With an assist from Sarah Ferris 'CLOSER THAN EVER BEFORE' — This week will determine if there's a compromise to be made on Capitol Hill to attempt to prevent gun violence or if this round of talks will end up in an overflowing trash can of failed attempts. Senators are back in Washington this afternoon after a week of phone calls and Zoom meetings in between work in their home states. Will being in the same room bring them closer to the finish line? That Senate clock ticks: "Can we get there by the end of next week as Sen. Schumer has requested? I don't know," Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said on CNN's State of the Union. "We're closer than ever before. Let's see if we land it." Murphy has seen enough gun legislation negotiations go South – he's not making promises. Background checks: "Something in the space of expanding background checks certainly is on the table and I hope will be part of the final package," Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), who is one of the six Republicans directly involved in the negotiations, said over the weekend. There won't be an assault weapons ban and Murphy made clear that even the background checks on the table aren't "comprehensive." Mental health: The gun provisions, which remain in flux, are expected to be paired with what Murphy described as "significant mental health spending" in the same legislative package. But in Murphy's home state, an attempt to provide a grant-funded mental health clinic right inside one town's high school has been engulfed in a political firestorm. The New York Times highlighted the case this weekend, but local outlets have been covering every twist of raucous school board meetings and the evident student mental health crisis for months. The structure of funding in this package could determine if it falls to a similar fate or is implemented smoothly. Not shy with the flip phone: "Have you ever met Senator Schumer? Do you think that I am in regular touch with Senator Schumer about this?" Murphy quipped Friday in response to a question about if he's updating Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on the talks. "He's taking a keen interest. " HOUSE IS READY TO VOTE (and vote, and vote) — House Democratic leaders have cleared the schedule for a spate of bills to tackle gun violence. The House will first vote on a so-called red flag bill — the same idea that remains under discussion in Senate-side talks. Package deal, or don't: The House will also vote on a big, eight-bill package of other gun safety measures, including bills such as raising the age for so-called assault weapons and requiring safe storage of firearms. But a group of battleground Democrats is urging their leadership to take up those bills as standalone measures, ditching the idea of a package altogether. What flavor of bite-sized pieces: The House will vote multiple times, separately on each title of the measure, as well as on passage of the full bill "in order to place Republicans on record on each of these issues relating to gun safety," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said on Friday. But many frontliners want to decouple the individual bills on the floor to exert maximum pressure on their GOP colleagues. Rep. Mikie Sherill (D-N.J.) acknowledged that the existing package is "pretty much dead on arrival in the Senate." But she said some Republicans might support the more popular measures on their own: "The more narrow we can focus these pieces of legislation, I think we can find, where are those areas where there is enough agreement and pressure?" And she told us she thinks at least 30 of her Democratic colleagues agree. In Porter's words: "I don't know what it means to vote on a title. I vote on legislation. That's my job. I'm a legislator," Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) told us in an interview Sunday. "So I want to take these one by one by one." But, but, but: Senior House Democrats say the process won't have an effect on what will be taken up in the Senate, where senators are working on their own compromise. And Democrats point out that Republicans will be on the record either way. "Constant public discussion of process further false narratives about division. If you have a point of view, make it known. If you want to control every aspect of process, run for leadership," said one senior Dem aide. | 
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