SIREN: MANCHIN CALLS OUT OBAMA ON SPENDING -- West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who plans to vote against both the Republican and Democratic versions of a long-term continuing resolution, will deliver a floor speech today in which he says President Barack Obama has failed to lead and needs to step up to the negotiating table. '[B]oth our options are extremely partisan and unrealistic. And neither one will pass. The first is a Democratic proposal that doesn't go nearly far enough. This proposal, which calls for $6.5 billion in new cuts, utterly ignores our fiscal reality ... Or, we could choose a second, even more flawed measure: a GOP proposal that blindly hacks the budget with no sense of our priorities or of our values as a country,' he plans to say. 'Why are we doing all this when the most powerful person in these negotiations - our president - has failed to lead this debate or offer a serious proposal for spending and cuts that he would be willing to fight for? ... This debate will be decided when the president leads these tough negotiations. And, right now - that is not happening. ... The bottom line is this - the president is the leader of this great nation, and when it comes to an issue of significant national importance, the president must lead. Not the majority leader or speaker, but the president.

GOP RELIEVED AT ENSIGN DEPARTURE -- 'Sen. John Ensign's decision to retire rather than run for reelection in 2012 is a huge boost for Senate GOP leaders, who feared the Nevada Republican was waging an unwinnable battle for a third term and might cost the party a Senate seat,' John Bresnahan and Manu 'The Machine' Raju write for POLITICO. 'Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and other top Senate Republicans appear to have played little direct role in forcing Ensign out, but the relief over that decision was palpable in GOP circles on Monday. ... Ensign's announcement will have little, if any, impact on the ongoing investigation by the Senate ethics committee into his affair with Cindy Hampton, a former campaign aide and the wife of Doug Hampton, himself a former top Ensign aide, according to Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the committee. Boxer told POLITICO the Ensign investigation 'will continue on course.' ... 'It eliminates some obvious issues in the race, but we still have to see who gets into the primary,' [National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John] Cornyn told POLITICO. 'But the obvious issues won't be involved.'' http://politi.co/eN22Kf

TEA PARTY SOPHISTICATES FOCUS ON REDISTRICTING -- Alex Isenstadt reports for POLITICO on the growing interest in redistricting among top Tea Party activists. 'With state legislators across the country set to redraw the congressional landscape, the tea party is attempting to further the political gains it made last fall when a slate of activist conservatives won House and Senate seats. 'They understand that the way districts are drawn impacts our political culture perhaps more than anything else,' said Mark Meckler, co-founder and coordinator of the Tea Party Patriots,' Alex writes. 'To local groups reorganizing to take on redistricting fights ... there could be nothing more true to the tea party spirit than fighting the sort of tailor-made districts and partisan line-drawing that serve as a once-a-decade incumbent protection plan.' http://politi.co/egyIij

FROSH INVITES DONORS TO TESTIFY -- 'Rep. James Lankford (R-Okla.) praised the panel of witnesses at a recent Transportation and Infrastructure Committee field hearing in his district, saying, 'The best ideas come from individuals who see and breathe the issues not just from Washington.' But it doesn't hurt if those individuals are also campaign donors,' Roll Call's Jennifer Yachnin writes. 'Among the panel of four private-sector witnesses at the hearing held at Oklahoma City Community College in February, three were donors to the freshman lawmaker's campaign last cycle. There are no rules prohibiting campaign donors from appearing before Congressional committees ... But ... observers said it is remarkable to have so many donors on a single panel. 'When you have these things that are supposed to be representative of the community and everyone is a campaign supporter, that does seem a little bit odd,' said Bill Allison, editorial director at the Sunlight Foundation.' http://bit.ly/efHNk7

LOCKE TO CHINA -- President Barack Obama has chosen Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to succeed Jon Huntsman as U.S. ambassador to China - signaling a more focused White House effort to press Asia's emerging economic superpower on trade issues, according to administration officials,' Glenn Thrush writes for the hometown paper. 'Locke, 51, is a third generation Chinese-American with roots in Hong Kong and China's coastal Guangdong province - and the first person of Chinese ancestry to serve as a U.S. governor. He is fluent in Cantonese and didn't speak English until he was five years old.' http://politi.co/eDguuO

SUCCESSOR? NOT CLYBURN -- Ever since President Obama won in 2008, there's been a rumor mill devoted solely to the idea that Assistant Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) would take a position in the Cabinet. Dormant for a while, it started up again within minutes of the Locke news breaking. Sources in Clyburn's camp say he's not interested.

PERHAPS A REPUBLICAN LAWMAKER -- Idle Huddle speculation here, but with the White House doing more to reach out to the business world -- and to wrap its arms around top Republicans as the election season heats up -- but it could be a post that goes to a Republican member of Congress. Before Locke was appointed Commerce secretary, then-Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) was the White House choice. But Gregg dropped out after a tug-of-war over whether he would have control over the census -- the most partisan issue the department deals with. Since the census won't happen for another decade, that issue is off the table. Could Obama neutralize a foe, help pick up a House or Senate seat, or simply court the business community better by picking a Republican lawmaker? Maybe.

PUSHBACK ON YESTERDAY'S HUDDLE -- A well-informed reader notes that the questions raised about reconciliation only matter if there's a budget agreement between the House and Senate -- and that doesn't appear anywhere on the horizon at moment.

GOOD TUESDAY MORNING, and welcome to The Huddle, where gerrymandering is a four-letter word if you draw the lines just right, Hollywood has been fully eclipsed by Charlie Sheen and it's been 28 years since Ronald Reagan called the Soviet Union the 'Evil Empire.'

Please send tips, suggestions, complaints, corrections, the testimony of donors, and sports scores (like Fennville 65, Lawrence 54 in the opening round of the Michigan state high school basketball playoffs) to jallen@politico.com If you don't already, you can follow me on Twitter @jonallendc. Fast Break is @JakeSherman. New followers include @RepLankford and @JoanneDNC.

TODAY IN CONGRESS -- The House is in at 2 p.m., with legislative business beginning at 4 p.m. and votes postponed until 6:30 p.m. Two bills are up for consideration under suspension of the rules, meaning they need a two-thirds majority for passage. They are HR 570, the Dental Emergency Responder Act, sponsored by Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas), and HR 525, the Veterinary Public Health Workforce and Education Act, sponsored by Rep. Tammy Baldwin (R-Wis.). The dental responder bill would require 'the inclusion of dental health facilities in the National Health Security Strategy for purposes of preparedness during public health emergencies.' Here's a CRS summary of the veterinary bill http://politi.co/erGSXj

The Senate's in at 9:30 a.m. with two hours of morning business, 30 minutes of which is devoted to remarks by Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.). After that, the Senate's back to the patent bill, with an intermission from noon to 2:15 p.m. for party lunches.

AROUND THE HILL -- The Christian Science Monitor has Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy at its breakfast this morning. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) has his pen and pad at 10:30 in H-144. Majority leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) has his at 2 p.m. in his office. Reps. George Miller and Rosa DeLauro are talking about workers' rights at 2 p.m. in HVC 215.

SPEAKING OF KERRY SPEAKING -- Kerry will introduce longtime former aide Heather Higginbottom at her Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee confirmation hearing. Higginbottom, who worked for Kerry from 1999 to 2007, has been nominated to the post of deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget. Here's part of what Kerry will say: 'Neither Washington nor the West Wing has dampened Heather's idealism or spirit of service - she's smarter, tougher, more steeped in all the issues and more versed in the many challenges facing every state that makes up the mosaic of our country, but in every way that adds up to character, Heather is still the person that walked into my office for that first day of work as a legislative assistant in 1999, and that too is a reason why I am proud to recommend her swift confirmation as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget.' Higginbottom is currently deputy assistant to the president for domestic policy.

HUDDLE SCOOPLET: TEEN DRIVING SAFETY BILL -- In response to teen car accidents, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Rep. Tim Bishop, both Democrats of New York, are unveiling legislation today that would force states to adopt a new set of minimum standards for licensing teen drivers. With the threat of cuts to federal highway funding as a penalty for non-compliance, states would have to adopt a three-tiered licensing process, raise the age for a non-restricted license to 18, prohibit the use of cell phones during the first two stages of licensing and prohibit night driving during the intermediate stage. It would also give the secretary of Transportation the authority to impose additional requirements. States would have three years to become compliant. After that they would lose 3 percent of federal highway funding in the first year, 5 percent in the second year and 10 percent for each additional year. 'This legislation will give young drivers better education and more experience before they get out on the roads, keeping us all safer and saving lives," Gillibrand said. In addition to Gillibrand and Bishop, Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) are also supporting the effort.

SPLITTSVILLE: GOP LEADERS ON 'RADICALIZATION' OF MUSLIMS -- By Jonathan Allen and Jake Sherman -- 'The top two House Republican leaders are divided over how to handle the bubbling controversy surrounding Homeland Security Chairman Peter King's hearing into "radicalization" in the American Muslim community. Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the highest-ranking Jewish member of Congress, is squarely behind King as he takes shots from civil libertarians and religious groups over his decision to target one group in his investigation of the causes of terrorism. ... But Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) are keeping their distance from King, perhaps trying to avoid letting this issue become a distraction for the GOP majority. 'Chairman King is chairman of the Homeland Security Committee" is all Boehner spokesman Michael Steel would say when asked about the controversy.' http://politi.co/eUOqtz

NY TIMES EDITORIAL: 'PETER KING'S OBSESSION' -- 'Not much spreads fear and bigotry faster than a public official intent on playing the politics of division. On Thursday, Representative Peter King, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, is scheduled to open a series of hearings that seem designed to stoke fear against American Muslims. His refusal to tone down the provocation despite widespread opposition suggests that he is far more interested in exploiting ethnic misunderstanding than in trying to heal it.' http://nyti.ms/gn4vrR

SENATE WHIP RACE: ALEXANDER TOO MODERATE? -- Over the weekend, the Nashville Tennessean coupled a National Journal rating of Lamar Alexander as the 30th most conservative of 40 GOP senators with his run to move up from Conference chairman to Republican whip. 'Alexander's reputation for bipartisanship and moderation may hurt him,' Bill Thoebald writes. 'Alexander has one challenger so far, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas. Cornyn's conservative ranking: tied for No. 1.' http://bit.ly/eDmAAg