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SENATE GANG REACHES IMMIGRATION DEAL - Manu Raju reports for the hometown paper: "A powerful group of senators from both parties has reached a deal on the outlines of a comprehensive immigration overhaul, a development that will drive an emotional debate on a hot-button issue unseen in Washington for more than half a decade. The group is expected to unveil the basics of its proposal at a Monday news conference on Capitol Hill, essentially laying down a marker on the issue one day before President Barack Obama heads to Las Vegas to unveil more details about his own immigration proposal.

-- "According to a five-page document provided to POLITICO, the sweeping proposal - agreed to in principle by eight senators - would seek to overhaul the legal immigration system as well as create a pathway to citizenship for the nation's roughly 11 million illegal immigrants. But establishing that pathway would depend on whether the U.S. first implements stricter border enforcement measures and new rules ensuring immigrants have left the country in compliance with their visas. Young people brought to the country as children illegally and seasonal agriculture industry workers would be given a faster path to citizenship. ...

-- "The bipartisan coalition includes influential Democrats such as Majority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois and Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the No. 3 in the leadership. It also has the backing of Sen. Bob Menendez, the Cuban-American Democrat from New Jersey poised to be chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. And it has the support of Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, the new chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

-- "Republican heavy-hitters also have signed onto the deal's framework, including two veterans of the bruising 2007 effort: Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. But it also won the support of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a rising GOP star and possible future presidential candidate. And the freshman Arizona Republican, Jeff Flake, who endorsed similar comprehensive plans during his House tenure, has also backed the proposal. House Republicans are likely to be a tougher sell, but Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) recently endorsed Rubio's approach and could be an important partner in selling the legislation to conservatives."
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OTHER A1 HEADLINES:L.A. Times: "Senate panel has plan on immigration." New York Times: "Senators offer a new blueprint for immigration." Washington Post: "Senators to unveil immigration plan." Chicago Tribune: "Bipartisan plan may legalize millions." Wall Street Journal: "Immigration Debate Gears Up."

McCAIN: GOP'S ELECTION DEFEAT SHOULD SPARK ACTION - The Arizona Republican made the case for comprehensive reform on ABC's "This Week." "Well, I'll give you a little straight talk: Look at the last election. Look at the last election. We are losing dramatically the Hispanic vote, which we think should be ours for a variety of reasons, and we've got to understand that. And second of all, we can't go on forever with 11 million people living in this country in the shadows in illegal status. We cannot forever have children who were born here, who were brought here by their parents when they were small children live in the shadows as well. I think the time is right."
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FIRST LOOK: MURRAY LAUNCHES NEW ONLINE BUDGET EFFORT - New Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray later this morning will launch "MyBudget," the committee's new online effort to encourage members of the public to participate in the federal budget process. It asks people to share their stories, budget priorities, and ideas with the committee as it writes a budget this year. "The federal budget is where we lay out our values, our priorities, and our vision for what our government should look like now and in the future," Murray said. "So I believe that it is absolutely critical that the ideas and perspectives of families across America are heard loud and clear in a budget process that
belongs to them, but is too often limited to politicians and bureaucrats." You can visit MyBudget at
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budget.senate.gov/democratic .

CANTOR MAKING MOVES? - Jonathan Weisman reports on A1 of The New York Times: "After lying low for several months, [Majority Leader Eric] Cantor is reasserting his presence in the Capitol, even as Speaker John A. Boehner continues his struggles to maintain Republican unity. In the coming weeks, the majority leader plans to lay out a second, softer track for his party beyond the constant cycle of budget showdowns and deficit talks. Notably, that track will include a new push for private-school vouchers for underprivileged children, health care options beyond the old fight over the president's health care law, new work force training initiatives and a renewed push for science, technology and
engineering visas for would-be immigrants. After successfully engineering the latest debt ceiling vote last week, Mr. Cantor flew to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he road-tested those themes as the lone House Republican leader rubbing elbows with the international elite.

-- 'Between meetings with King Abdullah II of Jordan; President Shimon Peres of Israel; the International Monetary Fund director, Christine Lagarde; and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon of the United Nations, he spoke of 'sane immigration policies,' unemployed youths and a German model for economic output. Mr. Cantor is expected to lay out his domestic vision on Feb. 5 at the American Enterprise Institute, a center-right research group.

-- "His latest moves follow two episodes this month that attracted wide noticeand new questions about Republican unity. He publicly broke with the speaker early this month over the deal to avert the so-called fiscal cliff, voting against the agreement even as Mr. Boehner voted for it. He then deftly maneuvered to secure passage of a Hurricane Sandy disaster relief package that Mr. Boehner had initially been cool to, bowing to pressure from financial donors in New York and engineering a complex process that satisfied both Northeastern Republicans and fiscal conservatives.

-- "On the train ride to the House Republican retreat in Williamsburg, Mr. Cantor, who represents a district in Virginia, walked the aisles and worked the back bench, asking members about their legislative interests and promising attention. Mr. Cantor's actions lack what many saw in 2011, the first year of Republican House control, as overt disloyalty to Mr. Boehner. Instead, lawmakers and aides say, his eye may be on an emerging potential rival for the speakership, Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, the party's 2012 vice-presidential nominee. Mr. Ryan has given no sign that he wants the job, but House Republicans say that if anyone can challenge Mr. Cantor for the job, it is Mr.
Ryan, the House Budget Committee chairman. Mr. Cantor appears to be shoring up his power before Mr. Boehner's retirement, which many believe will come in four years, if not two."
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RYAN: OBAMA WANTS 'POLITICAL CONQUEST' - Michael Memoli writes for the L.A. Times: "Reemerging as a party spokesman following a self-imposed post-election hiatus, Paul Ryan this weekend called upon Republicans to remain united against a president he sees as bent on 'political conquest' in his second term. Ryan, in a pair of public appearances, said the GOP must continue to challenge President Obama on areas of principle but also be prepared to work with him on other areas. ... But the House Budget Committee chairman continued to focus on what he called the ongoing fiscal crisis, brandishing a chart on the Sunday show interview to make the argument that only significant spending cuts, and
not new revenues from tax increases or even tax reform would solve the deficit crisis.... He said he didn't believe Obama thought the nation was even in a fiscal crisis. ...Explaining his relative silence since the Romney-Ryan ticket was defeated, Ryan said he wanted time to judge how Obama would proceed in a second term. His evaluation: 'All of the statements and all of the comments lead me to believe that he's thinking more of a political conquest than a political compromise.'
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GOOD MONDAY MORNING, JANUARY 28, 2013, and welcome to The Huddle, your play-by-play preview of the day's congressional news. Send tips, suggestions, comments, complaints and corrections to
mailto:swong@politico.com
swong@politico.com . If you don't already, please follow me on Twitter @scottwongDC.

My new followers include but are not limited to ‏@pchowell01 and @LarrySabato.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The House is out this week. The Senate is back at 2 p.m. and will vote on the Hurricane Sandy aid bill at 5:30 p.m. On Tuesday, the Senate will vote on the confirmation of Sen. John Kerry to be Secretary of State.

AROUND THE HILL - The gang of senators working on immigration reform, including Sens. John McCain, Marco Rubio and Dick Durbin, will provide an update on their plan at 2:30 p.m. in the Senate Studio. Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn speaks about his opposition to the nomination of Sen. Chuck Hagel to be Secretary of Defense at a Christians United for Israel dinner, 7 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill. Email
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HARKIN RETIREMENT HANDS GOP ANOTHER BIG BREAK - James Hohmann and John Bresnahan write for the hometown paper: "Tom Harkin's Saturday retirement announcement is the latest early break for Republicans in their long-shot bid to seize control of the Senate in 2014. The move puts Iowa in play and comes on the heels of Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller's retirement in West Virginia, which gave Republicans a likely pickup. Another potential Democratic retirement in a red state looms in South Dakota, where Sen. Tim Johnson is expected to decide soon whether to pursue a third term. And in Massachusetts, a new poll shows Republican Scott Brown - who's mulling whether to run for Senate this year or
governor in 2014 - up by double digits in a potential race for the seat of Democrat John Kerry, who will likely be confirmed as secretary of state.

-- "Democrats warn it's way too early to start predicting 2014 outcomes, pointing to early forecasts that 2012 would be a banner year for Republicans. Their unexpectedly heavy losses in November mean Republicans essentially would have to run the table next year to win the majority. But exits by Rockefeller and Harkin - and potentially Johnson - brighten what's already a favorable outlook for Senate Republicans in the midterms."
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IOWA REPUBLICANS EYE HARKIN SEAT - Jennifer Jacobs reports for the Des Moines Register: "U.S. Rep. Tom Latham is at the top of list as the strongest candidate, followed by U.S. Rep. Steve King, several GOP political operatives said. State Sen. Brad Zaun of Urbandale said today he's considering running. Former U.S. Attorney Matt Whitaker, a Des Moines lawyer, tweeted, 'I may!' Other names being talked about in GOP circles include Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, former Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Matt Strawn, and Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey. Republicans also predicted that perennial candidates such as Christian conservative Bob Vander Plaats might take a stab at a bid.

-- "Harkin's decision came as a surprise to Iowa GOP and Democratic operatives alike. The 27-year senator had not committed to running again, but top political leaders predicted that he surely would, noting it's rare for a majority party senator with powerful committee roles to give up his seat. And Harkin has been fundraising in earnest. In an interview in Des Moinesmorning, Harkin said he has been raising money because he wasn't sure yet whether or not he'd run again. He said he was talking with his wife, Ruth, a couple nights ago as they prepared for bed. He told Ruth his trip to Iowa this weekend might be a good time to announce his retirement.'I looked at her and she
looked at me and I said, 'I think it's time.' And she said, 'Yes, let's get it over with.' I said, OK, that's what we're doing,' Harkin said. 'We just gave each other a big hug, and said, 'OK, next chapter.''
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-- Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley said he's 'carefully weighing' running for the seat, Roll Call's Shira Toeplitz reports.
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--Harkin's political career in 81 pictures:
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LEFT, TEA PARTY UNITE TO DEFEAT McCONNELL - "Tea party activists looking to oust Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in a GOP primary may get some help from an unlikely source: Democrats," writes Manu Raju. "Big Democratic donors, local liberal activists and a left-leaning super PAC in Kentucky are telling tea partiers that they are poised to throw financial and organizational support behind a right-wing candidate should one try to defeat the powerful GOP leader in a 2014 primary fight. The idea: Soften up McConnell and make him vulnerable in a general election in Kentucky, where Democrats still maintain a voter registration advantage. Or better yet, in their eyes: Watch Kentucky GOP
primary voters nominate the 2014 version of Todd Akin or Richard Mourdock, weak candidates who may actually lose."
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FROM THE MAILROOM TO THE LEADER'S OFFICE - Kate Nocera writes for POLITICO: "Twenty-one years ago, Nadeam Elshami got his first job on Capitol Hill, working in the Senate mailroom. Today, he's the chief of staff to House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California after serving as her communications director for the past several years. And a lot has changed since: Now, the speaker is Republican John Boehner, and Elshami's boss, Pelosi, has come and gone as the first female speaker. But Pelosi still wields plenty of power as the leader of the Democratic opposition and that gives her chief staffer plenty of clout. 'If you would have asked me 21 years ago when I was pushing that mail cart
around Russell, 'Do you ever think you'll be the chief of staff for the Democratic leader of the House?' I would have said you were dreaming,' Elshami told POLITICO in an interview Friday in the Rayburn Room, adjacent to Pelosi's office. ...

-- "Known as one of the most aggressive communicators on the Hill, Elshami helped run Pelosi's press shop through some of the most tumultuous - and historic - moments in the House. He arrived just as Pelosi took the gavel as speaker and was there through the 2008-09 financial crisis and the 2010 passage of President Barack Obama's health care law and the loss of the House majority."
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STRANGE BEDFELLOWS IN HAGEL FIGHT - Sara Murray writes for the Wall Street journal: "Podesta Group, a prominent Washington, D.C., lobbying and public-relations firm, counts big defense contractors among its major clients, including Lockheed Martin Corp. and BAE Systems PLC. Former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, President Barack Obama's pick for secretary of defense, has been on the record backing moves to cut military spending. Anywhere other than Washington, the two would be unlikely allies. But Podesta Group has been hired by backers of Mr. Hagel to help coordinate what has become a rancorous fight over his nomination. His confirmation hearing is set for Thursday. The relationship
provides a peek into Washington's standard operating procedure, where clients-occasionally with diverging interests-often turn to the same players to shape Beltway opinion."
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SENATE GEARS UP FOR GUN CONTROL BATTLE - John Bresnahan reports: "With the Obama administration ramping up its efforts to enact new gun control legislation, the fight is now shifting to Capitol Hill in what looks to be a long, high-stakes battle. Pro- and anti-gun control rallies have popped up across the nation. Gun buyback programs have netted thousands of weapons in New Jersey, California, Florida and Washington state. And the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Democrat Patrick Leahy of Vermont, has scheduled its first hearing on gun violence for Wednesday. Scheduled to testify are Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president and CEO of the National Rifle Association, and Mark Kelly,
husband of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), who was severely wounded two years ago in a mass shooting that left six people dead and more than a dozen wounded. Giffords, who retired from Congress a year ago, and Kelly, a retired astronaut, have since become gun-control advocates.

-- "Leahy hopes to have a bill on the Senate floor by late February or early March after a series of hearings. ... The bill coming out of Leahy's committee is expected to include universal background checks but not a more contentious ban on the sale of assault weapons pushed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Schumer, a co-sponsor."
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UDALL WAITS FOR CHALLENGER - Abby Livingston reports for Roll Call: "Republicans insist Sen. Mark Udall is beatable in 2014. Colorado, after all, increasingly has been at the center of national politics for more than a decade. But the party has one big problem: It has no candidate. Republicans on the ground insist that if they can find someone talented, they have the organizational and fundraising apparatus to support that person's campaign. But when asked for names, they struggle. For some observers it's baffling that local GOP operatives are on an all-out talent search in such a top battleground state. And while tea party versus establishment skirmishes already are shaping up elsewhere on
the Senate landscape, neither side has an obvious candidate in Colorado. The candidate most hoped for by Republicans - and feared by Democrats - is sophomore Rep. Cory Gardner. He wins begrudging praise from Democrats for his political instincts, and many GOP operatives in Colorado hope he makes a Senate run. But at this stage, he doesn't sound like a candidate."
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FRIDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - James McCaghren was first to correctly answer that Ronald Reagan was the president who began the practice of officially signing documents immediately following the Inauguration at the Capitol. President Obama did so last week following his swearing-in ceremony.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Bruce Tannahill has today's question: Last week marked the 40th anniversary of Lyndon Johnson's death. He was one of four men to serve as a congressman, senator, vice president, and president. Who are the other three? First to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. Email me at
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