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03/16/2016 08:50 AM EDT


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

DRIVING THE DAY: OBAMA AT 11 A.M. TO NAME SCOTUS NOMINEE. Per a rooster email from the president: "Today, I will announce the person whom I believe is eminently qualified to sit on the Supreme Court. As President, it is both my constitutional duty to nominate a Justice and one of the most important decisions that I -- or any president -- will make." No name yet, but he did say he looked for "an independent mind, unimpeachable credentials, and an unquestionable mastery of law."

Let the Supreme Court battle begin in earnest. Edward-Isaac Dovere and Sarah Wheaton on POLITICO's White House team with more: "The nomination kicks off what the White House and its allies expect to be a very long and difficult fight for confirmation - and one that they are not at all confident they will win. The president alluded to that looming battle in his email on Wednesday... 'In putting forward a nominee today, I am fulfilling my constitutional duty. I'm doing my job. I hope that our Senators will do their jobs, and move quickly to consider my nominee. That is what the Constitution dictates, and that's what the American people expect....'... Obama will need to convince at least 14
Republican senators to join Democrats to break an inevitable filibuster and at least five Republican senators to vote with Democrats for confirmation." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8154f4cc8f7b52ec9dbf2f4aa6c49c49a4455b5f9cf60998ab6d68eaf00460ef

BUT DOES THE SENATE REALLY HAVE CONSTITUTIONAL DUTY TO CONSIDER THE NOMINEE? Not according to The Washington Posts' fact-checker Glenn Kessler, who gave that Democratic claim three Pinocchios: "Though the examples are few, they tend to support the right of Republicans to handle - or not handle -this nomination as they wish.... Nearly 200 years ago, the Senate made it clear that it was not required to act on a Supreme Court nomination. In periods of divided government, especially with elections looming, the Senate has chosen not to act.... Indeed, the patterns don't suggest the Senate used procedures out of constitutional duty, out of deference for what the Constitution says or what previous
Senates have done. Instead they used procedures based on the political circumstances of each confirmation... [T]he Senate majority can in effect do what it wants... Democrats who suggest otherwise are simply telling supporters a politically convenient fairy tale." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8154f4cc8f7b52ecd6e01e8e7ac9dd953765c81109fede052d6d7a619d6eca9b

MORE SCOTUS WAR - "Reid wants campaign finance reform to be part of SCOTUS debate," Burgess with the reads out this morning: "Harry Reid plans to introduce his own litmus test into the Supreme Court debate on Wednesday: Campaign finance reform. In an address at the liberal American for Progress on Wednesday morning, Reid is set to urge Democrats to fight for a court that will take a more a progressive view of the country's campaign finance system. The death of Justice Antonin Scalia has opened the possibility that the court's ideological bent could be shifted leftward. And though many Democrats are calling for a centrist nominee that will make Republicans squirm, campaign finance reform is
not an issue Reid sounds open to moderation on." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8154f4cc8f7b52ecec1145f2b2ddf9fb07455e046b77ad56482933a233af9e9e

HIT SEND WHEN NOMINATED. Burgess writes in: If President Barack Obama nominates Paul Watford to the Supreme Court this week, Republicans will be ready. A memo obtained by Huddle, written by America Rising and the Judicial Crisis Network, details the case against the Circuit Court judge as a "liberal activist lawyer" and an "immigration extremist." The research goes into detail but is clearly written in a manner to be easily absorbed by GOP senators who are looking to make a point about Watford. Watford is described as an Obama donor that drew significant opposition to his confirmation and a judge who has been insufficiently tough on violent criminals. Similar missives are being prepared for
Merrick Garland and Sri Srinivasan, two other judges said to be on the president's shortlist.

GRASSLEY IN THE CROSSHAIRS ON THIS - AGAIN... Part I: "Grassley denies knowledge of group backing him in court battle." Burgess again, just crushing this coverage: "The conservative Judicial Crisis Network has spent big money in Iowa and Washington defending Chuck Grassley for his stand against holding a hearing on a Supreme Court nominee. But Grassley insists he's never heard of the deep-pocketed group that's emerged as a major player in the effort to defend the GOP's position. Even its scathing attack ad against Jane Kelly, an Iowa judge who had been on the administration's short list, apparently escaped Grassley's eye." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8154f4cc8f7b52ecdf539967e2ae7851cc5d6903b5bf83ec6c72109e0a929995

Part II: "Conservatives Rally Behind GOP Senators in Supreme Court Fight." Per Roll Call's Todd Ruger: "A consortium of conservative leaders said in a letter Tuesday that they will take action to back Republican senators who took a 'principled stand' in refusing to confirm a Supreme Court nominee this year. More than 100 leaders signed the letter by the Conservative Action Project that will go to Republican senators and conservative advocacy groups, including Edwin Meese III, former attorney general in the Reagan administration, and Becky Norton Dunlop, a former Reagan adviser who is CAP chairwoman." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8154f4cc8f7b52ec07f154af9fd210a6b478a810122925b446d51ce8923174d2

HAPPY WEDNESDAY. Though not exactly for centrist Republicans here on the Hill, who saw their anointed, Marco Rubio, drop out last night. It's March 16, 2016 and you're reading Huddle, POLITICO's all-things-Congress morning tip-sheet, where the political news is going haywire. Ping me at: rbade@politico.com or on the Twitters: @RachaelMBade

TODAY IN CONGRESS. House back at 10 a.m. First and last votes expected between 1:15 and 2:15 p.m. The Senate convenes at 10:15 a.m. and votes at 11:45 a.m.

AROUND THE HILL. At 10 a.m. at the House Triangle, Rep. Ron DeSantis talks service dog legislation while Reps. Bill Pascrell and Tom Rooney host the 15th annual Brain Injury Awareness Day. At 11 a.m., there's a conference call with Rep. Xavier Becerra and other House Dems on an "anticipated anti-immigration resolution" coming down the pipeline. An noon the at Democratic National Committee headquarters, DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, former DSCC Chair Chuck Schumer and DCCC Chair Ben Ray Luján will hold a joint presser on the rise of Trump in the Republican Party. Also at noon, leaders of the New Dems Coalition hold a pen and pad to discuss their new report on advances made on
the Coalition's American Prosperity Agenda.

At 1:30 p.m., at the House Triangle, Rep. Martha McSally and Sen. Joni Ernst talk reinstatement of World War II female pilots at Arlington National Ceremony. At 2 p.m., Senate Republican Whip John Cornyn chairs hearing addressing our nation's growing debt that looks at an Orrin Hatch balanced budget amendment. And at one point during the day, reality star Meghan King Edmonds of the Real Housewives of Orange County will join dozens of colorectal cancer fighters, survivors and caregivers in lobbying Congress to support cancer research and prevention. She's slated to talk about losing a close friend with Reps. Donald Payne, Charlie Dent, Betty McCollum, Rodney Davis, Leonard Lance and Mike
Fitzpatrick.

ALSO THIS PAIN IN OUR TUCHUS: "Commuter chaos looms as Metro shuts down Wednesday," per Pro Transpo's Lauren Gardner and Kathryn A. Wolfe: "The Washington rail transit system will shut its doors all day Wednesday for urgent safety inspections - an unprecedented lights-out that threatens to throw the D.C. commute into chaos and brought immediate cries of dismay from area members of Congress." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8154f4cc8f7b52ec22c8d65aa929c5c1093a7676538e24005a6c9c2bc154c653

DAILY POLICY DOSE: "Ryan confronts budget meltdown." Jake and Lauren report: "The House Republican budget is in trouble. Speaker Paul Ryan's Republican leadership team knows it. Most members of the House are acutely aware of it. And most of them even realize how bad it will look. The same party that dreamed up 'No Budget, No Pay' to shame Democrats for skipping their fiscal blueprint might now take a pass on their own. The patient is not totally dead - but it's fair to say the shock plates are firmly implanted on its chest. Top Republicans believe the GOP will be able to advance the 2017 budget out of Rep. Tom Price's (R-Ga.) Budget Committee, but whether it will ever be able to make it to
the House floor is an open question. Most aides and lawmakers involved in the process doubt it will garner the requisite votes to clear the chamber." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8154f4cc8f7b52ec996545bcac99415be4949e0ae553d523e6ffdde748e9e2fd

APPEARANCES MATTER - "Stabenow sides with organic companies after fundraiser." John Bresnahan and Anna Palmer scoop: "Four organic food industry executives held a fundraiser on Friday for Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow - the Senate's leading Democrat on agriculture issues - just days before the chamber was set to take up a controversial bill with hundreds of millions of dollars on the line for U.S. food companies. The event for Stabenow - the top Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee - in Anaheim, California was co-hosted by Whole Foods CEO Walter Robb, Stonyfield Farms Chairman Gary Hirshberg, Organic Valley CEO George Siemon and Laura Bachta, head of the Organic Trade Association..."

"A Stabenow aide said the fundraiser had been in the works for months and was not timed to coincide with action on the Republican-authored bill. The legislation, however, has been a topic of heated debate in Washington and the agricultural industry for months, and Stabenow played a key role in negotiations on the issue." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8154f4cc8f7b52ec49cca426eed27a3c3b3c4ffea52c7dc61569a539dbb4c0f0

NOW FOR SOME POLITICS-

"TRUMP KOS RUBIO BUT FALLS TO KASICH IN OHIO." POLITICO's Shane Goldmacher: "Donald Trump knocked Marco Rubio out of the presidential race with a win in Florida but fell to John Kasich in Ohio, a split decision in the evening's biggest delegate prizes that will drag out the Republican nominating fight - possibly all the way to a contested convention. The Ohio loss denied the business mogul the knockout blow he had hoped would make him the presumptive nominee and gave renewed hope to Republicans bent on blocking him from winning the nomination outright. But Trump again was the night's big winner." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8154f4cc8f7b52ecebb3bd167a1ecfec0da452415a320822b3c1318d6cffaf1e

TRUMP CALLS FOR GOP UNITY, CITES CALLS WITH RYAN, MCCONNELL: Matthew Nussbaum and Sarah Wheaton report last night: "Donald Trump... called on the Republican Party to come together Tuesday night... Trump touted his recent phone calls with House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to underscore his call for Republicans to coalesce around his candidacy." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8154f4cc8f7b52ec350e1fd79ab805d9a9b1ff7ae440573d17eec39e55a50918

AND ON THE DEM SIDE, HILLARY IS ON FIRE. "Hillary Clinton's lead over Bernie Sanders is now about three times what Barack Obama's was over her in 2008," per the N.Y. Times. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8154f4cc8f7b52ecb21c5569c25bc0d495057a292744fd5086e93752aa0224d1

Tuesday primary results in a nutshell: Hillary Clinton won the Florida, North Carolina and Ohio primaries. In Illinois and Missouri, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are running too close to call. Donald Trump won Florida, North Carolina and Illinois. John Kasich kept his home state of Ohio. In the Missouri primary, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are running too close to call. POLITICO's fuller results: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8154f4cc8f7b52ec5432755bb3b40ef0ea26f2c684d2ae1fe842490438c4f1d4

DOWN THE BALLOT -

"ONE LAST INDIGNITY: THE TEA PARTY SWIPES JOHN BOEHNER'S SEAT." Amber Phillips for The Fix: "It was one of the tea party's few highlights in Tuesday's congressional primaries. But laying claim to former GOP House speaker John Boehner's old seat (in all likelihood) is a big one, both for the bragging rights and the momentum it gives House conservatives in their ongoing fight to purify their party ideologically. Warren Davidson, a businessman and former Army Ranger, won a 15-way Republican primary Tuesday in the special election for Ohio's 8th Congressional District. The tea party candidate rather easily bested more moderate candidates, including two state lawmakers, in a campaign that
quickly became ground zero for the party's ongoing identity struggle in the House that Boehner used to run. ... you can imagine how good it feels for the conservatives to get to say they took the former speaker's seat, especially after spending the past few years directly challenging Boehner and, eventually, forcing him out." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8154f4cc8f7b52eccdf4d8f36631c663764f20529add10172f63da7b2b957523

Boehnerland statement on the matter, forwarded along this morning from spokesman David Schnittger at Squire Patton Boggs: "All of the candidates who ran on a platform of direct, personal attacks against John Boehner and the Boehner legacy were thumped today at the ballot box and repudiated by the primary voters of the 8th District. Mr. Davidson was not one of those candidates. As even the president of the Club for Growth [which endorsed Mr. Davidson] said, Boehner is 'still popular in the district,' and they were 'not trying to distance their guy from him.' Mr. Davidson won not by trashing John Boehner or the Boehner legacy, but by articulating positive conservative solutions to the
challenges facing our country."

TUESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER: Dan Roth, Rep. Karen Bass' coms director, was the first to answer that John Hanson was technically the first POTUS under the Articles of Confederation.

TODAY'S TRIVIA: Comes from our winner: Elected to office the same night as Barack Obama was elected President, and also leaving office this year, which politician dubbed himself "Little Barack" on national television right after his election? Email me: rbade@politico.com

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