will mind if I step out on the balcony? I mean, it does have my name on it after all. See the pic: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=94609a92bcc4fc096a411980c41511cc63ec0cdffd8983e930b545b3cdb7e86bf25e72a37601a098eff75bb2bea53be8

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR - The Justice Department delivered 144,000 pages of documents to the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday in preparation for Neil Gorsuch's Supreme Court confirmation hearing later this month. The documents cover Gorsuch's work as principal deputy associate attorney general from June 2005 to July 2006. "The request to DOJ from Grassley and Feinstein is an uncommon one," Seung Min reports. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=94609a92bcc4fc092901439a65228e3565aca8be9013074467b40503714a1ce69e8ce72af3b479ed22f79041d886670e

I'LL BE BACK, WELL MAYBE - The buzz in the Golden State is that former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is mulling a run against Sen. Dianne Feinstein in 2018, Carla Marinucci reports. "The prospect of Schwarzenegger's return to elected politics in a 2018 U.S. Senate run - possibly as an independent - is generating increasing buzz in state Republican circles, fueled by the former governor's seeming ability to get under the skin of President Donald Trump on social media." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=94609a92bcc4fc098b5e66e323cbc0f09ff27d948b2b03cc616ddf9ca07d0bc752850a634ef77c309f5445dab1cbbe9f

'UH, NO' - Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell kept it real during his Playbook interview with Jake and Anna Thursday. Asked if he really thinks Mexico will pay for the border wall, as Trump has asserted time and again, McConnell responded with a blunt "Uh, no." McConnell also pushed back on the administration's plans to finish health care and a massive tax overhaul by August. "I think finishing on tax reform will take longer," he told Anna and Jake. "We do have to finish the health care debate, up or down, win or lose, before we go to taxes."

OH YEAH, THE DEBT CEILING - "Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday began taking 'extraordinary measures' to delay the U.S. government from defaulting on its obligations, as he called on House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) to lift the debt ceiling 'at its first opportunity,'" Damian Paletta reports for the Washington Post. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=94609a92bcc4fc09075612c0f716d7e90bc7349d21540e8c0633941216adb0d45640ee2779ee1c4be80e5170ef5b3b2f

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The House meets at 9 a.m. with votes at 10:30 a.m. Today's agenda: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=69b960251bfa0d81ad5b2f2096445085f382a5fe3303f656cb442da3271b2c84067f1d4113852ebd81c9535840f6ff89 The Senate is out until Monday.

AROUND THE HILL - House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Energy and Commerce Chairman Greg Walden, Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady and House Budget Chairwoman Diane Black will hold a press conference on the Obamacare repeal bill at 9:30 a.m. in HVC Studio A.

OFF THE HILL - House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi speaks at the Christian Science Monitor breakfast at 9 a.m.

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Rep. Val Demings will be celebrating a big birthday on Sunday so make sure to tell her congrats if you see her around this morning.

THURSDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Ziad Ojakli was the first to guess that James Wilson holds the record for the longest serving Cabinet member, serving as Agriculture secretary for 16 years under four presidents: William McKinley, Teddy Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and for one day under Woodrow Wilson.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Ziad with today's question: Which senator served as leader of a foreign nation prior to coming to Congress, and which senator now holds that seat? 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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** 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. **

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