Vulnerable Republicans are skipping CPAC, though why a Pennsylvania senator would feel hesitant about attending the “There’s No ‘I’ In Teamsters: Obama’s Bow to Big Labor Bosses” breakout session is beyond us. MSNBC has gone easy on Bill O’Reilly for fabricating stories about his past, a compassion O’Reilly hasn’t witnessed since Walter Cronkite shared an anchor desk with him when John F. Kennedy was assassinated. And Marijuana is set to be legalized in the District tomorrow — too bad CPAC is being held in National Harbor. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Wednesday, February 25th, 2015:
SENATE MOVES AHEAD WITH CLEAN DHS BILL — HERE’S TO YOU, JOHN – John Boehner just added a cutout of Mitch McConnell’s face to the knucklehead dart board he has hung in his finished basement apartment. Elise Foley and Sabrina Siddiqui: “The Senate made its first move on Wednesday to prevent a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, with just two days remaining until the agency runs out of money. The upper chamber voted 98-2 on a procedural hurdle that would pave the way for a ‘clean’ funding bill to be brought to the floor, following a deal announced by Senate Democratic leaders earlier in the day. Only Sens. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) voted against moving forward with the agreement, which would fund DHS without any measures to block President Barack Obama’s 2014 executive actions on immigration. The vote marked the first cracking of the impasse that has for weeks threatened DHS funding. Under the agreement, which was suggested on Tuesday by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the Senate will resolve the DHS funding issue and then vote on a separate bill from Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) to block Obama’s executive actions, which would grant temporary deportation relief and work authorization to as many as 5 million undocumented immigrants.” [HuffPost]
So much merlot: “On Wednesday, however, Boehner gave no indication that his caucus would support McConnell’s offer. ‘Until I can see what they’re going to pass, no decisions have been made on the House side,’ he said.” [HuffPost’s Jen Bendery and Elise Foley]
GOODLATTE GOOD ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM? Ryan Grim: “The Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee was ‘remarkably open to many aspects of criminal justice reform’ during a White House meeting on Tuesday, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) told The Huffington Post. Booker, in a HuffPost Live interview immediately following the meeting, said the discussion among a bipartisan group of congressional lawmakers and President Barack Obama was ‘phenomenal.’ He said he told those at the meeting that criminal justice reform would have to be led by the House chairman, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.). ‘I believe — and, God willing, I’m gonna go see him — that he’s gonna be a leader on significant reforms,’ Booker said.” [HuffPost]
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@elisefoley: If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try, make a deal with Reid, then try again.
@darth: best names in politics today:
3) senator whitehouse
2) congressman labrador
1) mayor bowser
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