By Scott Wong (swong@politico.com or @scottwongDC)
HOW JAY LENO NUDGED PASTOR TO RETIREMENT – Dan Nowicki and Daniel González report for the Arizona Republic: “U.S. Rep. Ed Pastor, Arizona’s first Hispanic member of Congress, whose low-key style obscured his behind-the-scenes effectiveness in directing federal money to local projects, will leave a legacy as a hardworking lawmaker who was well-respected on both sides of the aisle. The Democratic congressman unexpectedly announced Thursday that he will not seek re-election after 23 years on Capitol Hill. Pastor, 70, is the most senior member of Arizona’s House delegation and serves on the powerful House Appropriations Committee. Unlike some Arizona Republicans he has served with, Pastor has never hesitated to use his position to secure funding for local priorities, such as Maricopa County’s light-rail system and improvements at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. …
– “Pastor recalled a conversation he once had with the late, long-serving Rep. Sidney Yates, D-Ill., who counseled him to either leave Congress while he was young enough to do something else or ‘stay and go out on a gurney.’ His thinking about retirement further crystallized, he said, while watching late-night comedian Jay Leno’s final appearance on NBC’s ‘The Tonight Show.’… ‘For me, I figure I’ll be 71 years old, and it will be 23 years (in Congress) in October. There’s another chapter in my life I want to do, so I figure I better do it now.’” http://bit.ly/1hp0KHX
– Pastor’s retirement set off a scramble by local politicians hoping to succeed him in the Phoenix-based, majority-Hispanic district, writes The Republic’s Rebekah L. Sanders: “The highest-profile official to announce her candidacy was Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox, who said she will resign the seat she has held since 1992 to run. Democratic state Sen. Steve Gallardo and state Rep. Ruben Gallego also confirmed they will enter the race. … Even the congressman’s daughter, Laura Pastor, who just took office as a Phoenix councilwoman in January, said she will consider it.” http://bit.ly/1d0A2nz
– SEN. JOHN McCAIN (R-ARIZ.) told Huddle Thursday he’s always had a ‘high regard for [Pastor] and a good friendship with him,’ but said he wasn’t inspired to follow the congressman into the sunset. “Compared to me, he’s a relative newcomer!”
JOHN BOEHNER STAND-UP SHTICK: ‘IT’S BONER’ – Jake Sherman writes for POLITICO: “What got into John Boehner? The speaker of the House, who is known in Washington as an affable man, has had quite the comedic week. On Wednesday, he ribbed a pair of reporters for the color of their shirts — one shot back with a comment about his perpetual orange hue. And on Thursday, during a 10-minute news conference in the Capitol, Boehner really let loose. One reporter — gearing up to ask a question about a newly released tax plan — accidentally called Boehner Mr. Camp, a reference to Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp of Michigan. Boehner responded: ‘it’s boner, boner.’ It’s actually not, but why not shake things up? Washington’s most popular parlor game is guessing when the Ohio Republican will hang up his blue blazer and retire. He bought a condo in Florida and now he’s extraordinarily loose.” http://politi.co/1fYtwLe
– “Blah, blah, blah”: Watch Boehner’s best comedic moments, compiled by POLITICO’s video team: http://politi.co/1fOaivu
** Republicans and Democrats finally agree! Congress has bipartisan legislation to repeal Medicare’s broken funding formula. But not if Congress gives up before the March 31 deadline. SGR is the problem; H.R. 4015 and S. 2000 are the solution. FixMedicareNow.org
TODAY AT 2 p.m.: Facebook Q&A with POLITICO Magazine Writer Glenn Thrush, author of “Joe Biden in Winter,” politi.co/1bOb6kC. Talk Biden with Thrush: Will he run in 2016? Why was he frozen out of the White House? Join in on fb.com/Politico.
TENSIONS ESCALATE IN UKRAINE, ARMED MEN SEIZE AIRPORTS – Alissa de Carbonnel and Alessandra Prentice report from Simferopol, Ukraine: “Armed men took control of two airports in the Crimea region on Friday in what Ukraine’s government described as an invasion and occupation by Russian forces, raising tension between Moscow and the West. Russia’s Black Sea fleet, which is based in the region, denied its forces were involved in seizing one of the airports, Interfax news agency reported, while a supporter described the group at the other site merely as Crimean militiamen. Amid the confusion over the men’s identity, acting president Oleksander Turchinov called an emergency session of his security chiefs, while parliament urged Moscow to halt any action that might encourage separatism and asked the United Nations Security Council to discuss the crisis. Tensions have been rising on the Black Sea peninsula, the only Ukrainian region that has an ethnic Russian majority and the last major bastion of resistance to the overthrow of Viktor Yanukovich as president almost a week ago.” http://reut.rs/Nb18i8
U.K. SPY AGENCY INTERCEPTED MILLIONS OF YAHOO WEBCAM IMAGES – Spencer Ackerman and James Ball report for The Guardian: “Britain’s surveillance agency GCHQ, with aid from the US National Security Agency, intercepted and stored the webcam images of millions of internet users not suspected of wrongdoing, secret documents reveal. GCHQ files dating between 2008 and 2010 explicitly state that a surveillance program codenamed Optic Nerve collected still images of Yahoo webcam chats in bulk and saved them to agency databases, regardless of whether individual users were an intelligence target or not. In one six-month period in 2008 alone, the agency collected webcam imagery – including substantial quantities of sexually explicit communications – from more than 1.8 million Yahoo user accounts globally. Yahoo reacted furiously to the webcam interception when approached by the Guardian. The company denied any prior knowledge of the program, accusing the agencies of ‘a whole new level of violation of our users’ privacy.’” http://bit.ly/1hkXRI7
DEMS CASH IN ON ‘EMPTY DRESS’ – New York Times, A1, “Outrage Over Sexist Remarks Turns Into a Political Fund-Raising Tool,” By Amy Chozick: “In the past few months, Republicans have called Wendy Davis, a Democratic candidate for Texas governor, ‘Abortion Barbie,’ likened Alison Lundergan Grimes, a Senate candidate from Kentucky, to an ‘empty dress,’ criticized Hillary Rodham Clinton’s thighs, and referred to a pregnant woman as a ‘host.’ Democrats do not just get mad when they hear those words. They cash in. In fact, they are trying to find even more examples by tracking Republican opponents, their surrogates and conservative news media personalities, then blasting their comments out to supporters to build voter lists and drum up donations, casting aside the well-worn advice to shrug off sexist comments lest they draw attention to gender over issues.
– “It is proving effective. Emily’s List, the political action committee that backs female candidates who support abortion rights, has raised a record $ 25 million this election cycle. On Tuesday, the group put out an online petition, “Tell the G.O.P.: Pregnant Women Are Not ‘Hosts,’ ” after Steve Martin, a state senator in Virginia, referred to a pregnant woman as the child’s “host” in a Facebook message.” http://nyti.ms/1mLQoTU
CALLER-ID SPOOFING BILL PICKS UP CO-SPONSORS – Little-known legislation to combat the fraudulent scrambling of Caller-ID telephone numbers is picking up a bit of momentum. The bipartisan bill, introduced by Reps. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), Joe Barton (R-Texas) and Leonard Lance (R-N.J.), aims to protect residents from phone and text-message scams, particularly those targeting vulnerable senior and minority communities. Others who have just signed on as co-sponsors include Reps. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), John Dingell (D-Mich.), Ben Lujan (D-N.M.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Gregory Meeks (D.N.Y.), Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), John Delaney (D-Md.), and Donna Edwards (D-Md.), as well as Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.). “Caller-ID spoofing is plaguing our country this year, and it is doing so on an unprecedented scale,” Meng told Huddle on Thursday. “That is why the bipartisan Anti-Spoofing Act is gaining momentum.”
JARED POLIS’S FASHION EMERGENCY – ABC News’ Erin Dooley reports: “When the Colorado congressman strode onto the floor of the House of Representatives to deliver a speech on the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act, his silver bow tie and bright purple golf polo shirt caught the unexpected — and unflattering — attention of the fashion gurus at GQ Magazine. ‘Worst Congressional Style Ever? Yeah, Probably,’ bellowed the headline of a blog post by GQ associate editor Dennis Tang. ‘Am I having a seizure? Can someone make it stop?’ Tang wrote. ‘Okay. Calm. Breath …. Jared. It’s fine. We can help. You should let us help you.’” http://abcn.ws/OGKbx8
– Polis accepted on Twitter. @RepJaredPolis: Thank you @GQMagazine @GQFashion for the offer to help… I accept and am looking forward to the consultation!!
CRUZ WON’T SAY IF HE’LL VOTE FOR CORNYN – Will Tucker writes for the Houston Chronicle: “Sen. Ted Cruz dodged direct questions from Politico’s Mike Allen about who he’ll vote for in the March 4 Texas primary at Politico’s Playbook Breakfast in Washington on Thursday morning. ‘I’m likely going to stay out of incumbent Republican primaries, but I haven’t put that in concrete,’ Cruz said. ‘Part of the reason why I’ve stayed out of Republican primaries is that I trust the grassroots. I think every incumbent owes it to the grassroots to go out and make their case.’ … When Cruz mentioned he considers Cornyn a friend, Allen noted it sounded like Cruz planned to vote for Cornyn. “That’s between me and the ballot box,” Cruz responded.” Cruz is a vice chairman of the campaign arm of Senate Republicans, a group Cornyn chaired in the last cycle. http://bit.ly/1crBwUe
– Cruz also revealed during the breakfast that he’s reached level 217 on the mobile gaming app Candy Crush and has already finished Season 2 of “House of Cards.” WSJ’s Kristina Peterson: “Mr. Cruz has already watched the entire second season of ‘House of Cards,’ the Netflix show about a fictionalized Congress released earlier this month. The lawmaker called it ‘mind candy,’ and suggested it occasionally strayed from reality. ‘I don’t know about you, but I really try to refrain from having people murdered in politics,’ he said.” http://on.wsj.com/1hv7nYE
GOOD FRIDAY MORNING, FEB. 28, 2014, and welcome to The Huddle, your play-by-play preview of all the action on Capitol Hill. Send tips, suggestions, comments, complaints and corrections to swong@politico.com. If you don’t already, please follow me on Twitter @scottwongDC.
My new followers include @cehurley and @GeorgeGarciaAZ.
TODAY IN CONGRESS – The Senate is out today. The House meets at 9 a.m. with first and last votes expected between 11 a.m. and noon on the Unfunded Mandates Information and Transparency Act.
AROUND THE HILL – House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Mike Thompson and others mark the 20th anniversary of the Brady Bill at 9:30 a.m. in HVC-215. At 11 a.m. Tuesday, House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp keynotes a tax reform forum in Rayburn 2325.
PELOSI BACKS CALIF. PAL ESHOO FOR ENERGY SLOT – John Bresnahan reports for the hometown paper: “House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will back fellow California Democrat Rep. Anna Eshoo — Pelosi’s closest friend in Congress — for the ranking member post on powerful Energy and Commerce Committee. Eshoo would have to jump over two other Democrats — Reps. Frank Pallone of New Jersey and Bobby Rush of Illinois — for the post. Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) is privately backing Pallone, meaning Pelosi and her top lieutenant and onetime rival find themselves once again on opposite sides in a leadership fight.” http://politi.co/1eFdTaD
GOP DERAILS MASSIVE VETS BILL – Juanna Summers reports for POLITICO: “Senate Republicans on Thursday derailed a sweeping $ 21 billion bill that would have expanded medical, educational and other benefits for veterans — in another chapter of the ongoing feud over amendments, spending and new sanctions on Iran. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) moved Wednesday night to cut off debate on the bill and blocked consideration of amendments, including one on Iran sanctions demanded by Republicans. And on Thursday, Democrats came up four votes short of the 60 needed to keep the bill moving forward on a procedural budget vote. … Just two Republicans, Sens. Jerry Moran of Kansas and Dean Heller of Nevada crossed party lines and joined Democrats in their bid to move the bill forward.” http://politi.co/NC2S44
SETH ROGEN PUTS SENATORS ON BLAST – Comedian and actor Seth Rogen called out senators for failing to show up at a hearing on Alzheimer’s that he was speaking at, singling out Sen. Mark Kirk, who posed for a picture with the “Knocked Up” star but didn’t stick around the hear his testimony. Senators are probably feeling the heat: NBC “Nightly News” did an entire segment last night on Rogen’s public shaming: http://nbcnews.to/1fvUKhE
– @Sethrogen: All those empty seats are senators who are not prioritizing Alzheimer’s. Unless more noise is made, it won’t change. pic.twitter.com/xDW6tlMHmH
– @Sethrogen: @SenatorKirk pleasure meeting you. Why did you leave before my speech? Just curious.
CORKER: REID IS LIKE PUTIN – Niels Lesniewski writes for Roll Call: “Sen. Bob Corker lit into Majority Leader Harry Reid Thursday morning, at one point comparing the Nevada Democrat’s leadership of the Senate to the rule of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Tennessee Republican, who is the ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said he … understands why Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and other Republicans would take advantage of Senate rules in the aftermath of the ‘nuclear’ option. ‘If you allow people to just run roughshod over you — just like we’re seeing right now with Putin in Russia right?’ Corker said at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. ‘He’s getting no pushback from the United States so, you know, why not do the things that I’m doing? If you don’t have any pushback, then obviously people will see a way to do even more of those things down the road.’” http://bit.ly/1euvtTs
NEW TWIST IN FILIBUSTER FIGHT – Carl Hulse writes for the NYT: “When Democrats changed Senate rules last year to limit the filibuster against White House nominees, it raised hopes among some liberals that President Obama would use his new power to reshape the federal judiciary. Now, just over three months later, some Democrats and progressive groups are instead trying to stop two of the president’s latest nominees to the federal bench on the grounds that they are too conservative. Black lawmakers, civil rights advocates and abortion rights groups are challenging two Georgia nominees put forward by the White House under an agreement with the state’s two Republican senators. The two Republicans were given a say in picking candidates for district court in exchange for allowing a stalled nominee to a federal appeals court to advance. The conflict is the latest twist in a struggle over confirmations. The filibuster change, while heralded, had only a limited impact on the ability of Democrats to push through federal judges to lifetime appointments.” http://nyti.ms/1euqUIV
GOP SPLIT OVER FUTURE OF EX-IM BANK – Kristina Peterson writes on A1 of the Wall Street Journal: “The Export-Import Bank, caught in a dispute between factions in the Republican Party, is mounting a push to try to prove its worth to the nation’s economy before its charter expires just weeks ahead of this fall’s elections. The debate over the federal agency, which supports loans to overseas companies to help them buy U.S. exports, splits the party’s business-friendly faction from those who criticize the bank as inappropriate government interference in the market. … [T]he bank sends every governor, senator and House member monthly letters detailing what loans and guarantees have been made that aid their district.” http://on.wsj.com/1pD0Yz0
THURSDAY’S TRIVIA WINNER – We have two today: Howard Kipnes and Drew Thies answered just seconds apart that the Landrieus and Castros are the two sets of siblings where one sibling serves in Congress, the other as mayor. Sen. Mary Landrieu’s brother, Mitch Landrieu, is mayor of New Orleans. Rep. Joaquin Castro’s brother is San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro.
TODAY’S TRIVIA – Aaron Krager has today’s question: Members of the Senate and House are elected to either six- or two-year terms. But name the member of Congress who serves a four-year term. The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day’s Huddle. Email me at swong@politico.com.
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** After years of saying “wait until next year,” Congress finally has bipartisan legislation to repeal Medicare’s broken funding formula. This is the news seniors have been waiting for. But we’re not over the finish line yet. Congress must act by March 31st to avoid another costly temporary patch. Let’s pass H.R. 4015/S. 2000, scrap the broken SGR formula and fix Medicare once and for all! FixMedicareNow.org
