(swong@politico.com or @scottwongDC)
GOP’S PORTMAN BACKS GAY MARRIAGE AFTER HIS SON COMES OUT – CNN’s Dana Bash has the exclusive: “You probably recognize Sen. Rob Portman from his tireless campaigning for Mitt Romney in 2012. He was even on the short list to be Romney’s running mate. He’s been a leading Republican voice on economic issues for four decades. Now, the prominent Ohio conservative will be known for something else: reversing his hardline position against gay marriage. … ‘I’m announcing today a change of heart on an issue that a lot of people feel strongly about that has to do with gay couples’ opportunity to marry,’ Portman told CNN. It has to do with another revelation, one deeply personal. His 21-year-old son, Will, is gay. ‘I’ve come to the conclusion that for me, personally, I think this is something that we should allow people to do, to get married, and to have the joy and stability of marriage that I’ve had for over 26 years. That I want all of my children to have, including our son, who is gay,’ said Portman.
– “Will Portman told his father and mother he is gay two years ago, when he was a freshman at Yale University. ‘My son came to Jane, my wife, and I, told us that he was gay, and that it was not a choice, and that it’s just part of who he is, and that’s who he’d been that way for as long as he could remember,’ said Portman. What was the Republican senator’s reaction? ‘Love. Support,’ responded Portman. And complete surprise. He told CNN that he never suspected that his son was gay. …
– “Until now, this was a secret to most people in politics, but not everyone. Last year, when Romney was vetting Portman to be his running mate, the Ohio Republican informed both Romney and his top campaign advisers that he has a gay son. ‘I told Mitt Romney everything,’ said Portman with a laugh. ‘That process is, intrusive would be one way to put it. But, no, yeah, I told him everything.’ Portman, who was ultimately passed over as the GOP vice-presidential candidate in favor of Rep. Paul Ryan, said the fact that his son is gay was not the deal breaker for Romney. How does he know? ‘Well, because they told me,’ said Portman.” http://bit.ly/15Qh39P Watch the interview with Portman here: http://bit.ly/XchvcI
GRAND JURY INVESTIGATING MENENDEZ – Carol D. Leonnig and Peter Wallsten report on A1 of the Washington Post: “A federal grand jury in Miami is investigating Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), examining his role in advocating for the business interests of a wealthy donor and friend, according to three people aware of the probe. Menendez has intervened in matters affecting the financial interests of Florida ophthalmologist Salomon Melgen, seeking to apply pressure on the Dominican government to honor a contract with Melgen’s port-security company, documents and interviews show. Also, Menendez’s office has acknowledged he interceded with federal health-care officials after they said that Melgen had overbilled the U.S. government for care at his clinic. Melgen has provided Menendez with plane flights and hospitality at his Dominican vacation home, say people acquainted with their relationship. …
–“A grand jury probe, which involves a prosecutor pursuing allegations with an eye toward possible indictment, typically represents a legal escalation, though it does not always lead to a prosecution. As part of the grand jury investigation, the three people said, federal agents have questioned witnesses about the interactions between Menendez and Melgen, who contributed $ 700,000 last year to Menendez and other Senate Democrats. The grand jury has also issued subpoenas for Melgen’s business and financial records, according to two people briefed on the probe who, like the others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe an ongoing investigation. Federal agents have not contacted Menendez, according to a person familiar with the case.” http://wapo.st/XckqSI
OBAMA’S GOODWILL TOUR COMES TO CLOSE – Manu Raju, Kate Nocera and Jonathan Allen write for the hometown paper: “President Barack Obama on Thursday wrapped up his Capitol Hill goodwill tour, telling House Democrats he’s got their backs on entitlements. The president has been open to a number of reforms that irk liberals, such as raising the retirement age of Medicare, means-testing and adopting a more modest inflation calculation, known as chained CPI, for Social Security. Obama told the Democrats he won’t chase a bad deal and let Republicans entice him into trying for the field goal only to pull the ball away at the last minute time and again. ‘I’m not Charlie Brown with a football,’ Obama said in response to a question on CPI from Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), according to a source in the closed-door meeting. ‘I haven’t heard anything from Republicans on revenue, so Keith, you can relax’ on CPI, Obama added.
– “Earlier, Obama told Senate Republicans that he’s committed to bipartisanship, but wants the GOP to help out and consider new revenue sources. ‘I said to the GOP caucus ‘is there not one loophole we can close?’’ Obama said in Thursday’s meeting with House Democrats, according to a source in the room. Republican senators leaving their lunch meeting called the discussion polite but lively, featuring discussion of corporate tax reform, regulations, trade policy and the deficit. ‘Certainly the push was made for issue of entitlement reform. The president responded with the need for revenues,’ said Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.” http://politi.co/YvJWBN
– In an interview with the New York Times on Thursday, Speaker John Boehner said the GOP’s losses last November wouldn’t affect his party’s vision of reducing the size of government, turning government health care programs largely over to the private sector and opposing tax hikes. http://nyti.ms/12VutUh
‘REPLACING MAX BAUCUS’ – The Wall Street Journal’s lead editorial calls Sen. Chuck Schumer the “de facto” Finance chairman: “The Senate budget includes instructions to the Finance Committee to raise $ 975 billion in revenue ‘not later than October 1, 2013.’ But tax reform has traditionally been passed as ‘revenue neutral,’ which allows for fewer loopholes to finance lower tax rates. If tax reform must raise so much more additional revenue, it’s a dead letter. … This all follows the script offered last year by New York Senator Chuck Schumer that tax reform must raise revenue, not lower rates. This means that Mr. Schumer is the de facto chairman of Senate Finance, while nominal Chairman Max Baucus might as well return to Montana for the next two years.” http://on.wsj.com/10WcYSn
– On a party-line 12-10 vote, the Senate Budget Committee approved its first budget in four years. It now heads to the full Senate next week: http://bit.ly/1558SnI
MANCHIN ‘S UPHILL BATTLE FOR GUN CONTROL – Manu Raju and John Bresnahan reports for POLITICO: “Sen. Joe Manchin could be President Barack Obama’s best hope for a bipartisan gun package this year. But he’s running into headwinds on Capitol Hill. Manchin — along with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) — tried for weeks to broker a compromise with Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), but that effort hit roadblocks. Manchin urged Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) to keep an open mind, but no dice. And he tried to persuade Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) to consider signing on as a prime sponsor but was quickly rebuffed. Manchin’s efforts are growing ever more critical as the battle over gun control hits the Senate floor as soon as next month. The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved a sweeping assault weapons ban opposed by the National Rifle Association, as well as a prohibition on high-capacity ammunition magazines. But those proposals stand little chance of becoming law.” http://politi.co/YuGkTY
– An assault weapons ban cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee on a party-line vote though it’s unlikely to clear the full Senate, the New York Times’ Jennifer Steinhauer reports: “[T]he committee’s passage of the bill, along with three other measures that previously cleared the panel, demonstrated momentum by lawmakers who have sought new gun regulations after the school shooting in Newtown, Conn. Taken together, the votes show a willingness by lawmakers to confront the pro-gun lobby, which has stifled new gun limits for years. As recently as last year, it would have been unthinkable for these bills to have even been considered in a Senate committee. But those measures — which include a ban on high-capacity magazines and enhanced background checks for gun buyers — will now be considered by the full Senate, where gun rights sentiments run far deeper than in the committee, to say nothing of the House, where members are even less avid to take up new gun curbs.” http://nyti.ms/XDFxmN
FEINSTEIN TO CRUZ: ‘I AM NOT A SIXTH-GRADER’ – Veteran Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and freshman Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) tangled during the hearing, Carolyn Lochhead reports for the San Francisco Chronicle. “Cruz, a Harvard-trained lawyer who has argued before the Supreme Court, including participation in the landmark District of Columbia vs. Heller case that threw out a D.C. gun ban in 2008, interjected by admonishing Feinstein that ‘all of us should begin as our foundational document with the Constitution.’ In mock deference, Cruz asked ‘the senior senator from California’ whether she would ‘deem it consistent with the Bill of Rights’ if Congress did the same thing to the First Amendment’s freedom of speech protections that she contemplates with the Second Amendment’s protection of the right to bear arms. Her assault weapons bill bans certain weapons, so Cruz asked whether Congress could ban certain books. — “He might as well have cut a nerve. Bristling, Feinstein replied, ‘One, I am not a sixth-grader, senator.’ She said her bill specifically exempts 2,271 weapons by make and model. ‘Is this not enough for the people in the United States?’ she asked. ‘Do they need a bazooka?’ The Stanford-educated Feinstein, calling herself “reasonably well-educated,” recalled her nine years as mayor of San Francisco that began when Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk were assassinated. She was the first to discover Milk’s body, slipping her finger into the bullet hole as she sought a pulse. It was a searing experience whose story she has recounted many times. ‘I walked in, I saw people shot,’ Feinstein told Cruz. ‘I’ve looked at bodies that have been shot with these weapons. I’ve seen the bullets that implode.’” http://bit.ly/YfqQRm Watch the exchange here: http://bcove.me/9titteke
CR DELAYED AS SENATORS MOVE TO PROTECT HOME-STATE INTERESTS – David Rogers reports for POLITICO: “As the clock runs down, the stopgap spending bill before the Senate is looking more and more like a life raft for senators trying to protect home-state interests from the automatic spending cuts ordered under sequestration. Alarmed by the rush, the leadership stalled action on the continuing resolution, or CR, Thursday, while it assessed the political situation. And there is a fear that if too many accommodations are made by the Senate, it risks a blowup with the House and exactly the sort of shutdown fight both parties want to avoid on March 27 when funding runs out. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) said as many as 99 amendments had been filed, and Reid insisted that unless this list is pared down substantially, he plans to move ahead with a scheduled cloture vote Monday night. ‘One way or another we are going to move this bill forward on Monday,’ Reid said.
– “Republicans have been most prominent in seeking relief. Sen. Jerry Moran wants to shift $ 50 million to protect contract air-traffic control towers important to rural states like his own Kansas. Prompted by threatened layoffs at the Tobyhanna Army Depot, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) was on the floor Thursday, proposing to add $ 60 million back into military operations accounts by raiding the Pentagon’s biofuels program. But Democrats aren’t immune to the same appeals. And with major meatpacking houses in both states, Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas has teamed with his Republican neighbor, Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri, to try to add $ 55 million to the current Senate bill to shore up the Food Safety and Inspection Service.” http://politi.co/Yevuiv
– The Pryor-Blunt proposal would keep food inspectors – and Missouri’s 43,000 meat-industry workers – on the job, Blunt told Huddle. “We’ve got 148 meat packing facilities from Missouri, [Arkansas Sen.] Mark Pryor has 137. This is a big issue where we live and it impacts families who really work hard to make a living,” Blunt said. “For meat, poultry and eggs, the inspector needs to be present for every minute that plant is operating, so if he doesn’t show up nobody else can be working.”
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GOOD FRIDAY MORNING, MARCH 15, 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.
TODAY IN CONGRESS – The House is in at 9 a.m. with first and last votes expected between 12:15 and 1:45 p.m. on the Supporting Knowledge and Investing in Lifelong Skills Act (SKILLS). The Senate is out today and returns at 2 p.m. Monday to continue work on the six-month stopgap funding measure.
AROUND THE HILL – Sen. John Hoeven and others urge construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline at 10 a.m. in the Senate Studio. Rep. Yvette Clarke speaks on gun legislation at 11:15 a.m. at the House Triangle. Sen. Mike Lee speaks at a Federalist Society luncheon honoring the late Judge Robert Bork, from 12 to 2 p.m. at the Mayflower hotel. Reporters should RSVP to amorris@crcpublicrelations.com.
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster addresses the Washington Aero Club Speech at 12:30 p.m. at the Capitol Hilton Hotel. House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force members hold a hearing on background checks at 1 p.m. in HVC 210.
IMMIGRATI0N ‘GANG OF 8’ EYES REDUCING FAMILY VISAS – David Nakamura writes on A1 of the WaPo: “Key senators are developing plans that would make it harder for the relatives of U.S. citizens to immigrate to this country, while easing the path for more high-skilled foreign workers, according to lawmakers and others negotiating an immigration deal. The plans — which would run counter to policies that have been in place for generations — are part of ongoing talks between a bipartisan group of eight senators, whose bill is expected to serve as the template for a comprehensive immigration deal between Congress and the White House. The senators agree that a limited number of people should be allowed into the country each year; the question is who those people should be. … Senators involved in the negotiations stress that no final decision has been made. But Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), a leader in the talks, said in an interview Thursday that tighter limits on family visas are likely.” http://wapo.st/Ws9T8P
RAND AND RUBIO FIGHT FOR FUTURE OF GOP – Lois Romano reports for the hometown paper: “Senators Marco Rubio and Rand Paul packed the hall at CPAC Thursday, injecting some electricity into the sober conservative conference by offering two very different visions for the Republican party — and both bringing activists looking for victory in 2016 to their feet. Republicans may privately say that CPAC no longer represents mainstream America, but that didn’t deter the two rival stars –and every other GOP politician looking sideways at the White House — from rushing over. Over the next few days Rep. Paul Ryan, Jeb Bush, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and others will try out their conservative bona fides with this crowd and try to capture a slice of the market. …
-- “The freshman senator from Kentucky and son of Ron Paul repeatedly called for a new GOP. ‘The GOP of old has grown stale and moss-covered,’ the Kentucky senator thundered. “I don’t think we need to name any names, do we? … The new GOP will need to embrace liberty in both the economic and the personal sphere.’ The room of thousands listened to most of his speech on their feet cheering, particularly when he referred to his 13-hour filibuster last week. … He also addressed the ‘Facebook generation,’ a younger constituency that both he and his father have attracted. By contrast, Rubio played it safe, emphasizing conservative values. ‘We don’t need a new idea,’ he told the crowd, saying the GOP already had a good idea. ‘The idea is called America, and it still works.’ He derided abortion and praised ‘traditional marriage,’ but steered clear of immigration reform, a hot button issue on which he has taken a leading role in Congress.” http://politi.co/YuhZgN
TODAY AT CPAC: 9 a.m.: Sen. Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.), 9:15 a.m.: Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R., N.H.), 9:30 a.m.: Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.), 3:35 p.m.: Rep. Eric Cantor (R., Va.). http://on.wsj.com/XKZaat
CLUB FOR GROWTH PRIMARY TARGETS SEEK BOEHNER’S HELP – Jake Sherman and Anna Palmer report for POLITICO: “Several House Republicans the Club for Growth has singled out for primary challenges are looking to Speaker John Boehner and GOP donors to keep them out of the fire. A handful of lawmakers targeted by the Club’s Primary My Congressman campaign are slated to meet with Boehner next week to press him on anything the House GOP leadership can do inside and outside the Capitol to prevent the Republican-on-Republican skirmishes, several sources said. And several of the lawmakers, including prodigious fundraisers like Illinois Rep. Aaron Schock, are pushing corporate political action committees to give the maximum amount of money to their campaigns early in the cycle in order to show strength against potential GOP challengers. … Indiana Rep. Larry Bucshon, one of the club’s targets, said the idea to meet with him came together in a member discussion on the House floor. But it’s unclear what Boehner can actually do to help the at-risk lawmakers.” http://politi.co/12UENf8
Wall Street Journal, A1 4-col lead, “Senate Slams Bank on ‘Whale,’ By Dan Fitzpatrick, Scott Patterson and Gregory Zuckerman: “J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. brushed off internal warnings and misled regulators and investors about the scope of losses on its ‘London whale’ trades last year, according to a scathing Senate report. One risk gauge at the largest U.S. bank projected in February 2012 that the firm could lose $ 6.3 billion on the trades. But the warning was dismissed by a key risk manager as ‘garbage,’ according to the 301-page report by the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. The New York company’s trading losses ultimately exceeded $ 6 billion. The report, the product of more than 50 interviews and a review of 90,000 documents, found that the bank ignored alarms triggered weeks and in some cases months before Chief Executive James Dimon dismissed concerns about them as a ‘tempest in a teapot’ on an April 13, 2012, earnings conference call. ‘While we have repeatedly acknowledged mistakes, our senior management acted in good faith and never had any intent to mislead anyone,’ J.P. Morgan said Thursday.” http://on.wsj.com/1556o8I
THURSDAY’S TRIVIA WINNER – Matthew Erwin was first to correctly answer that William Henry Harrison was the only U.S. president to have served in the House of Representatives as a non-voting member. He represented the Northwest Territory.
TODAY’S TRIVIA – David Heymsfeld has today’s question: Name the U.S. president who was selected for membership in Harvard’s exclusive Porcellian Club, and the president who said it was the “greatest disappointment of my life” to not be selected. First to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day’s Huddle. Email me at swong@politico.com.
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