ON CAPITOL HILL, FEW CHANGE COURSE ON GAY MARRIAGE – Manu Raju writes for the hometown paper: “Support for gay marriage is picking up steam all over the country — except on Capitol Hill. Take Sen. Saxby Chambliss. When asked if his views had changed on gay marriage, the Georgia Republican quipped: ‘I’m not gay. So I’m not going to marry one.’ In interviews this week with POLITICO, most Republican lawmakers and some conservative Democrats still voiced opposition to gay marriage, despite the dramatic swing in public opinion supporting it. While they have certainly muted their rhetoric since 2004 — when Republicans campaigned on the promise to outlaw gay marriage — lawmakers who remain opposed to the issue could jeopardize any legislative response if the Supreme Court rules against same-sex marriage in a pair of high-profile cases. The cases will be argued next week.
– “The disconnect between inside-and-outside-the-Beltway attitudes comes at a thorny time, especially for Republicans. The party is trying to broaden its appeal to younger Americans — who support gay marriage in large numbers — as well as scores of new voting blocs. Some establishment figures have changed course, with Rob Portman last week becoming the first sitting GOP senator to endorse gay marriage, after learning that his son is gay. And the Republican National Committee, in a bluntly worded report detailing the GOP’s political woes, called for the party to become more sensitive on the issue of gay rights.
–“But many lawmakers are changing their legislative tactics and toning down their public rhetoric — rather than undergoing a sea change in their stances. ‘I’m still not supportive of it,’ said Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), who is up for reelection in 2014, adding he still backs the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act that the Supreme Court is reviewing. ‘I’m with South Carolina,’ said GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, who also faces voters next year. ‘I believe in traditional marriage — between a man and a woman, without animosity. I don’t mind if people are able to transfer their property, visit their loved ones in hospitals, but marriage to me, I’ve stayed with the concept of traditional marriage.’” http://politi.co/Y9u26Q
– Rob Portman and Hillary Clinton’s endorsement of gay marriage this month were profiles in caution and political calculation rather than courage, write POLITICO’s Maggie Haberman, Alex Burns and John Harris. http://politi.co/Y9tApo
DATING APP: SENATE STAFFERS ‘HOTTEST’ ON THE HILL – POLITICO’s Katie Glueck flags this report of the 12 most attractive workplaces in D.C.: “Looking for a hot date? Try the U.S. Senate. According to a report released Wednesday from the D.C.-based dating app Hinge, the Senate has the second-best-looking workforce in Washington, coming in only behind the people working at Vida Fitness, a gym chain. House of Representatives employees, however, didn’t fare as well: according to the app, Hinge, the House clocks in as no. 11 on the list.” http://politi.co/ZUB6ie See who else made the cut: http://bit.ly/YHP1Hs
MARKEY’S NEW CAMPAIGN AD HIGHLIGHTS FIGHT AGAINST BP – Ed Markey’s Senate campaign is continuing to tout his record on holding oil company executives accountable for the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and his efforts to protect the environment. “Eleven dead. Communities ruined. The worst environmental disaster in American history,” a narrator intones. “When BP tried to avoid responsibility, one man said no.” Watch the ad here: http://youtu.be/2362jWi5sj0
–Meanwhile, in the GOP primary, former Navy SEAL and private equity investor Gabriel Gomez will announce today he’s raised $ 350,000 in the past five weeks, Shira Schoenberg writes for MassLive.com. He’s facing fellow Republicans, state Rep. Daniel Winslow of Norfolk and former U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan. http://bit.ly/WMoo8I
WAR OF WORD – Jonathan Allen writes for the hometown paper: “Washington’s budget writers are waging war over a single word: ‘balanced.’ House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) calls his new fiscal blueprint a ‘balanced plan.’ Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said Wednesday that her version is a ‘truly balanced approach.’ Republicans are touting internal polling that suggests Ryan’s balanced budget will play well in competitive districts. But Democrats are confident that their approach will prove more popular because it was road-tested by President Barack Obama when he won re-election last fall. It’s hardly a new fight, but action on the House and Senate budgets this week has raised the stakes over whose version of balance is the right course for the nation.” http://politi.co/ZUrTGt
– Meanwhile, Speaker Boehner said at a GOP fundraiser Wednesday night that Obama’s “on the ropes” as House Republicans put forth a balanced budget far better than his own, POLITICO’s Jake Sherman writes. http://politi.co/ZUSe7j
HOUSE TO PASS PAUL RYAN BUDGET – Molly Hooper and Russell Berman write for The Hill: “Republican leaders are poised to pass Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) budget on Thursday, having convinced centrists and conservatives to back the blueprint that Democrats believe is their road map back to the House majority. As of late Wednesday, only three Republicans had publicly said they intend to vote against the Ryan plan, while 33 House GOP lawmakers were undecided or declined to comment, according to a whip count conducted by The Hill. Among the undecided lawmakers, several noted they would probably support the measure. With all Democrats expected to vote ‘no,’ House Republicans can only afford about 15 defections. Last year, 10 Republicans rejected Ryan’s budget; the House GOP majority is smaller in 2013.” http://bit.ly/10mqPyW
– On Wednesday, House GOP leaders beat back a budget by conservatives that called for deeper cuts than Ryan’s blueprint, POLITICO’s Jonathan Allen reports. “Typically, Republicans can rely on Democrats to vote no on conservative amendments, which allows some middle-of-the-conference Republicans to vote ‘yes’ on conservative proposals without the fear they will pass. But on Wednesday, most House Democrats cast ‘present’ votes. That meant that only Republicans would decide whether the RSC budget would replace the Ryan plan. … While the outcome was never seriously in doubt, the Democratic procedural maneuver ensured Republicans didn’t get to cast a freebie vote for a budget that plays well with the conservative base but is considered too extreme even by most members of the GOP.” http://politi.co/WEvris
FIRST LOOK: SENATE GOP LAUNCHES WASTEFUL SPENDING SITE – As the Senate kicks off its budget debate, GOP Conference Vice Chairman Roy Blunt and his Republican colleagues are launching an online, one-stop-shop for Americans to learn more about wasteful government spending: bit.ly/CutWastefulSpending. In addition to videos, articles, and other resources, the site showcases the efforts led by Sen. Tom Coburn (#SequesterThis), Sen. Mike Lee (#CutThisNotThat), and House Republicans (#CutWaste) online.
THE RUBIO-AND-RAND PARTY – Our own Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen write in their latest “Behind the Curtain” column that Marco Rubio and Rand Paul are dominating: “Want to know if Republicans finally back immigration reform, stand a chance of picking up Senate seats in the midterms, or get their act together by 2016? Instead of the GOP, watch the Rubio-Paul Party. Forget John Boehner. Ignore Karl Rove. The real action in the GOP is coming from the newest wing of the party, the one born in the spring of 2009 – the offspring of Tea Party activists that almost single-handedly propelled Republicans to control of the House. This new movement brought Marco Rubio and Rand Paul to Washington – and made them the two most potent forces in GOP politics today. It also brought Chris Christie to New Jersey and Scott Walker to Wisconsin – and made them two of the most potent forces for 2016.
– “Right now, it’s Rubio and Paul dominating the show. This wing of the party has its own version of the Republican National Committee: the Heritage Foundation, now run by former South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, a godfather of the new crusade; the aggressive, wealthy Koch brothers; and the Club for Growth, which chafes the Washington establishment by backing firebrands in GOP primaries (including one Marco Rubio).” http://politi.co/ZUPG9o
– The NYT’s Jonathan Weisman writes that Rubio and Paul, potential 2016ers, “are flying in each other’s airspace, not quite rivals but obvious competitors, thumping into each other in the narrow confines of the political world.” http://nyti.ms/ZNsgEn
ETHICS QUESTIONS SWIRL AROUND HARKIN INSTITUTE – Alicia Mundy writes for the Wall Street Journal: “Like many of his peers, Sen. Tom Harkin wanted to leave as a legacy a university center bearing his name. Today, that effort is in shambles and is raising questions about fundraising under congressional ethics rules. After a clash over the Iowa State University center’s academic mission and lackluster donations, Mr. Harkin said in February he wouldn’t donate his papers to the Harkin Institute of Public Policy and has moved to dissociate himself from it. The university, the Iowa Democrat’s alma mater, says it will soon decide whether to terminate the institute, which was formed less than two years ago. In October, the senator met with campus officials to discuss the direction of the institute and fundraising. Hours afterward, the university received a list of prospective donors to the institute from Mr. Harkin’s campaign attorney, according to university records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. The list included Harkin campaign donors and a number of companies that have sought and won assistance from the senator, according to the university records.
–“ Two suggested contacts, AmerUS Group Co. and American Equity Investment Life Holding Co., were among the firms that successfully pushed Mr. Harkin for an amendment to the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial-rules bill that kept certain insurance companies under state regulation, rather than more-stringent federal oversight. … The university said it didn’t approach suggested donors in the end, given uncertainty about the institute’s future. Mr. Harkin, 73 years old, has repeatedly denied soliciting donations for the center. His spokeswoman, Kate Cyrul Frischmann, said he ‘was and remains unaware of the names on the third-party list of prospective donors.’” http://on.wsj.com/WG1EWJ
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GOOD THURSDAY MORNING, MARCH 21, 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 swong@politico.com. If you don’t already, please follow me on Twitter @scottwongDC.
My new followers include @HowardMortman and @katieniederee.
TODAY IN CONGRESS – The Senate is in at 9 a.m. and will continue consideration of the 2014 Democratic budget resolution. The House also meets at 9 a.m. with last votes expected no later than 3 p.m. on Paul Ryan’s 2014 budget and the Senate-passed stopgap measure to keep the government funded for another six months.
AROUND THE HILL – Rep. Phil Roe and the Doctors Caucus speak on the 3rd anniversary of Obamacare at 9:30 a.m. at the House Triangle. House Democratic Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra, and Reps. Ron Kind, Terri Sewell, Dina Titus hold a conference call on the Affordable Care Act at 11 a.m. Dial: 1-800-593-9994. Password: ACA.
Rep. Tim Walz joins Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America in drawing attention to the VA backlog at the House Triangle. Rain location: Cannon 340. Speaker John Boehner holds an on-camera briefing with reporters at 11:15 a.m. in HVC Studio A. Sens. Debbie Stabenow, Barbara Boxer and Tammy Baldwin speak on the 2014 Democratic budget at 11:30 a.m. in the Senate Studio. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi holds a news conference at noon in HVC Studio A. Also at noon, the Cato Institute hosts a forum on the economic benefits of immigration, with representatives from the Reason Foundation, National Foundation for American Policy and Kauffman Foundation, in Russell 485.
Sen. Marco Rubio delivers remarks at the 5th annual Telecom Policy Conference at 1 p.m. at the National Association of Home Builders, 1201 15th St., NW. Rubio will discuss his ideas for how to complete the transition to a digital world, including the need to reform outdated laws and how spectrum can help provide economic mobility for millions of Americans. He will also discuss why this matters to consumers, job creators, and entrepreneurs, and its impacts on middle class prosperity.
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and others speak on the Common Sense Nutrition Act at 1:45 p.m. in the House Triangle. At 8:30 a.m. Friday, Rep. Chris Van Hollen will be the guest speaker at Third Way’s Inside Politics breakfast.
SENATE VOTES TO AVERT SHUTDOWN, SENDS CR TO HOUSE – “A far-reaching six-month funding bill cleared the Senate on Wednesday afternoon after final adjustments were made for the meat industry to forestall the planned furloughs of food safety inspectors this summer in the wake of sequestration,” David Rogers writes for POLITICO. “The measure goes next to the House, which is expected to give its quick approval Thursday so as to avoid any threat of a government shutdown when the current continuing resolution runs out March 27. The final 73-26 Senate roll call followed a 63-36 vote in which 10 Republicans — nine of them from the Senate Appropriations Committee — again provided pivotal support. And the eight days of floor debate signaled a renewal of that bipartisan partnership that has been historically important in moving legislation through the Senate. …
–“The House took the first steps in its own version of the CR earlier this month, but the Senate went much further, covering the departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, Justice, Commerce, Agriculture and Homeland Security, as well as the Food and Drug Administration, National Science Foundation and NASA.” http://politi.co/13cj1nj
HICKENLOOPER SIGNS GUN BILLS, STATES TAKING ACTION – Ivan Moreno writes for the AP: “Colorado’s governor signed bills Wednesday that place new restrictions on firearms, signaling a change for Democrats who have traditionally shied away from gun control in a state with a pioneer tradition of gun ownership and self-reliance. The legislation thrust Colorado into the national spotlight as a potential test of how far the country might be willing to go with new gun restrictions after the horror of mass killings at an Aurora movie theater and a Connecticut elementary school. Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper signed bills that require background checks for private and online gun sales and ban ammunition magazines that hold more than 15 rounds. … Republicans warned that voters would make Democrats pay. The bills failed to garner a single Republican vote.
–“The bills’ approval came exactly eight months after dozens of people were shot in Aurora, and a day after the executive director of the state Corrections Department, Tom Clements, was shot and killed at his home. Hickenlooper signed the legislation right after speaking with reporters about Clements’ slaying.” http://bit.ly/WWIKgx
OBAMACARE HITS HOME ON HILL – Jennifer Haberkorn writes for POLITICO: “Capitol Hill is about to get up close and personal with Obamacare. As in being covered by Obamacare next year. During debate over the law in 2009, Republicans insisted that if members of Congress were going to put their fellow Americans into health care exchanges, they and their staffs should be in there, too. … But vague language in this part of the law — which was passed three years ago this Saturday — has led to a slew of quirks and questions. Staffers who work in lawmakers’ personal offices go into exchanges — but those who work for committees don’t. And the lawmakers themselves get Obamacare — unless they are among the roughly 40 senators and 115 House members on Medicare. And there’s a big thorny unresolved question about money: whether members and staffers in exchanges will still get a significant part of their health insurance premiums subsidized by their employer, just like other government workers. If they lose that subsidy, it’s like getting a pay cut of several thousand dollars.” http://politi.co/ZViPBp
WaPo, A1, “Senate plan could double high-skilled worker visas,” By Peter Wallsten: “A Senate immigration plan would dramatically increase the number of high-skilled foreign workers allowed into the country and give permanent legal status to an unlimited number of students who earn graduate degrees from U.S. universities in science, technology, engineering or math, according to people familiar with the negotiations. The agreement would be a major victory for the tech industry, which has backed an intense lobbying campaign on Capitol Hill in recent months arguing that Google, Facebook, Microsoft and other companies are having trouble finding qualified workers because of visa limits.” http://wapo.st/15uVlWN
LEADERS NOT PEACHY ON PAUL BROUN VOTES – Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan have the story for POLITICO: “The messy politics of the Republican primary for Georgia’s open Senate seat has steamrolled its way into the Capitol. … Rep. Paul Broun — the only announced candidate to replace retiring Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss — is yanking much of the congressional delegation to the right and throwing their votes and the support of leadership into a daily flux. The problem: There are four House Republicans interested in the Senate seat. But the Peach State delegation and GOP leaders say they have no idea what Broun is up to at any given time, causing agitation for the other three congressmen — Reps. Phil Gingrey, Jack Kingston and Tom Price …Broun, laughing with his face flushing deep red, acknowledged that Gingrey and Kingston are looking closely at how he votes. ‘Imitation is the best form of flattery,’ Broun chuckled. Senate seats don’t come up too often, especially in a red state like Georgia, so primaries are contentious. And in this one, all of the candidates are seeking to run to the right of each other.” http://politi.co/ZVg4jg
McCASKILL WRITING BOOK ON RACE VS. AKIN – Joe Holleman writes for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “Expect a book from Claire McCaskill, in which she will ‘tell the whole story’ about last year’s raucous and bitter U.S. Senate race against U.S. Rep. Todd Akin. [Wednesday] on Jamie Allman’s ‘Allman in the Morning’ show on KFTK-FM (NewsTalk 97.1), the incumbent Democrat said the book will focus on the hubbub that engulfed the contest after Republican Akin said in an interview that women who had been victimized by ‘legitimate rape’ tended not to get pregnant. That statement was lambasted nationwide by most women’s and civil rights groups. In the interview, McCaskill tells Allman the race ‘was so interesting and I think that people need to understand that some of the extreme elements in this country — at both ends of the political spectrum — are not politically viable.’ McCaskill also said her camp most feared having to run against St. Louis County businessman John Brunner in the primary. She noted he would have been tough to campaign against because he had no past legislative record and ‘an unlimited checkbook.’” http://bit.ly/YHRXUs
WEDNESDAY’S TRIVIA – Jon Deuser was first to correctly answer that Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) was an intern for Rep. Keith Sebelius, who is the father-in-law to Kathleen Sebelius, the Health and Human Services secretary and former Kansas governor.
TODAY’S TRIVIA – Haley Loflin, who’s graduating from Norfolk Academy this year, has today’s question: This U.S. missile defense system was nicknamed after a popular movie. What was the movie? Bonus question: What actor from that movie appeared on Capitol Hill this week? First to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day’s Huddle. Email me at swong@politico.com.
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