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10/09/2018 08:01 AM EDT


By Nolan D. McCaskill (nmccaskill@politico.com or @NolanDMcCaskill)

FULL COURT -- Brett Kavanaugh will hear his first arguments today as the newest Supreme Court justice following his weekend Senate confirmation and swearing-in. Kavanaugh was confirmed Saturday in a 50-48 vote, with one Democrat supporting him and one Republican opposed but voting "present." Republicans wanted Kavanaugh to join the court by Oct. 1, in time for the start of its new term. But his confirmation was delayed by an FBI background investigation into sexual misconduct claims. Kavanaugh vehemently denied the accusations. He was sworn in Saturday during a private ceremony at the Supreme Court. More on Kavanaugh's new role: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=03d0ce1509fffa0e29f54f99d0df93b5b38507ecfe63de6afe54a5f1de89504ce5156c7488044c1898ffc0276fb1748d

President Donald Trump apologized to Kavanaugh during a ceremonial swearing-in at the White House on Monday "for the terrible pain and suffering you have been forced to endure." The president also claimed Kavanaugh was "proven innocent," though the verdict in the case of whether Kavanaugh sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford or exposed himself to Deborah Ramirez is one the world may never know. Trump praised Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for his unwavering support of Kavanaugh and shouted out Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), whose deciding vote secured Kavanaugh's confirmation.

In his remarks, Kavanaugh thanked McConnell and Grassley and expressed "special gratitude" to Collins and Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). "The Senate confirmation process was contentious and emotional. That process is over," Kavanaugh said. "My focus now is to be the best justice I can be." Kavanaugh has hired four women to clerk for him, a first in the history of the court. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=03d0ce1509fffa0eaa03aa77bf738356f81ae4bc70f7239b8cf0b899e7a9a7dd445a84908855a84caa80471be1957db1

Related: "Kavanaugh's first vote could be in Trump executive power fight," by Josh Gerstein: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=be0c5c94975568509256c254767bf59b8819a3a7386149de9d080eddb3e2981eba312616a942f6d3a6eda18103162c63 and "A GOP 'disaster' averted: The final harrowing hours of Kavanaugh's confirmation," from Elana, Burgess, Bres and Nancy Cook: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=03d0ce1509fffa0efa3683afbdc2210ff61b5df005242b13c0e7604adb56d31917edc234341e66545a63cc08b64e0b5c

NEW DISTINCTION -- McConnell is open to confirming a Trump Supreme Court nominee in 2020 despite refusing to give President Barack Obama's nominee Merrick Garland a hearing in 2016, when McConnell was adamant that voters should have a say in the vacancy to replace the late Antonin Scalia. When Democrats tried to argue this year that McConnell should delay Kavanaugh's confirmation until after the midterm elections to give voters a say, his office clarified the previous standard was only for presidential election years. Now, McConnell is adding a new distinction: A vacancy should only be held open if the White House and Senate are controlled by different parties in the middle of a
presidential election year.

"You have to go back to 1880 to find the last time a Senate controlled by a party different from the president filled a vacancy on the Supreme Court that was created in the middle of a presidential election year," he told Fox News. "That's been the history." By that standard, Senate Republicans would likely move to confirm a conservative Supreme Court nominee in 2020 if the GOP maintains control of the Senate. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=03d0ce1509fffa0ec1e7bce24ec127b4af696780de3f8aa85c05630f85c8d85b32efca27382db24d40f348a20ad6aed9

Related reads: "Anger vs. elation: Parties scrap for Kavanaugh edge in midterms," via James Arkin: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=be0c5c94975568509d9514eb3d71befe11cfc0205be8f5da125212ffd3052c804c210adbec6e08714fb648a06319f650 "McConnell: Conservative revamp of the courts isn't done yet," per Burgess and Bres: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=03d0ce1509fffa0e840926cdc3d9346a9fc5a7036bafc2178dd8cc5564031bc805ea1c233cd80df62e5a1330340178e9

MIDTERM RACE RATINGS -- There are 209 seats firmly or leaning Democratic, according to POLITICO's latest race ratings. The mark is only nine short of the 218 seats Democrats need to win control of the House. "A total of 68 seats currently held by Republicans are firmly in play ... presenting a stark contrast to the Democratic side, where only a half-dozen Democratic seats are in similar jeopardy," Steven Shepard reports. "The political environment has been jolted temporarily by the searing fight over ... Kavanaugh. But prior to that recent battle ... Democrats had improved their electoral position since Labor Day, according to more than a dozen operatives and strategists in both parties."
Much more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=03d0ce1509fffa0e9bf038de4871ff28971aed2e610a7ebf2a04c83c801c254cd1a2a6bf5e3166c46695aaaed7f04712

Related: "House Republicans distort and dissemble in slashing TV ads," by Rachael: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=be0c5c9497556850a80ffcb9ec61bdfe5beec9fabf6de052f9547d1ae16d33fbd1255d7757f6b1711996a5bc40a38a34 and "House Democrat Promises Kavanaugh Investigation if Party Wins Control," from The New York Times' Nicholas Fandos and Sheryl Gay Stolberg: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=03d0ce1509fffa0e82fcb65a3905e60981df0792c1e445a71e8514379e7d6063bebeadf211026a4fc2dd3bbcd9b0d44b

GOOD MORNING! Thanks for reading Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Tuesday, Oct. 9.

FRIDAY'S MOST CLICKED: The Palm Beach Post's report on former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens suggesting Brett Kavanaugh lacks the temperament to sit on the high court was the winner.

President Trump says a red wave is coming on Election Day. Is he right, or will the tide turn blue? Compete against the nation's top political minds in the POLITICO Playbook Election Challenge by correctly picking the winning candidates in some of the most competitive House, Senate and gubernatorial races in the country. Win awesome prizes and eternal bragging rights. Sign up today!

COLLINS' COSTLY VOTE -- Democrats are lining up to potentially challenge Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) in 2020. Susan Rice, former President Barack Obama's national security adviser, got the ball rolling shortly after Collins delivered a floor speech Friday announcing she would cast the deciding vote to put Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court. Rice is among a half-dozen Democratic prospects who are openly mulling a run against Collins and could be bolstered by a crowdfunding campaign that has raised more than $3.6 million to unseat the moderate Republican next cycle. Rice has family ties to the state and "would bring political celebrity that could make it difficult for the state's shallow bench
of lesser-known Democrats to stand out," The Associated Press' Marina Villeneuve, Steve Peoples and Julie Pace write.

Other potential candidates include Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine); her daughter, former state House Speaker Hannah Pingree; current state House Speaker Sara Gideon; former state House Speaker Emily Cain; state attorney general and gubernatorial candidate Janet Mills; liberal activist Betsy Sweet; and state Rep. Seth Berry. "The emergence of a crowded field in a Senate contest two years away underscores the extraordinary political moment triggered by the debate over ... Kavanaugh," they add. "Many Maine Democrats prefer that a woman take on Collins, although few, if any, enjoy the statewide notoriety and fundraising prowess needed to defeat New England's last remaining Republican senator."
More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=03d0ce1509fffa0ecc0e968aba5ee597c97c11e4a05efa9d5d90c05f65b05cf229c809a01796690ed8acd9e5261bd317

Related: "Collins defends Kavanaugh vote, dismisses 2020 concerns," via Brent D. Griffiths: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=be0c5c94975568505e5c5c61c4654d38ca0697ed7fc2b764f16bedbe02dd8c25f3daefd38ef1174d5c2fb110f35fdda5 and "Susan Collins calls donations to her future opponent a 'classic quid pro quo' to extort her," per The Washington Post's Kristine Phillips and Eli Rosenberg: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=be0c5c94975568505be21a64835fa773a7ca59d2f471ec967f05cfffbcf9e6578473169ae47ca26daf9d82fef706a6b9

MANCHIN'S MUST-WIN -- Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) wasn't the deciding vote on Kavanaugh. But he was the only Democrat to back the conservative jurist despite sexual misconduct allegations against him. His vote drew bipartisan backlash, with Republicans attacking him for backing Kavanaugh only after he had the votes to be confirmed and Democrats irate that he broke ranks. "A Manchin loss would put his party's hopes of regaining control of the Senate virtually out of reach," The Associated Press' Steve Peoples reports. "There is little doubt, however, that his vote was in line with the wishes of many West Virginia voters... There simply aren't enough Democrats in the state to re-elect Manchin.
He needs a significant chunk of Trump's base to win." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=be0c5c9497556850a14780fec0ea1aa7171d90808fee00cf15def08dc093a17bc598917332837f1a1cbf09b5e15583f6

UNFORGIVABLE -- The president told The Washington Post in a brief phone interview that voters "will never forgive" Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) for opposing Kavanaugh. Murkowski, who isn't up for reelection until 2022, was a "no" on a procedural vote to advance Kavanaugh's nomination but ultimately voted "present" as a "courtesy" to Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), who walked his daughter down the aisle on Saturday. "I think the people from Alaska will never forgive her for what she did," Trump predicted. "Murkowski has lost a Republican primary before, in 2010 to tea party challenger Joe Miller, but ultimately won reelection in the general election by waging a spirited write-in campaign,"
Philip Rucker writes. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=be0c5c94975568506d53d0fd6d64b19b90dcb33074420f0830455879f661a0007ec88a25b244a8b60fee7b00664ea7cd

CRAMER DISMISSES #METOO MOVEMENT -- Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) cast the #MeToo movement in a New York Times interview as a "movement toward victimization," adding to his list of controversial comments throughout his race against Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.). He also suggested that sexual assault victims aren't "tough." Heitkamp's mother, who died earlier this year, was sexually assaulted as a teenager. "It did not make my mom less strong that she was a victim," Heitkamp said. "She got stronger and she made us strong. And to suggest that this movement doesn't make women strong and stronger is really unfortunate." Much more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=be0c5c94975568507f28701f601f77315ae49b3ed97408803f7cf15bc0d1bcc3623795bee9d8ecd1ee57f59f0af596c3

FUNDING FIGHT THREATENS FARM BILL -- House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway (R-Texas) and Senate Agriculture Committee ranking member Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) are clashing over farm subsidies, jeopardizing passage of a farm bill, which expired Oct. 1. Conaway "wants more money for Southern cotton growers," Helena Bottemiller Evich and Catherine Boudreau report, while Stabenow "is pushing funds for urban farming and renewable energy." "[T]he stalled negotiations show how rancorous partisanship in Washington has overtaken even popular legislation that usually passes with bipartisan support," they add. "Rural lawmakers must now return home for midterm elections with little to show
their farmer constituents who are hurting from low commodity prices and an onslaught of retaliatory tariffs."

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), meanwhile, have watched their counterparts spar in private. "Pat and I just sit and look at each other and roll our eyes," Peterson said. "They want to take money from each other to pay for what the other one doesn't want." Much more on the farm bill fight: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=be0c5c94975568509130d254b37ed69219c52d047808b611750afb647710d0f4c9ee690e317a17c462e644aa5edb6950

TODAY IN CONGRESS -- The Senate meets at 3 p.m. to resume consideration of a water infrastructure bill. At 5:30 p.m., the chamber will hold a procedural vote on the motion to concur. The House is out.

AROUND THE HILL -- Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) will hold a briefing on the global state of blasphemy laws at 12 p.m. in 2226 Rayburn.

Reps. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) will hold a conference call to announce the launch of the Congressional Progressive Caucus Center, a public policy, research and educational institute that will leverage the power of the CPC by creating infrastructure within the progressive community, at 2:30 p.m. The call-in number is 605-472-5611, and the access code is 617-473.

FRIDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER -- Katie Quackenboss was first to correctly guess that the last Supreme Court justice to be confirmed unanimously was Anthony Kennedy, who was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to replace Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. Kennedy was confirmed 97-0.

TODAY'S TRIVIA -- From Katie: Who operates the White House Mess, and when was it founded? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your best guess my way: nmccaskill@politico.com.

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