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08/07/2017 08:03 AM EDT


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

With an assist from Seung Min Kim

HAPPY (RAINY) MONDAY Y'ALL - The Capitol is quiet with lawmakers back home and the White House is shuttered too as President Donald Trump vacations in New Jersey. Welcome to recess.

THE GOVERNOR'S MANSION IS CALLING - With little getting done in Congress these days - not to mention the continuing chaos of the Trump White House - some lawmakers are already starting to look to greener pastures. Nine House members (that's half of the 18 we know are leaving Congress next year) have declared gubernatorial bids. But while the payoff for members may be attractive enough to lure them from the comfy confines of their House seats, it's historically a bad bet. The last time this many sitting representatives ran for governor, in 2006, twice as many lost as won.

Pros and cons: House members bring positives (established fundraising networks, campaign experience) and negatives (ties to an unpopular Washington) to a gubernatorial campaign. "Sometimes the people who end up as U.S. representatives in the House are well left of center or well right of center. And those folks don't always make the best governor or the best candidate for governor," said Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), who successfully jumped from the House to the governorship in the 1990s.

Who's running so far: GOP Reps. Diane Black (Tenn.), Jim Renacci (Ohio), Raul Labrador (Idaho), Kristi Noem (S.D.) and Steve Pearce (N.M.). For Democrats, Reps. Michelle Lujan Grisham (N.M.), Jared Polis (Colo.) and Tim Walz (Minn.). Democratic Rep. Ed Perlmutter (Colo.) also entered the governor's race earlier this year but has since dropped out and won't seek reelection to his House seat. Your Huddle host and Kevin Robillard team up: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ae9792191fc1f6ed857cc01beef6125fafee9e70e4abc8ce49036d8c2161dfb4c418106575eba5a07ded3ba8aac5f0d0e38a23c30342218


McCONNELL OPEN TO BIPARTISAN HEALTH CARE FIX - Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told reporters over the weekend he's open to a bipartisan plan to ensure payments continue flowing to insurance companies to subsidize low-income enrollees. Trump has threatened to yank the money - which could send the insurance market into chaos - but put the decision on hold until later this month. Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) are working on a bipartisan proposal.

Speaking at the annual Fancy Farm picnic in Kentucky, McConnell didn't mention health care during his five-minute stump speech, instead highlighting his Supreme Court blockade during the Obama administration. A few hours earlier, McConnell told a group of local Republicans he consoles himself about the health care defeat by remembering that "Hillary Clinton could be president," the AP reports. "Almost instantly, I feel better," he said. Adam Beam: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ae9792191fc1f6ef45bd2ef9d8464adb45c58bd2d35e4ffae76b6448445d31781773947d585035ceaab6bc46011dd14c0c1b4bf7ae8724f

JUST MOVE ON ALREADY - Top Senate tax writers are frustrated about the prospect of returning to health care in September, ready for Congress to focus on overhauling the tax code before they lose an opportunity to do so. The closer lawmakers get to the 2018 midterms, the more that window closes and they know it. "We're not going back to health care. We're in tax now," Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said before members left for recess last week.

'Shot their wad': "As far as I'm concerned, they shot their wad on health care and that's the way it is. I'm sick of it," the normally mild mannered Hatch added. Bernie Becker and Aaron Lorenzo: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ae9792191fc1f6e55d367ca757314c477f7c8ccc571c1aebff40047690294dbdbecb2bd912f17ce83e5549447518c0b14bb9c2df87b869a

Reality check: Back in their districts, lawmakers "face pressures that could make it hard to focus on taxes. Many of their constituents and party activists blame Congress, more than President Donald Trump, for the health-care stalemate," Siobhan Hughes and Janet Hook report for the Wall Street Journal. "And before they can do anything [post-recess], lawmakers face a load of time-sensitive fiscal business: hashing out a budget, funding the government and raising the federal debt limit." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ae9792191fc1f6ea95454dd3c93eecf1b093c0f5cd6bc83f09e3576df1eacf383db377023a13b7fc36f801dd0866c0578be8df3c809f14f

RECESS MONDAY, BETTER THAN YOUR AVERAGE MONDAY. Welcome to Aug. 7 and thanks for tuning into POLITICO's Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill.

FRIDAY'S MOST CLICKED: Well this one was easy. The adorable picture of the latest POLITICO baby, provided by proud papa Burgess, was the clear winner.

HUDDLE SCOOPLET: WRONG AUDIENCE BUD - Sen. Ted Cruz's office had an embarrassing email flub on Friday. Cruz was looking to gain support for an amicus brief he's writing in support of a Texas effort to block Medicaid dollars from going to Planned Parenthood. Cruz's office circulated a working draft of the brief to some House offices on Friday, hoping Republican lawmakers would sign on. The only problem? Cruz staffers accidentally sent the brief to members of the Democratic pro-choice caucus, who obviously oppose any efforts to defund Planned Parenthood. Oops!

WITH AN EYE TOWARD 2020 - Vice President Mike Pence denounced a New York Times report over the weekend that he and other Republicans like Sens. Ben Sasse (Neb.) and Tom Cotton (Ark.) are quietly preparing 2020 bids in case Trump can't run. Pence blasted the story, from Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns, as "disgraceful and offensive." And if you missed it, read the original New York Times report on what's happening behind the scenes: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ae9792191fc1f6e3ee21883a19f4619e9810e54e3276466c26e78e18d470a54df559d22851017217aa8d352c7ec7a51a9cd0cf84de59532

SHOW ME THE MONEY - Rep. John Delaney's announcement he'll run for the White House in 2020 has set off a scramble for what might be the only competitive House district in Maryland, Elena Schneider reports this morning. "The price tag for the Democratic-leaning seat jumped significantly last week, after wine retailer David Trone, who sunk $13 million of his own money on his 2016 primary bid for a neighboring district, entered the race." More for Pros: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ae9792191fc1f6ed98088a2deec8f4813c63a024c7f937151a5a1e5f11211696dd3d9959431ecb7980217b9ec99149f103f4c6c340df66e

YOU CAN JOE YOUR OWN WAY - With West Virginia's governor switching parties last week, Sen. Joe Manchin becomes the Mountain State's lone big-name Democrat in an area that was once booming for the party. Manchin is already facing two GOP challengers - Rep. Evan Jenkins and state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey - in a state Trump carried with 69 percent of the vote. But Manchin remains popular at home and vowed he was staying in the Democratic Party after news of Gov. Jim Justice's party switch broke late last week. Gabe Debenedetti and Kevin Robillard with more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ae9792191fc1f6e6f12b2a62fb2173923476bbd7e1a837635956c59af7471f327b190fe01da0fa0ea383d349445d22d84e572a11ca4b1f9

KEPT IN THE DARK - Rep. Adam Schiff, ranking Democrat on the House Intel Committee, said he had no idea two GOP committee staffers went to London to try to find the author of the controversial Trump dossier. Speaking on CNN Sunday, Schiff said he suspects Texas GOP Rep. Mike Conaway, who is leading the panel's Russia probe, didn't know either. Schiff said he and Conaway want to talk to Christopher Steele, the dossier author, even if they have to travel overseas.

Refresher: Ali Watkins broke the news Friday that the House staffers went on a secret search for Steele without informing Democrats on the committee, members of the Senate Intel panel or special counsel Robert Mueller. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ae9792191fc1f6ed4634414182ba0b5088ed00fc32cac28efc7bfa9160c85213a895e6e85cc0fdf00896594ae75811c31c370a101f23307

CHOOSE YOUR NEWS: On the IT staffer scandal involving Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz - "The scandal that matters," via the Wall Street Journal opinion page: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ae9792191fc1f6e498287e1462bbd74d28ef11a2434f394cbb4e712668d00154cc47c1272c03ad3aef612ec6754c70590cc4928ebd7e974 Or "The non-case against Wasserman Schultz," a Sun Sentinel editorial: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ae9792191fc1f6e94a9958687de9d70714f13497e8280c4a3e6b50291ea5876eeddd4d62140cac44b3744b712fc7e9f8b3e368d6ebdb5f6

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The House and Senate are out until September.

AROUND THE HILL - It's all quiet on the Capitol front. Enjoy it while you can.

FRIDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Brian Bjorn was first to guess that House Speaker Champ Clark seemed to have the Democratic presidential nomination locked up in 1912 until a speech from William Jennings Bryan denouncing Clark after he was endorsed by Tammany Hall.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Joe Gentile with today's question: This member of Congress - a close friend to two consecutive presidents - was appointed to the Supreme Court. But bored out of his mind, he resigned after barely a year. Name this person and what public office he later went on to hold. The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send answers my way: hcaygle@politico.com

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