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03/02/2018 08:09 AM EDT


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

TRUMP DIGS IN ON TRADE WAR -- President Donald Trump is doubling down on his plan to impose tariffs of 25 percent on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum, tweeting early this morning that "trade wars are good, and easy to win." The president unveiled the planned tariffs, which are expected to be finalized next week, during a White House listening session on Thursday with steel and aluminum industry leaders. "Some of the harshest initial reactions came from members of Trump's own party, who have traditionally championed free trade," Doug Palmer reports.

"Besides triggering a damaging trade war with allies, Senate Republicans expressed fear that the actions would greatly increase costs for manufacturers in other industries and undermine some of the gains of the GOP's tax overhaul. However, they said they were not certain there was any action Congress could take to prevent him from imposing the tariffs." Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), John Thune (R-S.D.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) were all critical of the move, as were others across the globe. Much more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fade9977c60899ed1b634ac37e57b1051102a1e93e1d93af0f8cb6f025824325d427e4e003fa9f31323f73d52ec850cb

The tariff war could also push out National Economic Director Gary Cohn, according to Ben White and Andrew Restuccia: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fade9977c60899ed08dd055ace1b92bf2f1f54658b49446d41446b665a986aaa9bb5e13d1b9a7fba4028b1f5140b4af6

NO GUN DEBATE IN SENATE NEXT WEEK -- The Senate will be focused on a bill from Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) to relax Dodd-Frank regulations next week. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) made the announcement Thursday, "dashing hopes of many senators in both parties that the Senate would be able to pass gun legislation quickly in the wake of the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida," CNN's Ted Barrett reports. "The decision reflects the reality that negotiators have not settled on legislation that can pass the GOP-led House and Senate and be signed by President Donald Trump."

McConnell told reporters he's hopeful there's a way forward on guns. But it won't come next week. "On guns, senators are now engaging in bipartisan talks to see what, if anything, they can agree on," Barrett adds. "One measure that it appears would be able to get at least 60 votes to pass is a bipartisan bill to improve reporting to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. The measure, commonly referred to as 'Fix NICS,' would offer financial incentives to state and local authorities for reporting information to the background check system." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fade9977c60899edc30f73d67a8c9bcf23314ccecf9e8ec09519eebc576a7eac26c4a3e3dd9483539bda0b9c8ffdd5c0

Related read: "Crapo's Dodd-Frank Rewrite Set for Senate Floor Vote Next Week," by Bloomberg Politics' Elizabeth Dexheimer: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fade9977c60899ed1db0ed871113bddaed4712e5db09cebe997a5673c31090fbf86c8b43e773f8ffcd60cf9f79385524

SENATE SCRAMBLES TO INTRODUCE GUN-CONTROL MEASURES -- Trump's unexpected embrace of expansive gun-control measures this week set off a scramble in the Senate, where Republican and Democratic lawmakers laid out several competing proposals on Thursday. "The flurry of action suggests Trump's wild-card support Wednesday for proposals to expand background checks and raise the age limit for certain rifle purchases has caused plenty of political ripples -- if not yet a wave big enough to unite lawmakers behind a single approach," Elana reports. Though the chamber will debate Dodd-Frank reform next week, "[s]enators in both parties predicted that gun-related amendments may be offered to that bill
as the broader debate continues."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) outlined Democrats' top priorities on gun reform as Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) introduced his own proposal from the Senate floor. Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) also released a bill banning so-called "bump stocks," and Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) announced he will hold an oversight hearing on March 14 to examine last month's Parkland, Florida, high school shooting. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fade9977c60899eda139330bd3f5daf4dd35f959f9439f82643ffef927c21aa8fd5a76f014c5d3af56f442614d052aa6

WE MADE IT TO FRIDAY. Thanks for reading Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this March 2.

THURSDAY'S MOST CLICKED: Ryan Struyk's GIF of Sen. Dianne Feinstein's (D-Calif.) reaction when Trump encouraged her to add her assault weapons ban to the Manchin-Toomey bill was by far the big winner.


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CONSERVATIVES SHOCKED BY WEDNESDAY TRUMP -- Denial. Disbelief. Outrage. The response from congressional Republicans was mixed after "Trump threw decades of party orthodoxy on gun rights out the window on Wednesday," Burgess and Rachael report, musing about a comprehensive gun-control package and delaying due process until after guns are taken from dangerous people. "The GOP has its rifts on hot-button issues like immigration and health care. But its devotion to expansive gun rights has been close to absolute."

Despite their disagreements, few Republicans were willing to directly criticize the president. "While Republicans think it's important to discourage the president from upsetting his rural, gun-loving base, most have taken to privately registering those feelings of discomfort with the White House rather than dressing down the president publicly," they write. "Instead, most Republicans spent Thursday highlighting the problems with Trump's seeming support for proposals advocated by the likes of Sens. Dianne Feinstein of California and Chris Murphy of Connecticut." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fade9977c60899edba67456220bc89e9f7d5cac1359263652dcf69683ce307927a704b7ccf276befe6b88c7feb972d67

Related: "N.R.A. Suggests Trump May Retreat From Gun Control," from The New York Times: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fade9977c60899ed158953dd4a55cfb8b52a4e6c25b2a693924a505b7f949151d589250919e7cb476b6dfbe6b441350e and "Trump's 'surreal' guns meeting delays White House rollout of policy proposals," by CNN's Dan Merica and Pamela Brown: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fade9977c60899edc3ab83e8aa4f35dad9f03cb6d1aa2174ea006ef74a9b7ee27b89325ec283e7ed2a37c3470f488a56

WHITE HOUSE POISED TO NOMINATE FED'S NO. 2 -- Trump will likely nominate Richard Clarida, a Columbia University economist, as vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. "Mr. Clarida is a Republican economist whom colleagues describe as more of a pragmatist than an ideologue," Nick Timiraos and Harriet Torry report for The Wall Street Journal. "Such a temperament fits the mold of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, a lawyer and former investment executive who began a four-year term as the central bank's leader in February."

Clarida is also managing director and global strategic adviser at Pacific Investment Management Co. He served as Treasury's assistant secretary for economic policy in the George W. Bush administration. "Mr. Clarida is well regarded by economists on both sides of the aisle," they write. "If nominated and confirmed by the Senate, Mr. Clarida would fill out the top of the Fed leadership with two other Trump nominees--Mr. Powell and Randal Quarles, sworn in last October as the Fed's vice chairman of bank supervision." The vice chairman post has been vacant since October. The Fed's board has four current vacancies. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fade9977c60899ede3d9e4fe0eb19166f022865949f961cac84fc0121347985191d9f0e04fc88e9485b5c9fca264a353

PENCE CAMPAIGNING FOR HELLER NEXT MONTH -- In his second trip to Nevada this year, Vice President Mike Pence will campaign in Las Vegas for Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.). "The April 13 campaign event includes a $1,000-per-plate lunch to benefit Heller's re-election campaign," Ramona Giwargis reports for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "A 15-minute photo reception with Pence will kick off the event -- but it will cost $10,000 to get a photo with him." Heller, the only GOP senator up this year in a state Hillary Clinton carried in 2016, is the most vulnerable Republican seeking reelection.

Rep. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) raised nearly twice as much money as Heller in the final quarter of 2017, bringing in more than $1.5 million compared to Heller's nearly $821,000. Heller also faces primary opponent Danny Tarkanian, who has accused him of flip-flopping on immigration, Planned Parenthood funding and Obamacare repeal. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fade9977c60899ed477dbaa18729c76a207ad97d37eb9736a00e9e10a85c80d123da2a5f4da93966a8fbc0e8b8c1a783

SENATE INTEL LEADERS APPROACHED RYAN ABOUT HOUSE PANEL -- Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.), the chairman and vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, respectively, expressed concerns about the House Intelligence Committee in an extraordinary meeting with House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) last month. "It is a rare and dramatic gesture for senators to cross the Capitol to complain about their House counterparts, and the meeting with Ryan -- the details of which remain murky -- appears to be the latest sign of political rancor generated by the House panel, led by its controversial chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.)," Kyle reports.

The New York Times reported that Republicans on the House panel had leaked private messages between Warner and a Russia-connected lawyer to Fox News. "Burr told reporters at the Capitol that the Times story's suggestion that he concluded House Republicans were behind the leak was incorrect, saying only that he and Warner met with Ryan to update him on the Senate's panel's investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election," Kyle adds. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fade9977c60899ed588e7385308bf71be603e807b0f12cb2b116e9f3cac952775a1822896c7aa8a808e1c33e49b51831

HATCH HAMMERS DUMBASS OBAMACARE SUPPORTERS -- The Affordable Care Act "was the stupidest, dumbass bill that I've ever seen," Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said in a speech Thursday at the American Enterprise Institute. "Now some of you may have loved it. If you do, you are one of the stupidest, dumbass people I've ever met. And there are a lot of them up there on Capitol Hill from time to time." Hatch's spokesman, Matt Whitlock, later said, "The comments were obviously made in jest, but what's not a joke is the harm Obamacare has caused for countless Utahns." Hatch preceded his comments by sarcastically calling Obamacare a "wonderful" bill. More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fade9977c60899edfa960e886423a4f3e9f64fe2c277a4efc311e88742567e354b64cb3cfe727ae74cd876323e3f025c

BIDEN CAMPAIGNING FOR LAMB NEXT WEEK -- Former Vice President Joe Biden will appear at two events in Pennsylvania on Tuesday for Democratic special election candidate Conor Lamb. "A visit from Mr. Biden, who has said Mr. Lamb has 'a genuine chance of winning' the March 13 [election] against Republican Rick Saccone, has been anticipated for weeks," the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Chris Potter reports. "He was last in Pittsburgh in mid-February as part of a book tour. And while he didn't address the race specifically, he did urge Democrats to reconnect with voters on economic issues." Lamb said he's grateful for Biden's support and is excited to welcome him to the district. More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fade9977c60899eded28471690d19bbb28d858916896d027f189606f96b17ebce1563dd1f399d406461474a67d6b4c34

"The race in the 18th District, which was drawn to safely reelect a Republican congressman, only to see him resign last year, has closed to single digits despite an onslaught of Republican spending," Dave Weigel reports for The Washington Post. "On the air and in mailboxes, it has previewed many of the attacks Republicans may use this year to protect their control of the House of Representatives." Though Republicans have far outspent Lamb and allies, and Trump is slated to campaign for Saccone next week, "the Pennsylvania race has found Republicans nervously changing both positive messaging and attack lines, with little of it appearing to stick." More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fade9977c60899ed337d9f84b0bd4a1378d1fba5b67257f0ceb34eb96ae6046432389195ce87eb92fd50a52a58d66345

Related: "Lamb outraises Saccone by nearly five-to-one margin in Pennsylvania special election," via Steven Shepard: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fade9977c60899ed93322e66d824c6a28337ac67694d0a5267d8052604eb8d5439a237df223fd83129de25bcbc3dceea

DOZENS OF WOMEN FILE FOR CONGRESSIONAL RUNS IN TEXAS -- Texas has 36 districts but only three women in its congressional delegation. That, however, could soon change. "At least 50 female challengers have filed to run in Texas congressional races in the March 6 primary, raising the prospect that Texas ... will finally see its breakthrough moment for women in 2018," Renuka Rayasam reports. Many will lose -- 36 candidates are Democrats, and many women are challenging one another in primary races. "Still, the groundswell of candidates -- and eight open House seats across the state -- makes it likely at least a few of them will be added to what is the second-largest congressional delegation in
the nation." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fade9977c60899ed827ee6cb4c55edb960e9571c46846344ddeaae958ca204b7e834eea671c0cb649ef4bfc453d8134b

Meanwhile, in West Virginia, Richard Ojeda, a state senator running for Congress, is redefining what it means to be a Democrat in a deeply red state: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fade9977c60899ed0b953a5176c0dbe04adf4cc60692e31437210e66a54347fa77d671ccdadac474572836a9dc995be6

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

THURSDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER -- Jeremy Berkowitz was first to correctly guess that John Nance Garner was the former House speaker and vice president who lived to be nearly 99. He famously said the vice presidency was "not worth a bucket of warm piss," a phrase that was censored to "warm spit."

TODAY'S TRIVIA -- From Jeremy: There are four sitting senators who have previously served as secretary of state in their respective states. However, they all moved onto other positions before being elected to the Senate. Who was the last person to be elected to the Senate whose immediate prior public office was secretary of state, what year did this person win and who did this person defeat? 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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