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02/16/2018 08:00 AM EDT


By Nolan D. McCaskill (nmccaskill@politico.com or @NolanDMcCaskill)

DEFERRED ACTION -- Congress is out of session until Feb. 26, leaving Dreamers in limbo and lawmakers with only one legislative week to find a solution for young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children before the president's March 5 deadline. The Senate on Thursday rejected every proposal it considered, including amendments on a narrow John McCain-Chris Coons plan, sanctuary cities, a broad bipartisan proposal and the president's four-pillar plan. "It was a frustrating, if largely expected, conclusion to a much-hyped immigration debate this week that never really got off the ground," Elana and Burgess report.

President Donald Trump's proposal got the least support, with just 39 votes in favor of it. The White House nevertheless claimed the plan was "extremely generous" -- it offered a pathway to citizenship for nearly 2 million Dreamers but also sought $25 billion for a border wall and security and sharp limits to legal and family-based immigration. The bipartisan plan, which the White House had threatened to veto, garnered 54 votes. Eight Republicans joined all but three Democrats in support of it, but it still fell shy of the 60-vote threshold for passage. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=565677027bd0d1ba5adf1a4427727a6c9d0b84d6996803d45d66ab24c4c1a26b0a9d842a0db365fd3085ccafa29b859b

What's next? "[S]everal senators said they hoped a solution could be included in a sweeping spending plan that must be passed by March 23," The Washington Post reports. "Proposals have been floated by senators in both parties to temporarily extend the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program ... and provide some funding to begin border-security construction projects." Courts have ordered the Trump administration to extend DACA, making the president's deadline less firm. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=565677027bd0d1ba7c221392cb62008b8667f73397eccbda4fc767fb0db8f407ac8f2be0305076eb5ba7ba8d1f838d77

The White House says it "will continue advocating for an immigration package that includes border security, ending chain migration, cancelling the visa lottery, and a reasonable DACA solution." "The next step," press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement late Thursday, "will be for the House to continue advancing the proposal from Chairman Goodlatte and Chairman McCaul." That conservative proposal, however, lacks the votes to pass the House and would never make it out of the Senate.

INSIDE THE COLLAPSE -- Immigration reform was always going to be a heavy lift. It proved to be even heavier in the polarizing Trump era. The mercurial president endorsed a conservative proposal in August that would make steep cuts to legal immigration, announced a wind-down of the Obama-era DACA program in September and told senators in January he was willing to sign a deal "with things I'm not in love with," only to reject bipartisan proposals and stand firmly behind his administration's four pillars. Even the Department of Homeland Security ripped a bipartisan plan as a bill to make the U.S. "a sanctuary nation where ignoring the rule of law is encouraged."

The end result is a megaflop. "The Senate's spectacular failure to address the plight of the most sympathetic batch of immigrants in the country illegally ... was the latest display of legislative ineptitude in the upper chamber," Burgess and Elana report. "And now, Democrats are on record as supporting things much of the base despises -- the wall, immigration restrictions on DACA recipients' parents and a path to citizenship for significantly fewer undocumented immigrants than the 11 million who would have been helped by the 2013 legislation -- with nothing to show for it." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=565677027bd0d1babc9b5f71cb97289f23bbc3cf386533c0250a5ef022d6ae99d108ad3cfa77913fa8cc2dc1a86a7266

THE WEEKEND IS NEAR. Thanks for reading Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Friday, Feb. 16. Programming Note: Huddle will be taking Monday off in honor of Presidents Day but will be back in your inboxes Tuesday morning.

THURSDAY'S MOST CLICKED: CNN's report on lawmakers' reactions to Wednesday's mass shooting that killed 17 people at a South Florida high school was the winner.

TRUMP TO VISIT FLORIDA -- President Donald Trump announced plans to visit Parkland, Florida, where a gunman opened fire at a high school Wednesday, killing 17 people. Trump pledged to push for steps to make schools and students safer but "made no direct mention of the contentious gun control debate, even as activists and Democrats in Congress renewed calls for tougher measures," Louis Nelson reports. "The tragedy in Florida, the thirtieth mass shooting so far in 2018, was met by forceful calls for legislative action from Democratic lawmakers, while Republicans made pleas for patience and urged officials to await more information about the episode." More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=565677027bd0d1ba46132b166ecfb35f7035e310c2126f59e95e5ecae2fe0c2a5f87099893ef8b0c478c41444c082fd4

On Capitol Hill, there's "little chance of a legislative response to the continuing crisis of shooters killing people in public places," Paul Kane reports for The Washington Post. While House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) predictably called for action, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) unsurprisingly urged patience. "[T]here is no real urgency on Capitol Hill to do anything," Kane adds. "Republicans generally support gun rights and enjoy the political support of the National Rifle Association. Democrats, despite polling showing broad support for more gun regulation, seldom campaign on the issue and therefore put almost no fear in GOP lawmakers that they will pay a political price
for their inaction." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=565677027bd0d1bab64698e9ad1a5212562658f119ba7ba2fe3dc05ef65d847a42d1f8482613bb14b1a8e168fb693ff7

Related: "Trump struggles with consoler-in-chief role," via Edward-Isaac Dovere: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=565677027bd0d1bafc1eb662c9d976edab763c373f540ec7e65832369923ed738d2ac6b220d6863da7dbea516a1ba9bf and "Frustration Grows as Congress Shows Inability to Pass Even Modest Gun Measures," from The New York Times' Nicholas Fandos and Thomas Kaplan: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=565677027bd0d1ba1d8392f31b15d4876304d7b8bdd3252b19e4a7d519be5e1fdfca2db1c31a42e89d44e022e2edbbaa

CRIMINAL JUSTICE BILL CLEARS JUDICIARY COMMITTEE -- A bipartisan criminal justice reform bill won approval from the Senate Judiciary Committee despite Attorney General Jeff Sessions' announced opposition. The measure cleared the committee in a 16-5 vote, with six of 10 Republicans voting with every Democrat. "But it's unclear whether its relatively strong showing will give the legislation any better chance of getting floor time in the Senate," Elana reports. The bill "would ease some mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent offenders while creating new, stiffer penalties for other types of criminal offenses." Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) says the legislation can "easily get 60 votes."
More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=565677027bd0d1ba4199856dc79c3699565e1b58d1e40d3384644be508d8453273cb85738e08184dd06b76efd91ab76a

Related read: "Senate's Renewed Push for Sentencing Overhaul Hits a Familiar Roadblock," by The New York Times' Nicholas Fandos: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=565677027bd0d1badac855697ab15b25377a6f078adc60c5ce9c4c9e5f2cbab86f81eb77d8c20f94067fdb4151bae050

BANNON STICKS TO WHITE HOUSE-SCRIPTED Q&A -- House Intelligence Committee members say former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon would only answer questions about Russian election meddling that were "scripted" for him in advance by the White House. In the nearly four-hour closed-door meeting, Bannon answered only 25 questions that had been pre-screened by the White House. Even some Republicans were unhappy. "Rep. Mike Conaway of Texas, the Republican who leads the panel's Russia investigation, said he would discuss with House Speaker Paul Ryan whether to seek contempt charges against Bannon," Kyle reports. Bannon's interview with the House panel followed multiple interviews with
special counsel Robert Mueller's team in recent days. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=565677027bd0d1ba11e7b3e37252cb06d08a8b1cb1df90f0718c3253a439b0ea5d7ab1274bc2aa703319e12576831bba

OMG LOL -- Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) has coined more than 50 different repurposed acronyms in social media posts and press releases since the beginning of 2006. To most people, the GOP is the "Grand Old Party." In Markey's world, it could be "Gas and Oil Party" or "Gutting our Privacy." "Markey wields acronyms as his weapon of political branding," Nik DeCosta-Klipa reports for Boston.com. "The 71-year-old Malden native continues to roll out new politically charged acronyms regularly, whether it's for the Council on Environmental Quality -- which he said last November would have to be dubbed 'Crazy Environmental Quackery' under the White House's since-withdrawn nominee -- or DACA." For
Markey, it's "Deserving A Chance in America." ICYMI: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=565677027bd0d1ba7573e9b682e88c98fa759aa720fbf395bc82ba43ebd1fe14f489f5e7c03c74ad54af97e958d5628c

HOUSE PANEL GOES EASY ON SHULKIN -- House Veterans Affairs Committee members gave VA Secretary David Shulkin a pass despite an inspector general report that found Shulkin's chief of staff altered an email to create an excuse for taxpayers to pay for Shulkin's wife to join him on a 10-day trip to Europe last summer. "At a hearing on the administration's $198 billion VA budget proposal, members on both sides tut-tutted over the $122,000 cost of the trip but treated it as a distraction that they urged Shulkin to clear away so he could deal with substantial problems," Arthur Allen reports. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=565677027bd0d1ba20ef044083e4ce16c073c18094f8e3dd0b5cc18b8ce9fbbb4b158238a4983c4e7e2509739ad13050

Shulkin is far from the only Cabinet secretary to come under scrutiny for his travel. The EPA said Administrator Scott Pruitt's security team determined last year that he should fly first class to avoid potential confrontations. Henry Barnet, director of EPA's Office of Criminal Enforcement, told POLITICO someone approached Pruitt in October and yelled, "Scott Pruitt, you're f---ing up the environment." Much more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=565677027bd0d1ba454c588eff7319636e8aaecfaa3f55220d5729974364da6a6e852911f090f4adfa6dc5f3aad27aef

BLACKBURN VISITS WHITE HOUSE -- Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) met with White House counselor Kellyanne Conway and other officials on Wednesday as Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) reconsiders his retirement. "Blackburn's campaign suggested this week that she has no plans to step aside, setting the stage for a bruising primary should Corker decide to jump in the race," Rebecca Berg and Eli Watkins report for CNN. "It is unclear whether the White House will decide to weigh in, given Trump's past feuds with Corker." But a source tells CNN "some White House officials have privately encouraged Blackburn and told her to 'keep her head up.'" More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=565677027bd0d1baf17d7c27d56a161e410bb3f25e0a147d9f04d06d48b2a99e09e6ff17411e80af2ec433ec3e6921d9

CRAMER LAUNCHING SENATE CAMPAIGN -- After an about-face, Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) will announce his entry into North Dakota's Senate race today at a rally in Bismarck. Cramer announced last month that he was foregoing a challenge to Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) but "came under pressure from his party to reconsider over concerns that the GOP would miss a big chance to pick up a Senate seat," James MacPherson and Thomas Beaumont report for The Associated Press. "Heitkamp narrowly won her first term in 2012 in a state that is strongly conservative." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=565677027bd0d1bad6392ef2b2e172be55662d7c3a2e74e99e813dc80cc531f1fed08a85c0d7d96f38818511d9ff5ce2

EVANGELICAL PASTOR WANTS GOWDY'S S.C. SEAT -- Mark Burns, an evangelical pastor and Trump supporter, tells Bloomberg Politics he will launch his congressional campaign to succeed Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) in a video today that emphasizes his connections to the president. "Burns serves as a member of Trump's Faith Advisory Council and regularly appears on cable television news programs to promote or defend the president," Kevin Cirilli reports. "He's also started to assemble a team of experienced political operatives" and "has been meeting for months with donors as he sought to parlay his ties to Trump and conservative political groups into winning elected office."

Possible challengers for the June 12 GOP primary include state Sen. William Timmons, state Rep. Dan Hamilton and conservative radio host Joshua Kimbrell. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=565677027bd0d1baf99821fa46847a2ad1109c48e2b4ba1492918efa44bd128e0442ffd41bb161f0ed2b8b33cba0126e

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

THURSDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER -- Jim Sather was first to correctly guess that Jimmy Stewart starred in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"as a senator. He and Sen. George McGovern (D-S.D.) both served as B-24 pilots.

TODAY'S TRIVIA -- Jim with today's question: This senator was known as "The Wizard of Ooze" and wanted a national flower. Who is the senator and what was the flower? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your best guess my way: nmccaskill@politico.com.

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