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04/11/2018 08:04 AM EDT


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

TRUMP HOSTING GOP LEADERS TONIGHT -- Republican congressional leaders will dine with President Donald Trump at the White House tonight. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) are expected to attend. "The dinner has been in the works for several days and was being planned before Trump attacked special counsel Robert Mueller on Monday and his press secretary said on Tuesday that the president has the power to fire the special counsel," Burgess and Bres report. "The gathering will offer top Republicans a chance to hear from Trump personally about whether he
intends to fire Mueller."

McConnell on Tuesday said Mueller should be allowed to finish his investigation but insisted the special counsel doesn't need Congress to protect him from firing. Cornyn warned "it would be a mistake" to fire Mueller but also refused to endorse legislation to insulate him from being ousted. "Other pressing matters include a potential strike against Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces following an alleged chemical weapons attack, Trump's threatened tariffs against China and crucial Cabinet confirmations looming in the Senate," they write. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6aa7d38bfa1c66b5dc53ad7768f5b948c197172d725524a0a65827779fcc825e0f46401a51801db124cdfae64e98fa26

REPUBLICANS WARN TRUMP AGAINST FIRING MUELLER -- Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) is urging the Judiciary Committee to take up his bill to insulate Mueller from any attempted firing. The North Carolina Republican is in talks with Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) about consolidating separate Mueller protection bills and persuading Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) to pass it. The group is set to release the bill today. "Republican lawmakers are desperately trying to keep Mueller's probe into Trump on track after the FBI raided the offices of Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen, warning Trump he will end his presidency with such a move,"
Burgess, Elana and Kyle report.

"The reaction on Capitol Hill came after Trump ... raised the specter of trying to end the special counsel investigation," they continue. "White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders deepened the intrigue on Tuesday when she said flatly that Trump 'certainly believes he has the power to fire Mueller.'" Grassley told CNN that "it would be suicide for the president to fire" Mueller. But most Republicans stopped short of calling for legislation to protect him. "Whether the Senate GOP's pointed defense of Mueller translates into legislation to protect his job remains to be seen," they write. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6aa7d38bfa1c66b54cfbbd9ba839cfab01969ae3f33778f0dfc9ed5158a20d7a2429d5c0171d5f32dd1984544948b825

Related: "Bipartisan Senate bill to protect Mueller set for release Wednesday," by Elana: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6aa7d38bfa1c66b5ac2bdab7cd8c90a86c9acffa1bcbcc223d708ae891d84010672e4c6ab323ffe96ccacbef76576ad3

HOUSE DEMS DEMAND ACTION TO PROTECT MUELLER -- House Judiciary Committee Democrats are calling for immediate action on two bills to shield Mueller from a unilateral ouster. In a letter to Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) obtained by POLITICO, Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) and Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) cite an increasing concern that Trump will order Mueller to be fired "or take other action to disrupt his and other pending investigations." "The bills, filed months ago, have drawn widespread support among Democrats but have gotten no traction among House Republicans, who have argued that Trump is unlikely to fire Mueller and therefore no action is necessary," Kyle
reports.

"Similar measures have also stalled in the Senate, though one Republican sponsor, Sen. Thom Tillis, pushed Tuesday for his bill to pass," he adds. "Republicans on the Judiciary Committee have generally opposed efforts to protect Mueller, arguing it's unnecessary and that Trump should have the authority to shape his own Justice Department leadership. Instead, the committee's Republicans have been pursuing allegations of misconduct by senior Justice Department and FBI officials involved in the Russia probe." Goodlatte and other House Republicans have called for a second special counsel to probe the bureau's handling of investigations during the 2016 campaign. More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6aa7d38bfa1c66b5e0235e2a0e1c2588e0a3b25ef5e91e1850841cc402a412424e4fc70dc1d42cd372eb7faf9c04dd57

HAPPY WEDNESDAY! Thanks for reading Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this April 11.

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TUESDAY'S MOST CLICKED: Burgess' report on the looming Senate GOP leadership shakeup was the winner.

NUNES THREATENS TO 'IMPEACH' FBI DIRECTOR AND DEPUTY AG -- House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) threatened late Tuesday to "impeach" FBI Director Christopher Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein unless they turn over the document that led to the launch of an FBI probe into Russian contacts with the Trump campaign. "Nunes is furious with the agencies over attempts to obtain the two-page document the FBI used to initiate its probe of the Trump campaign's Russia contacts," Kyle reports. "That document, which the New York Times reported on in December, revealed that the probe was launched over an intelligence tip that George Papadopoulos, a campaign foreign
policy aide, had revealed to an Australian diplomat that Russia had obtained dirt on Hillary Clinton."

"We're not going to just hold in contempt," Nunes told Fox News. "We will have a plan to hold in contempt and impeach." A move to impeach two top Justice Department officials "would be an extraordinary confrontation between Congress and federal law enforcement," Kyle writes. "Several of Nunes' colleagues have endorsed holding Rosenstein and Wray in contempt of Congress -- and some have called for their removal -- but impeachment by Congress would be a further escalation. Such a move had not, as of late Tuesday, been considered by Speaker Paul Ryan, who would need to green-light any attempt to advance such a move."

Related reads: "Trump Sought to Fire Mueller in December," via The New York Times' Maggie Haberman and Michael S. Schmidt: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6aa7d38bfa1c66b5c54c71324dc043dd900b2edef18ffa998511cf00f13631a0f9b5a115e6fd9d6490848846b093bd62 and "Trump considering firing Rosenstein to check Mueller," from CNN: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6aa7d38bfa1c66b533f0b4ba7f430928f007fda2382423edc05b3863bb7a3ceb5a9ae2955036718f02599ddcd42c06bf

CONSERVATIVES FUME OVER GOP SPENDING HYPOCRISY -- Some conservatives are saying House Republicans' looming vote on a balanced budget amendment is, at best, insincere, and, at worst, blatantly hypocritical. "There is no one on Capitol Hill, and certainly no one on Main Street, that will take this vote seriously," House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) said. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) added that last month -- before passage of a massive $1.3 trillion spending bill -- was "the time to get spending under control." Advocating for a balanced budget amendment a month later, Jordan said, won't "fool anybody."

"Jordan and Meadows support the balanced budget amendment as a marker for fiscal austerity -- it's the timing of the vote, on the heels of the spending bonanza, that rankles them and other conservatives," Rachael and Sarah Ferris report. "The proposal requires supermajorities in both chambers to pass, as well as ratification by three-quarters of the states, an impossible hurdle. But with Republicans swimming in red ink ... the party feels pressure to do something." Much more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6aa7d38bfa1c66b54d54eed6ed4cae7f4bbc4fcfcf693ff0a42b7efd5f1d3d77f08940fb3c9aaf89b97ec7cd38463eb7

Related: "McConnell open to votes to slash spending," by Burgess: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6aa7d38bfa1c66b567cbfe39597b51e12c662c9b711b6301bb74bdc52b8c4080a4e49f4777605f60f50537ca385328fb

IMMIGRATION VOTES FINALLY COMING TO HOUSE FLOOR? -- Rep. Jeff Denham (R-S.C.) says he's secured enough votes from House Republicans to force floor votes on immigration legislation. "Denham's resolution would initiate the so-called 'Queen-of-the-Hill' rule, under which the bill that receives the most votes and surpasses the 218-vote threshold, would be adopted by the House," Scott Wong and Rafael Bernal report for The Hill. "If all bills fail to reach 218, they all would be rejected. With 41 Republican votes and all Democrats in support, the rule could be forced through without going through committee or gaining approval from leadership."

The proposals under consideration include a conservative bill authored by Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), the Dream Act, a bill that mirrors the White House's immigration plan and a bipartisan bill limited to border security measures and protecting Dreamers. "The Goodlatte bill would tighten border security and interior enforcement, and it would grant renewable three-year permits to DACA recipients, but wouldn't give them a special pathway to citizenship," they write. "The Dream Act ... would grant an automatic special path to citizenship to over 3 million so-called Dreamers -- undocumented immigrants who arrived in the country as children. The USA Act ... would combine
elements of the Dream Act with border security provisions, but not interior enforcement." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6aa7d38bfa1c66b503baa0098342e4b8347933edfc8cc40e8746f2146932271acf3cb5cf467163724b6b1052ceb26185

ZUCKERBERG SURVIVES DAY ONE -- Composed and contrite, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg survived a five-hour grilling from more than 40 senators. And he's coming back for more later this morning, this time from lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. His Tuesday performance, however, "did little to mask Facebook's growing political problems in Washington," Nancy Scola reports. And at times, senators stole the show. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), for example, asked Zuckerberg how Facebook maintains a sustainable business model if users don't pay for service. "Senator, we run ads," Zuckerberg explained in a now-viral clip. "I see," Hatch said. "That's great." Much more:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6aa7d38bfa1c66b5cf8d90cf726a0fb1c0e015f43fe47b6ec09181a8406086b54c9359d0f8f047ee8edc761b11df2226

Related read: "Key moments from Mark Zuckerberg's Senate testimony," from Quint Forgey and Aubree Eliza Weaver: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6aa7d38bfa1c66b54669732367f58fa818de1e77e3117b5190da001853275fb11906f98ab37bbd7feb6a47735bf861c4

POMPEO COURTS MODERATE DEMS -- Secretary of state nominee Mike Pompeo isn't wasting any time. Pompeo "will face a grilling Thursday during his hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee," CNN's Manu Raju and Elise Labott report. "But in an unusual move, Pompeo is already privately courting moderate Democratic senators who don't serve on that committee, in what lawmakers in both parties say is a sign of the significant challenges facing the nomination." With Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) opposed and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) out recovering from cancer treatment, Pompeo needs at least one Democratic vote to be confirmed. Much more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6aa7d38bfa1c66b5d8ccb555a0afd02240f702170abd680ae1f6d8ed101ff9668b5805e98da938962fc9eb93eeac97d2

Related: "Senate Republicans express concerns about Trump's choice to lead Veterans Affairs," from The Washington Post's Seung Min Kim: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6aa7d38bfa1c66b58cf8eec611bd2431325ef68e658e43169216644bb052e904513bf7d978f7296e31d00aeb84a26418

DEMS TAP MCGOVERN AS RULES PANEL'S RANKING MEMBER -- Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) will serve as the top Democrat on the House Rules Committee, replacing the late Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.). "McGovern, a longtime member of the panel and next in line behind Slaughter in seniority, was officially selected as ranking member during a House Democratic Caucus meeting Tuesday night," Heather reports. "The Massachusetts Democrat, first elected to Congress in 1997, is one of the caucus' most liberal members. He is poised to chair the committee, which sets the rules for floor debate, if Democrats win back the House in November." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6aa7d38bfa1c66b590c357900a1e02b6f28ebe629973a7430f3a3aa15699425b5012a824f282b0456327f49319244696

HOYER TRIES TO PLAY KINGMAKER -- House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) flew to South Florida last weekend hoping to persuade first-time candidate Matt Haggman to withdraw from his current crowded race against front-runner Donna Shalala and run in a neighboring district to unseat Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.). While unsuccessful, "[t]he trip was the latest in a series of Democratic Party efforts to cull crowded candidate fields and clear a path to the general election for the establishment's preferred candidates -- typically those seen by party officials as best suited to win in November," Marc Caputo and Heather report.

"Hoyer is expected to make more recruiting and field-clearing trips like this in South Florida and in dozens of other races across the nation as Democratic officials attempt to shape the House election landscape and avoid bruising, cash-draining primary fights," they write. "The heart of the problem is too many candidates and too much money in some primaries, and not enough candidates and money in other races." Hoyer has frequently traveled to meet with and fundraise for candidates, primarily in areas where House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is unwelcome. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6aa7d38bfa1c66b5f5b45e1e67f4e47c4125c3959d1e9802ba0cfe6c75a9c28c79558d988707d33196ac22e2dd9ea9fa

TRUMP ASKED RED-STATE DEM TO JOIN GOP -- Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) says Trump asked her to switch parties during a post-election Trump Tower meeting in December 2016. "He's always ribbing me a little bit about being too conservative to be a Democrat," said Heitkamp, who reacted by laughing. "I think he knows it's not going to happen," she added. Heitkamp, whose Republican challenger will likely be Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), is among 10 Democrats running for reelection in states the president won in 2016. "To secure a second term this year, Heitkamp will likely have to win over many conservative voters who cast ballots for Trump," The Washington Post's Sean Sullivan writes. More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6aa7d38bfa1c66b56824cded0bec74cc584399bcf6c2221de1350224490664e1e5201d3a038a84aff7e5cb64966c64d5

Related read: "In Red-State Races, Democrats Seek an Edge by Defying the N.R.A.," by The New York Times' Alan Blinder: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6aa7d38bfa1c66b583e51f9083997067e09e32ce25979e12ce6190b8c25725b4e258d87de8a6c70496d4947f9a851dc3

TRANSITIONS -- Brandon Gassaway has joined Sen. Tim Kaine's (D-Va.) reelection campaign as press secretary. He previously served as communications director for Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.).

TODAY IN CONGRESS -- The House gavels in at 10 a.m., with first votes expected between 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. and last votes expected between 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Today's agenda: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6aa7d38bfa1c66b5776be7e3918a94ba1c91631190e351375a17b618527258d0e60e2d66dd7bc152578434e702d29bde The Senate meets at 10:30 a.m. to resume consideration of John Ring to be an NLRB member. The chamber will hold votes at 12:20 p.m. on Ring's nomination and a procedural move on Patrick Pizzella's nomination to be deputy labor secretary.

AROUND THE HILL -- House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) will hold a media availability immediately after the Republican Conference meeting at 10 a.m. in HC-8.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) will hold a news conference to demand accountability from EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt at 10 a.m. in SVC-201.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a hearing with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook's use and protection of user data at 10 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn.

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.) and Vice Chairwoman Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) will hold a media availability immediately after a closed caucus meeting at 10:15 a.m. in HVC-Studio B.

Reps. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), Jose Serrano (D-N.Y.), Darren Soto (D-Fla.), Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.), Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), Norma Torres (D-Calif.), Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.) and Nanette Barragan (D-Calif.) will hold a news conference on the 2020 Census at 12:30 p.m. in HVC-Studio A.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), John Yarmuth (D-Ky.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) will hold a news conference on the impact of the balanced budget amendment on Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and seniors at 2 p.m. in HVC-215.

Reps. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) and Donald McEachin (D-Va.) and others will hold a briefing on the importance of preserving critical civil rights protections for students at 4 p.m. in CVC-Congressional Meeting Room South.

TUESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER -- Michael Gessel was first to correctly guess that Sam Gejdenson is the former lawmaker who was born in a displaced persons camp in Europe and whose parents were Holocaust survivors.

TODAY'S TRIVIA -- From Michael: In the 1980s, this congressman introduced legislation to honor the birthday of a pioneer rock and roll singer from his district. Who was the congressman and what was the legislation? 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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