MORE CONGRESS: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin made his opening push to lock down support for the bipartisan deal to raise spending by $320 billion and extend the debt ceiling for two years amid pushback from conservatives who are pushing Trump to oppose a bill he has signaled he supports. Mnuchin appeared on Capitol Hill at the Senate GOP's Tuesday lunch to sell lawmakers on the deal and lock them down early as conservatives make their push to derail the package. Buoying Mnuchin is the president, who has not said explicitly that he will sign the package but has voiced support for the bill's funding for the Pentagon. "He said the president is behind it, had signed onto it and we can move forward," said Senate Appropriations Committee Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), who backs the deal. "The president said he is on board. Let's take him at his word." Among those opposing the package are Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), two Freedom Caucus members who are close allies of the president, along with outside groups such as the Club for Growth and FreedomWorks, which called the deal a "disgrace." The Freedom Caucus also took an official position Tuesday night to oppose the legislation. The last time Meadows and Jordan became embroiled in a spending fight, they pushed Trump into a 35-day government shutdown over border wall funding. However, Meadows intimated that the opposition to the president will not be as intense this time around. "I don't know that there will be a strong campaign to have the president oppose it," Meadows told The Hill on Tuesday evening, adding that while outside groups oppose the legislation, they aren't "as much as you would normally anticipate." Among the others who have announced their opposition to the package are Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.), a member of House GOP leadership, and Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a Freedom Caucus rabble rouser. Walker made his position known when he tweeted out a GIF of the Joker burning a giant pile of cash, adding that the U.S.'s credit card is "maxed out" (The Hill). The Hill: Winners and losers in the Trump-Pelosi budget deal. The Washington Post: "We're like Thelma and Louise": Republicans shrug at deficits under Trump. Andrew Taylor of The Associated Press: Budget deal is epitaph for bid to control spending. 
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> 9/11 funds: The Senate overwhelmingly passed an extension of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund on Tuesday, extending it through fiscal 2092 and sending it to the president's desk in the process. The reauthorization passed the Senate by a 97-2 vote. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) were the only two to vote against the package. They voted against the legislation after their respective amendments were voted down prior to the passage of the final package. Paul's amendment offered paying for the bill by making cuts to other accounts. Meanwhile, Lee wanted to specify that $10.2 billion would be allocated for the fund over the next 10 years, with an additional $10 billion allocated after that. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) joined first responders and comedian Jon Stewart at a press conference after the vote to celebrate the bill's passage (The Hill). "Righteousness sometimes, sometimes, in the mangled town, sometimes prevails," Schumer said. "Your losses, painful as they are, are not in vain, as today shows." > Pentagon: In a second high-profile vote on Tuesday, the Senate confirmed Defense Secretary Mark Esper, the former Army secretary, to permanently head the Pentagon after nearly seven months without a permanent secretary. Esper was confirmed by a 90-8 vote and sworn in by evening as he officially took over the day-to-day reins of the Pentagon. An Army veteran, Esper replaced James Mattis, who resigned his post on New Year's Eve after he opposed the president's decision to pull troops out of Syria. Former acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan withdrew his nomination to take over for Mattis in June, opening the door to Esper. Despite Esper's confirmation, the Pentagon is still lacking full-time personnel in key positions. The Senate has not confirmed a permanent deputy secretary of defense, though David Norquist was nominated for the post on Tuesday. Furthermore, Gen. Paul Selva is retiring on Friday as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and no confirmation has been set for Gen. John Hyten, Trump's nominee to replace Selva (The Associated Press). *** 2020 POLITICS: Amie Parnes reports that former Vice President Joe Biden is increasingly viewed as a vulnerable front-runner among competitors close on his heels as the Democratic field prepares for next week's Detroit debate. On that stage, Biden hopes to reassure supporters that he's the right candidate to lead the party in 2020 against a combative, say-anything incumbent. "It's important that we show he's the legitimate front-runner and that it's not just name ID," said one longtime aide. "I think people want to be for Joe Biden. But they want to him to be stronger." Biden and fellow Democrats are in Detroit this morning at a candidate forum hosted by the NAACP as part of its annual convention. The former vice president wants to persuade influential attendees that his new criminal justice platform has evolved from his record while serving as Senate Judiciary Committee chairman in the 1990s. 
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> House Democrats face a rush of primary contests as a new generation of progressives prepare to challenge long time party incumbents, reports Reid Wilson. The likely targets? Powerful committee chairmen and senior members of the Congressional Black Caucus. The Democratic chairs of the House Judiciary and Ways and Means committees have each attracted primary challengers (The Washington Post). > Disabled voters face basic physical challenges to vote in person on Election Day. Voting officials across the country are working to increase participation among voters with special needs (The Hill). | 
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