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08/02/2017 08:02 AM EDT


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

With an assist from Paul Demko and Daniel Lippman

OVER BEFORE IT STARTED - Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has promptly shut the door on any major bipartisan effort to rewrite the tax code, saying Republicans plan to use a fast-track measure to bypass needing Democratic votes. "We will need to use reconciliation," McConnell told reporters Tuesday, saying Democrats are "not interested in addressing" Republican priorities. His remarks came after Democrats sent a letter to the GOP leader Tuesday morning laying out their priorities for a tax rewrite.

One thing that will be different from the health care debate? Republicans plan to hold hearings in both chambers on tax reform after recess. But don't get your hopes up: "I don't think this is going to be 1986, when you had a bipartisan effort to scrub the code," McConnell said. Elana with more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5c308ffe73c0049be068cd991475530b7aaaeb2534326d3814b8e28ae282108e8235f5d67d840432b7366f31e524e135e93a320e60cc0d29

HELLER UNDER FIRE - Sen. Dean Heller's gymnastics on the Obamacare repeal - first he's against, then he's for - haven't won him many fans on the right or the left. And Heller's latest effort, signing onto the Graham-Cassidy repeal bill that doesn't seem to be going anywhere, could hand critics even more ammunition. "Heller's latest push may only exacerbate the notion that he has followed a too-complicated and contradictory path on health care, one that has infuriated conservatives and made Democrats privately cocky about their chances of snatching his seat next fall," Seung Min reports this morning. "If his intent is to get reelected, he's completely botched it," said Chuck Muth, a
conservative activist in Nevada and former executive director of the state GOP. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5c308ffe73c0049b7bb6f57c2eb8c7f1405e81b64d70ab0b205413dd89900c0cada5a7347f843343723e9d14ae0763bc569c0933f32d9528

BLACK ENTERS GOV RACE - Rep. Diane Black made it official this morning, announcing her bid for Tennessee governor in 2018. The House Budget chairwoman enters the race as a frontrunner in a crowded GOP field. "Black, a staunch conservative from Sumner County who is in her fourth term representing Tennessee's 6th Congressional District, will formally announce her candidacy in an online video to be released Wednesday," Joey Garrison, Joel Ebert and Dave Boucher report for the Tennessean. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5c308ffe73c0049bbad712e5ff338d42670fa065e630cb76e9b3a657c9701259278bf97d4787d081a63359a51cf4a53cbebfd9cf68bfa88d And watch the video: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5c308ffe73c0049bb4cb4821d629c029e8d90fd2921a6a0dcbbe1a069d0a35e72341384bc74feabdc5fc0833b5a4e5f57acd2c63b6119e7b


COMING TODAY: TRUMP MAKES ANTI-IMMIGRATION PUSH - President Donald Trump will unveil legislation later today that would dramatically scale back the number of legal immigrants entering the country. He'll be joined by Sens. David Perdue (R-Ga.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who have been working with top White House aides for months to develop the bill. Refresher: Eliana Johnson and Josh Dawsey wrote about the coming legislation a few weeks ago, http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5c308ffe73c0049b797337fe54533879d526426c0ae930295d49c2cd3e376cb19b63347b0c61413a6e380df7ad2e1c5c7497d927792bfb10

CAN I GET A WHAT-WHAT FOR WEDNESDAY? Welcome to Aug. 2 and thanks for tuning into POLITICO's Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill.

TUESDAY'S MOST CLICKED: Paul Demko's story explaining the fallout if Trump scraps Obamacare subsidies for low-income enrollees.

SOMETHING TO WATCH: DEBT CEILING DIVIDE - Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin was up on the Hill lobbying congressional leaders for a clean debt ceiling increase Tuesday. But raising the debt ceiling will be a tough vote for both parties - Democrats will likely have to deliver a big chunk of the votes - and neither side is agreeing to Mnuchin's request to leave policy sweeteners off the bill, at least not yet. Mnuchin, who met with McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), wants a clean debt ceiling increase by Sept. 29, Bres and Seung Min report. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5c308ffe73c0049b4d3d4c7e121b261500233234b5f3abecb03c4bc5732ca3c8de22da7489f8f1b4574124db587d8ac8060b1e8ea148c4f7

YOU CAN GO YOUR OWN WRAY - The Senate overwhelmingly confirmed Christopher Wray as FBI director on Tuesday, showing strong bipartisan backing after Wray vowed to remain independent of any potential political pressure. Wray was confirmed 92-5. Five Democrats - Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden of Oregon, and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York - voted against him. Seung Min: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5c308ffe73c0049b3ad1cfff463b87ec625ed238e7378c8315eba702b57176b5fc764ad9d7ce1ed0c6e4ad9ae275b3f25b0b3af3e0aefddc

THANKS BUT NO THANKS - Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) has recently swatted down overtures from the Heritage Foundation to lead the conservative group after the messy ouster of former Sen. Jim DeMint, Eliana Johnson reports. "In the Senate, DeMint was a leading antagonist of establishment Republicans, and at Heritage he suffered from the perception that the organization was becoming too political - and too reflexively pro-Trump," she writes. "The organization's interest in Sasse - sources say board members have been persistent to the point of irritating the senator - indicates that it is looking for a reset." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5c308ffe73c0049bf45cc6434408773f952ecd2136959e79efcac6c1bc349bd84f92cc9f7846bf24a7d27e8f667af7c9ef50e1cf8c4bdae1

HAWKEYE STATE HOPES - Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton and Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan will join Illinois Rep. Cheri Bustos as the headliners of the annual Polk County Steak Fry of the Iowa Democratic Party in September, Gabe Debenedetti reports this morning. "The trips fuel speculation that Moulton and Ryan are considering White House runs." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5c308ffe73c0049bee2f9e5d23a0c72c3b63037849666bdf14bd30af33af5f80636290f43390ca6f6b5365de320a4865cd51a725bedffad0

MOMENTUM FOR MARKET STABILIZATION? - Members of the Problem Solvers Caucus say they think momentum is building for their bipartisan plan to stabilize the wobbly Obamacare markets, even if GOP leaders haven't embraced the idea. "It's not perfect for anybody, but finding a way forward is key, and that's what we got to here," said Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), a co-chair of the caucus, on a call with reporters Tuesday. Leaders of the group cited Sen. Lamar Alexander's announcement Tuesday that the Senate HELP Committee will hold bipartisan hearings on the issue as a sign that support is building for their approach.

But the blueprint put forth by the caucus faces major hurdles: There's no plan to pay for it and partisan gridlock on health care is deeply entrenched after nearly a decade of Obamacare wars. "Some folks just want to kind of play the shirts and skins game and just move on from this issue," acknowledged Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.), the other co-chair of the caucus.

ETHICS PANEL CLEARS LUJAN, ROGERS - The House Ethics Committee announced Tuesday it was dropping separate investigations into Reps. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) and Roger Williams (R-Texas). Lujan, who leads Democrats' campaign arm, was accused of violating the rules by fundraising off of Democrats' gun control sit-in. Williams, a well-known auto dealer, faced scrutiny after pushing an amendment to the 2015 highway bill that benefited car salesmen. "The ethics panel said neither Lujan nor Williams violated House rules, but cautioned that both lawmakers acted in ways where mistakes are possible," the AP's Matthew Daly reports. Full story: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5c308ffe73c0049b51849c6bdfa40735165c261e8b9f4542878a9436e71415cd542d1a6d5fef4fa514dccf310bca39f7a1dbc74a6f370a07

FLAKE'S NEW BOOK ROILS THE SENATE - Sen. Jeff Flake's fellow GOP senators applauded him for writing his new book on conservatism, released Tuesday, Seung Min and Elana report. "Yet few were willing to endorse his central message: that their party has done little to push back against Trump." Case in point: I think Jeff's got a fairly strongly held view about where we are as a party and where we need to go, and I think it's fine for him to articulate that," said South Dakota Sen. John Thune. When asked whether many other Republicans subscribe to Flake's view, Thune added: "Hard to say." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5c308ffe73c0049b398beb77a07d06865f9ca429b0c5b99afa2b602897f2367755179b962b6fe1d9a361487a5434aaea3d01b31cfa2e4101

Related: Seven things in the book that could haunt Flake's reelection, via Dan Nowicki with the Arizona Republic. Read: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5c308ffe73c0049be9ddff4e5c78039db628ef353324f5be8143568b2d53635e32b89d1b899a9af75e9bb45b63cb55fc1f911e9838064a6c And don't miss Niels Lesniewski's review of the new Flake book, via Roll Call: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5c308ffe73c0049b50aa33b2bbf2eca9c7cc84e2753010819c93295054f589c1cba72874e7debdcb4e3863181ad2678e073c91def55a9c24

TREND ALERT - "About a dozen Obama administration alumni have found a new calling in the early days of the Trump era: running for Congress," Elena Schneider reports this morning. "Shaken by Trump's surprising victory last November and motivated by his actions to undo parts of former President Barack Obama's legacy, former White House and agency staffers have moved home and jumped into crowded suburban House primaries, leaning on advice, endorsements and donations from former bosses and colleagues." Much more for Pros: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5c308ffe73c0049b5c410685a812c872ff291320b091e44e73f4883c1771cda3e2e9e35fcb3ded79602ed798fb1cb35cc975734d39517d20

OP-ED DU JOUR: "Maine's two senators let us down," from Maine Gov. Paul LePage. The Wall Street Journal: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5c308ffe73c0049b558abf7e00ce3ee45138cba8ed4f183c4de7cc344cbfffb436c1eed18d0780090a542bd225d6c9ea948784ec7cfed2cc (Related context from a few days ago: LePage rallies supporters against Collins' possible gubernatorial bid, via the Bangor Daily News: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5c308ffe73c0049b194d4734ba3ec2bb812ed0565171527f9e156bdb2492426ed3d765169cdea6c0773df66ba3209b199face1c6576533b3

TAR HEEL STATE TIFF - Normally, naming federal buildings doesn't cause this much controversy. But North Carolina Rep. G.K. Butterfield says two of his Republican colleagues are refusing to sign onto his bill renaming a courthouse after John H. Wheeler, a civil rights leader in the state and mentor to the former CBC chairman. Butterfield says Reps. George Holding and Robert Pittenger, the only two of the state's Republicans not to back the bill, are retaliating because Butterfield wouldn't support legislation to rename a different federal building after former Sen. Jesse Helms. "Senator Jesse Helms was repugnant," Butterfield said. Colin Warren-Hicks with the Herald-Sun:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5c308ffe73c0049b008b55050034c721d6a80ebd15a39feaa17fff3a47e113bc73acc842054b988f194b6f72e7d1993682011c5851589cbb

WELCOME TO THE WORLD - Alison Schneider, comms director for Locust Street Group, and husband Andrew Shult, digital coordinator for House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, welcomed baby boy Cameron Burnley Schneider Shult on Tuesday. Pic: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5c308ffe73c0049b2ce91d1d4631d3b7e4c5ecb948914e5ba84f22c441d8ff609316424ef4ef972a5350bb60756f745541cd440dfb1d3cde

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The Senate meets at 10 a.m. with a procedural vote at 11 a.m. related to Marvin Kaplan, National Labor Relations Board nominee. The House is out for recess.

AROUND THE HILL - Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.) talk about the trade portion of their new agenda at 11:30 a.m. in the Senate swamp.

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu and several other mayors from across the country hold a press conference on the need for bipartisan approaches to health care, taxes and infrastructure at 2:45 p.m. in SVC-201.

OFF THE HILL - House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) joins Americans for Prosperity to talk tax reform at the Newseum starting at 12 p.m.

Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) meets with President Trump at 2 p.m. in the Oval Office.

TUESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Chris Schuler was the first to guess that Sen. Robert Byrd holds the record for the shortest pro-forma session, at 23/30 of a second, measured in 23 frames of video.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - David with today's question: There's been a lot of recent focus on Sen. McCain, who everyone knows endured years as a POW in Vietnam. Name the other former POW held by Vietnam who later served in Congress and what he is most known for during his time in captivity. 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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