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05/12/2016 07:44 AM EDT


By Seung Min Kim (skim@politico.com or @seungminkim)

HOW RYAN, MCCONNELL ARE PLAYING TRUMP - POLITICO's Burgess Everett and Rachael Bade take a look at how the two Republican leaders are handling their party's front-runner: "Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan are the two most powerful people in the Republican Party after Donald Trump. And they couldn't be handling him more differently. On Thursday morning, the two leaders will come face-to-face with Trump on Capitol Hill as the party lurches toward the general election."

--"But in the days leading up to the meeting, they've taken divergent approaches toward the billionaire mogul and presumptive nominee: McConnell has moved cautiously, offering a lukewarm endorsement while staying out of the limelight. Ryan, on the other hand, has publicly challenged Trump to change his ways, while withholding his endorsement ... 'Ryan's got a conference with a lot of diverse interests and points of view ... he's got a lot of people in his conference in districts where maybe Trump doesn't poll well. I think he'll eventually come around to where Mitch is,' said Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 3 leader and a former House colleague of Ryan's."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1e9e4c519d850153ee48cf13d71ebb5e634422d76ff6b3260c9ddda1f9181596

--WaPo's take, from Mike DeBonis: "When House Speaker Paul D. Ryan meets Thursday with Donald Trump, his party's presumptive presidential nominee, he will do so with the widespread support of House Republicans who overwhelmingly elected Ryan their leader six months ago."

--"But if Ryan and Trump do not quickly move toward reconciliation - as Ryan has already hinted they won't - the speaker will face immediate and mounting pressure to get behind a Trump candidacy ... Should the two remain at odds, 'I think the consequences would be pretty severe, frankly,' said Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), one of a handful of early Trump endorsers in the House." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1e9e4c519d850153389da89845960d25fdf2d415029f4fd970c34515fa26782e

--What could be Trump's olive branch to the Hill? Having Republican lawmakers craft his policy portfolio. Bade and Darren Samuelsohn: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1e9e4c519d850153bb7bd73598323a80ead2d5eccfcf02934eca88b2254d9213

--Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), one of the Trump holdouts, tells constituents at a tele-town hall that Trump "scares me to death," via David Drucker of the Washington Examiner: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1e9e4c519d850153c786cfd10aa040dbfada4c3acd3a298a4b091f2788e023aa

--And why not seize on a political opportunity? On the eve of Trump's Hill tour, Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) and other House Dems roll out legislation that would bar a proposal like Trump's ban on Muslims coming to the United States. ABC News: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1e9e4c519d8501533f9f7c68aaa064af5507bc1e4c2db7af703b64571a0f52a0

HARRY REID, YOLO -

--First, Reid goes peak troll and holds a news conference to rail against Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) over the Supreme Court fight, standing with Iowans who say they were disaffected Grassley supporters. Your Huddle writer's recap of the Reid-Grassley feud, version 2.0: "In the grandeur of the Lyndon B. Johnson Room, just steps from the Senate chamber, he discussed his once-upon-a-time friendship with the Iowa Republican, lamenting that the Grassley of today is not the Grassley of yore. 'I've always had a soft spot ... for Sen. Grassley,' Reid said. 'I've been so terribly disappointed, terribly disappointed by what's happened here.'"
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1e9e4c519d850153fe454e621e934f36b6a09ef5eb00c83634bd4874ed45d3e2

--Then in the afternoon, Reid headed to a meeting of the Congressional Progressive Caucus when out of nowhere, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) erupted at Reid over the minority leader's call for Grayson to drop out of the Florida Senate race. Scott Wong and Mike Lillis for The Hill: " 'Shame on you. It's not true,' Grayson said, according to sources in the room. 'It is true, and I want you to lose,' Reid fired back. Grayson's confrontational approach was derided by Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), the leader of the CPC. 'Why are you doing that?' Ellison asked, according to sources in the room. 'This is so stupid.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1e9e4c519d85015327aa8ed7f656ee1b685edcefdb2a83316759db0a0dbc88ab

--Burgess, Heather Caygle, and I have more from that heated CPC meeting: " 'Say my name, senator. Say my name,' Grayson told Reid as Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) tried to shut down the confrontation ... In a gaggle with reporters after the conflict blew up and sent shock waves through both sides of the Capitol, Grayson made clear that he believes a public battle with Reid - a 'smearmonger' in his view - is to his advantage." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1e9e4c519d85015305d7717c1cbaadbd9e20d3e765c5003feb6f86100eb40f89

--YouTube of the day: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1e9e4c519d8501539854d61f9922eb2d982c0fdf6f54eeb1f54276484ffde422

BIDEN WANTED WARREN AS VP - Scoop this morning from POLITICO's Glenn Thrush and Annie Karni: "Joe Biden took months to decide he wouldn't run for president - but he was sold on Elizabeth Warren as his running mate from the start, people familiar with the situation told POLITICO. And he still thinks the Massachusetts firebrand would be Hillary Clinton's best choice to replace him as the nation's No. 2 in January 2017. Biden, a stalwart Democrat who has veered leftward in recent years - but, as a centrist senator, voted to scuttle the Glass-Steagall prohibitions on banks engaging in speculative investments - favored Warren because he needed a partner to capture the wave of anti-bank,
anti-establishment anger raging to his left." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1e9e4c519d850153479616142692f01ecffb11811981756bc7f1d6a8e5a61f33

PLEASE NAME NAMES -- @kristinabaum: Area reporter calls to complain that Hill reporters roaming the halls get better scoop & quotes from Members.

GOOD MORNING, IT'S THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2016 and you're reading the Huddle. Who's ready for TRUMPAPALOOZA today???? I'm at skim@politico.com and on Twitter at @seungminkim.

My new followers include @SenDanSullivan and @BenLaBolt.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The House is in at 10 a.m. with first and last votes around 3:15 p.m to 4:15 p.m., and lawmakers are continuing to work on opioids legislation. The Senate is in at 9:30 a.m. No votes yet, but post-cloture time on the substitute amendment on the energy and water appropriations bill expires at 6:30 p.m., teeing up a vote. Something tells Huddle we won't have to wait around that long, though.

AROUND THE HILL - Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) will meet with Merrick Garland at Hart 311 at 9 a.m. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will hold her weekly press conference at 10:45 a.m. in HVC Studio A. Reps. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) and Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) will announce visa security legislation at 11 a.m. in HVC Studio B. Rep. Earl Blumenauer will hold a news conference on the national cannabis industry at 11:30 a.m. at House Triangle.

Speaker Paul Ryan has his weekly briefing at 11:30 a.m. in HVC Studio A. Reps. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Walter Jones (R-N.C.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Scott Rigell (R-Va.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) Peter Welch (D-Vt.), John Garamendi (D-Calif.) and others will hold a news conference on an AUMF against ISIL at 12:30 p.m. at House Triangle. Pelosi and the House Democratic Steering Committee will hold a forum on the Zika virus at 1 p.m. in HVC-210. Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.) will hold a news conference on Donald Trump's meetings today at 2 p.m. in S-325.

HUDDLE OOPS - We accidentally included the wrong link for a Constitutional Responsibility Project ad in yesterday's edition. Here's the correct link: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1e9e4c519d8501538951b64e74e9cd6aab6a853779b43d722da188d91dd4ab45

DR. PHIL HEADS TO THE HILL - Terrific lede from the AP: "Dr. Phil is making a House call on drug abuse and foster care. Actually, a House and Senate call. The television personality and psychologist - whose real name is Phil McGraw - plans to meet Thursday with lawmakers to discuss the link between the nation's growing drug addiction problem and children in foster care. His visit comes as the House works through a stack of bills aimed at helping prevent and treat abuse of opioids, which are addictive pain killing medications." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1e9e4c519d850153ff08f47f94284825605026a5f9e28aee96e0fe9a33d0845a

--And Matt Fuller, Jason Cherkis and Ryan Grim write for HuffPo on how the battle over combating the opioid epidemic - a bipartisan endeavor if there ever was one - still faces key hurdles ahead, including funding: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1e9e4c519d850153e32f42cbce4d6fed82c5a876846e469f8ec286e8daabb69f

TED CRUZ RUNNING IN 2018 - Patrick Svitek for the Texas Tribune: "Cruz filed paperwork Wednesday afternoon to seek a second term, adding some clarity to his political future just over a week after he ended his presidential campaign. 'Heidi and I feel incredibly privileged to have made the run for president and be part of an incredible grassroots movement," Cruz said in a statement ... While Cruz could change his mind, the announcement puts to rest some speculation that he would sit out a second term to prepare for a comeback bid for the White House in 2020." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1e9e4c519d85015366787f7503ada40e1a67090281a24f69815289a61ec86651

GARLAND WITHHOLDS NET WORTH INFO - CQ Roll Call's Todd Ruger: "Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland left out a key piece of financial disclosure information when he filed nomination paperwork to the Senate on Tuesday ... Garland did not include a financial net worth statement as requested in Question 23. Obama's last two picks for the Supreme Court, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, both provided the net worth statement in their committee questionnaire, according to Government Printing Office records." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1e9e4c519d850153655417d804f9650708a5c976eb137d5c26782f31f09c9355

--Will Grassley read the questionnaire? He hadn't thought about it when Huddle had asked him, added: "I'll see what time I have." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1e9e4c519d850153fe454e621e934f36b6a09ef5eb00c83634bd4874ed45d3e2

HOUSE GOP GOES AFTER BEN RHODES - Julian Hattem for The Hill: "House Republicans are pressing top White House adviser Ben Rhodes to testify on Capitol Hill following controversial comments he made about the Obama administration's marketing of the nuclear deal with Iran. Republican leaders of the House Oversight Committee want Rhodes to testify next Tuesday morning during a hearing titled 'White House narratives on the Iran nuclear deal,' committee spokeswoman M.J. Henshaw told The Hill."

--"Rhodes, whose full title is the deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, has yet to respond to the request, and no one else has so far been asked to appear, Henshaw added. However, Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) has threatened to use a subpoena to demand his presence, one aide said." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1e9e4c519d8501531968782637d5d1d16487e7a65d05474fd2afd2161a6f63f0

SENATE KILLS IRAN 'HEAVY WATER' AMENDMENT - Karoun Demirjian for WaPo: "Democrats were blocking consideration of the annual energy and water appropriations bill to protest Sen. Tom Cotton's (R-Ark.) proposal to prevent the United States from using federal funds to purchase heavy water, which is used in some nuclear fuel reactors, from Iran ... To get around the standoff, Republican leaders scheduled a vote on Cotton's amendment but set a threshold of 60 votes for it to be adopted. The vote was 57 to 42." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1e9e4c519d850153a6be8b35e801d8773a5a32d453c0b5eac04b9722cbd4fd38

CONGRESS PROBING D.C. BUDGET POWERS - The AP's Ben Nuckols: "House Republicans are looking into whether the District of Columbia government truly has the power to spend local tax dollars without approval by Congress. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, has pledged not to submit this year's local budget to Congress after a judge ruled in favor of the District's so-called "budget autonomy" law, but House Speaker Paul Ryan and other Republican leaders have cast doubt on whether the city has the authority to take power away from Congress."

--"An oversight subcommittee will examine the issue at a hearing Thursday. The arcane issue of how and when the city can spend its money is a big deal to advocates of home rule, who say the local government should not be treated like a federal agency." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1e9e4c519d8501533693423feb813ba840d61331540dcef41a63a59520e8f0aa

WEDNESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Claude Marx was the first person to correctly answer that Nancy Reagan started the tradition of rolling an orange on presidential campaign planes for good luck in 1980.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Claude has today's question: The grandson of Grover Cleveland's second vice president was the Democratic nominee for president twice. What name did they share and what years did the grandson run? The first person to correctly answer will get a mention in the next day's Huddle. E-mail skim@politico.com.

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