VOL. 4 NO. 28 POLITIwednesday, march 10, 2010 CO www.politico.com Northrop Bid Massa: ‘I Did Nothing Sexual’ Doomed by New York Democrat admits tickling staffer and using ‘salty’ language By Jo n a t h a n Al l e n he had improper physical contact the congressman’s 50th birthday John Shinkle a n d Jo h n Br e s n a h a n with several men who worked for party. Costs, Intrigue —POLITICO him — including at least one in- He also said he’d used rough Former Rep. A week after announcing he tern. language when he shouldn’t have By Je n DiMa s c i o Eric Massa was retiring from Congress for In a widely anticipated inter- and that he had jokingly told a health reasons, New York Demo- view on Glenn Beck’s Fox News male staffer at a wedding recep- It was a Clash of Titans: a brutal feud, spanning crat Eric Massa finds himself in show Tuesday night, Massa ac- tion that he’d rather have sex with nearly five years, between Boeing and Northrop the midst of a fast-growing sex knowledged that he had “groped” Grumman over Pentagon billions. scandal involving allegations that and “tickled” a male staffer at See massa on Page 16 Then, just days after Boeing champion Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.) took the helm of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Northrop up and HEALTH CARE quit. To be sure, there were complex business reasons for doing so: Another extended bidding process would drain cash, losses that were difficult to jus- Tug of War Over the Center tify when the newly issued specifications for the job weren’t promising for a victory anyway. But this fight was really about winning in Wash- ington. And from that viewpoint, a crippling error for Northrop may well have been its decision to bank too long and too heavily on Republicans maintaining control.

See tanker on Page 15 Graham to Obama: Time to ‘Step It Up’ S.C. Republican says he needs the W.H. to help attract GOP support By Gl e n n Th r u s h O C I T

President Barack Obama is summoning two key OLI senators to the Oval Office on Thursday for an up- date on immigration reform efforts — but one of them, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), thinks Obama should be the one giving the update.

Graham, less than thrilled at the notion of provid- John Shinkle P — ing the equivalent of a book report to the headmaster Sen. Lindsey Graham Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in chief, said Obama’s lack of direction on immigra- tion reform is hampering Graham’s efforts to recruit additional Republicans to the cause. “At the end of the day, the president needs to step Graham proposes a Gang of 14 McConnell looks to raise it up a little bit,” Graham told POLITICO on Tuesday. — but Democrats say no thanks Blue Dog angst as endgame nears “One line in the State of the Union is not going to do it.” By Ca r r i e Bu d o f f Br o w n a n d Ch r i s Fr a t e s By Da v i d Ro g e r s See immigration on Page 16 Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) wants to revive the When Mitch McConnell speaks these days, he ex- bipartisan Gang of 14 — this time for health care re- pects House Blue Dogs to be listening. form, not judicial nominees. It’s not that the Senate minority leader imagines But most of his moderate Democratic colleagues himself to be E.F. Hutton, but he’s very much part of aren’t rushing to R.S.V.P. a newly launched Republican shadow war to block Graham said Tuesday that a coalition of Republi- health care reform by playing on the nerves of wa- can and Democratic senators could rescue the Sen- vering Democrats across the Capitol. ate from an institutional disaster brought on by the Speaking on health care Monday, McConnell sud- use of the parliamentary maneuver known as recon- denly switched gears, for example, and threw in a line ciliation to finish the health care bill. about the high cost of the Senate’s $100 billion-plus “Many Republicans who were ready to pull the trig- jobless benefits bill, heading soon to the House. “Ev- ger on the nuclear option on judges are now glad they ery dime” of 10-year savings from health reform would didn’t,” Graham said. “This place would have ceased be wiped out “with one stroke of the president’s pen,” Reuters Demonstrators rally against the deportation of immi- See gang on Page 21 See lever on Page 22 grants with family members who are U.S. citizens. inside CONGRESS Energy/ENVIRONMENT POLITICS Sen. CLICK Chuck Flack as phoenix: How staff move Arkansas shapes up as ground N.J. Dem chairman says effort Schumer Podestas put the green in Schumer’s on after a boss crashes and burns. zero in climate politics battle. to recall Menendez is racist. St. Paddy’s Day; Gridiron turns rusty. John Page 4 Page 25 Page 27 Shinkle — Page 33 POLITICO