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By Rachael Bade (
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rbade@politico.com or @RachaelMBade)

DURING RECESS, EYES TURN TO BURWELL. Now that the Hill is up for air, no longer scrambling to patch the highway bill last minute, or jam through surveillance legislation (at least not at this very second...), or move to a trade vote in the Senate, staff and lawmakers are looking to late June, when the Supreme Court will decide whether federal exchanges in several dozen states are constitutional. At stake in the King v. Burwell case are the lives of millions of Americans who receive health care subsidies from Uncle Sam. Knocking down the credits would leave a huge chunk of the population out of pocket, paying for insurance they're required to have but no longer have the means to afford - big
trouble.

THE BACKSTORY:"Four Words That Imperil Health Care Law Were All a Mistake, Writers Now Say," by Robert Pear on page A1 of The N.Y. Times: "They are only four words in a 900-page law: 'established by the state.' But it is in the ambiguity of those four words in the Affordable Care Act that opponents found a path to challenge the law, all the way to the Supreme Court. How those words became the most contentious part of President Obama's signature domestic accomplishment has been a mystery. Who wrote them, and why? Were they really intended, as the plaintiffs in King v. Burwell claim, to make the tax subsidies in the law available only in states that established their own health insurance
marketplaces, and not in the three dozen states with federal exchanges?"

"The answer, from interviews with more than two dozen Democrats and Republicans involved in writing the law, is that the words were a product of shifting politics and a sloppy merging of different versions. Some described the words as 'inadvertent,' 'inartful' or 'a drafting error.' But none supported the contention of the plaintiffs, who are from Virginia. 'I don't ever recall any distinction between federal and state exchanges in terms of the availability of subsidies,' said Olympia J. Snowe, a former Republican senator from Maine who helped write the Finance Committee version of the bill. 'It was never part of our conversations at any point,' said Ms. Snowe, who voted against the final
version of the Senate bill. 'Why would we have wanted to deny people subsidies? It was not their fault if their state did not set up an exchange.'"
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ON THE HILL: REPUBLICANS GROPE FOR OBAMACARE REPLACEMENT, and their stumbling block is looking right back at them in the mirror. Pro Health's Jennifer Haberkorn and your Huddle author teamed up to look at the various GOP contingency plans should SCOTUS knock down the exchanges. The main problem? They disagree on what exactly to do: extend the exchanges for a time? Or start a totally new system right away? "[Thirty-one] senators have signed on to a bill written by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) that would restore the subsidies for current Obamacare enrollees through September 2017...would also repeal Obamacare's individual and employer mandates and insurance coverage requirements."

"But even if Johnson could somehow persuade Obama and Senate Democrats to accept his plan... the bigger problem will be his Republican colleagues in the House.... When asked about Johnson's bill, Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Utah), said only 'Eerrrrrrntt!' in imitation of a game show buzzer, and gave a thumbs down. 'If you're voting for an extension, you're essentially voting for the continuation of Obamacare - that's a real problem,' said Republican Study Committee Chairman Bill Flores of Texas, who said he is planning to release an Obamacare replacement plan in the coming days."
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BATTLE BREWING POST-RECESS: "HOUSE GOP SPLIT JEOPARDIZES TRADE DEAL." Of course, if Obama could convince his own party to back his trade pitch, this wouldn't be a problem in the first place... Here's Pro Trade's Victoria Guida: "[C]onservative dissenters are conducting their fight quietly behind closed doors - even though they may be the key to approving the deal. So far, about 40 to 45 of the 245 House Republicans, most of them in the far-right wing, are hard 'nos' on a bill their own party leaders support as fervently as Obama, according to the independent assessments of three House aides. If they are able to boost their numbers by even a handful of votes, it would imperil the
legislation, which passed the Senate late Friday, because Democrats are expected to provide at most 25 'yeas' toward the 217 votes needed for passage."

"But while Democratic opponents and their allies in the labor movement are raising the specter of lost manufacturing jobs if the massive Asia-Pacific trade deal and an even bigger pact with the European Union are approved, a number of conservative dissenters have rallied around their worry about giving Obama too much power. Under the fast-track bill, Congress would surrender the right to amend the final trade deals and agree to give them up-or-down votes."
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WELCOME TO RECESS. IT'S MAY 26, 2015.Thanks for reading Huddle, your round-up of the latest news on Capitol Hill. I'll be your host this week. What's on your agenda this week? Email:
mailto:rbade@politico.com
rbade@politico.com , or Tweet: @RachaelMBade.

TODAY IN CONGRESS: Both chambers are out all week for Memorial Day recess.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS. For those who skipped town before the Senate tried - and failed - to pass any sort of surveillance reauthorization on Saturday, just a friendly reminder that the chamber returns this Sunday to give it another whirl. Parts of the PATRIOT Act expire Sunday night - while lawmakers were slated to still be back in their districts. But since the Senate killed both a short-term extension and the House-backed reform to the bulk NSA data collection program, they'll have to come up with another plan before the May 31 deadline. Or twist more arms during final hours next weekend. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said the rare Sunday session will give his colleagues "one more
opportunity to act responsibly," and extend the full authorities, which are widely contested by libertarian-minded Republicans and Democrats alike. So far, the House is slated to returns June 1, meaning the program will laps at least for a few hours.

WHICH MEANS...

RECESS HOMEWORK - "Congress Pursues Deal on Phone Data Collection in Rare Talks During Recess," Jonathan Weisman in today's N.Y. Times: "Senior lawmakers are scrambling this week in rare recess negotiations to agree on a face-saving change to legislation that would rein in the National Security Agency's dragnet of phone records...Representative Devin Nunes, Republican of California and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said a series of phone calls and staff meetings over the weeklong Memorial Day break should be enough to reach agreement on changes to the USA Freedom Act. Three senators need to be won over for the Senate to pass the USA Freedom Act..."

"Some leaders of the House Intelligence Committee, along with supporters in the Senate, hope they can assuage the concerns of Senate Republicans by adding a certification process to ensure that telephone companies had developed the technology they needed to store the reams of data that were now gathered by the government. If the technology could not be certified, a longer transition period would kick in. Mr. Burr said he would like that period to be two years, a proposal not very likely to be accepted by the House."
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ICYMI - Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) objecting to McConnell's multiple moves toward PATRIOT Act extensions:
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CAMPUS NEWS-USCP FIND PRESSURE COOKER BOMB ON HILL. AP: "A bomb squad safely destroyed a pressure cooker found in an unattended vehicle parked on the National Mall near the U.S. Capitol and the vehicle's owner was found and arrested, a U.S. Capitol Police spokeswoman said. Police Lt. Kimberly A. Schneider said in a statement that Capitol Police officers on routine patrol spotted the parked, unoccupied vehicle on a street on the mall west of the Capitol around 5 p.m. Sunday."

"'Further investigation revealed a pressure cooker, and an odor of gasoline was detected,' Schneider said. A Capitol Police bomb squad investigated the vehicle, which had been deemed 'suspicious in nature.' Authorities noted that pressure cookers have been used in the past to create explosive devices. In April 2013, two pressure-cooker bombs set off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon killed three and injured over 260 others."
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WEDDING BELLS FROM THE SOUTH. The Senate Appropriations Chairman got hitched this weekend - surprise! Sam R. Hall for The Clarion-Ledger yesterday afternoon: "U.S. Senator Thad Cochran married his longtime aide Kay Webber in a private family ceremony in Gulfport on Saturday, according to a one-sentence statement released by his office Monday. Cochran's relationship with Webber became the topic of much speculation and intrigue during last year's Republican U.S. Senate primary. Rumors of a possible marriage between Cochran and Webber surfaced earlier in May; however, multiple Cochran staffers denied any knowledge of a possible wedding as recently as last week."
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DESSERT-

SENATORS DISH ON FAVORITE TV SHOWS. NBC:"Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) loves ABC's 'Modern Family.' And like a typical New Yorker, Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer can't get enough 'Law and Order.' ... Sen. Michael Enzi (R-Wyo.) is hooked to fishing shows.... Three Democrats -- New Mexico's Martin Heinrich, Connecticut's Christopher Murphy and Hawaii's Brian Schatz -- makeup the 'Game of Thrones' fan club. ... 'Seinfeld' was the pick by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.)..."

"Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said she can't decide among HBO's 'Veep,' CBS's 'The Good Wife,' and Netflix's 'House of Cards,' all shows with strong women leads...Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) both have a penchant for British TV: Warner loves 'Sherlock,' and Whitehouse is a big 'Downton Abbey' fan... Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), digs CBS's 'Big Bang Theory,' while Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) enjoys the AMC drama 'The Walking Dead.' Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) is the only Republican who watches anything related to politics - Showtime's 'Homeland.'... Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) is the most adventurous out of the bunch, with a penchant for the
Discovery Channel's 'Dual Survival' show.
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FRIDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER. Andrew Smith was the first to answer that Freshman Iowa Rep. David Young (R) is a former staffer for Sens. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.), Hank Brown (R-Colo.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).

TODAY'S TRIVIA: Not counting Independents, name the last two Senators to be elected under a third party, and the name of their party. Email
mailto:rbade@politico.com
rbade@politico.com .

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