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10/04/2018 07:59 AM EDT


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

CONFIRMATION VOTE CLOSE -- Senators will view the FBI report today on sexual misconduct allegations into Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh ahead of a key Friday vote to advance Kavanaugh's nomination. Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) confirmed around 4 a.m. that the panel had received the file. "Senators are expected to view that report from the FBI under restricted parameters throughout the day Thursday, with one copy of that report available for access in a secure facility in the Capitol basement," Bres, Elana and Burgess report. "Members of both parties, as well as a handful of staff, are expected to alternate hour-long viewing time slots." Neither Kavanaugh nor
Christine Blasey Ford were interviewed.

But both testified publicly before the committee last week. Through her attorneys, Ford offered to give the bureau therapist notes and information about her polygraph test -- if she was interviewed. Ford's lawyers said they "are profoundly disappointed that after the tremendous sacrifice she made in coming forward, those directing the FBI investigation were not interested in seeking the truth." The brief background investigation was conducted to examine Ford and Deborah Ramirez's sexual misconduct allegations, which Kavanaugh has vehemently denied. Senators will not receive an FBI briefing on the report. "That means senators will be limited to the raw information ..., leaving them to draw
their own conclusions," they write.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) last night set up a key procedural vote for Friday, meaning a final confirmation vote could come as early as Saturday night. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=01c4de246e67bda140085018584a96b0ef8b2931ffd79f0f7ca1b384d696898b90eb8249739ae029cfb1b9b5d1efd288

Related: "With a Transformed Judiciary in Sight, McConnell 'Will Not Be Intimidated,'" by The New York Times' Carl Hulse and Jonathan Martin: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=01c4de246e67bda1b0e5099db40e47cd2bead57f5dd51fc5a8d47c15e7e5e177a72007097a0b99513a1d631b1115d3a7 and "The Man Behind the Brett Kavanaugh Strategy: Don McGahn," from The Wall Street Journal's Peter Nicholas: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=01c4de246e67bda17a27678a9531db3ee0d1b667699cd56f76eb5d85e1dbe1756b5dadbd1dfeb064ee13360280c62cff

WHITE HOUSE CONFIDENT IN KAVANAUGH -- The White House expects the Senate to confirm Kavanaugh after lawmakers view the FBI report. Deputy press secretary Raj Shah announced in the wee hours that the White House had received the bureau's supplemental background investigation. "With Leader McConnell's cloture filing, Senators have been given ample time to review this seventh background investigation," he said in a statement. "This is the last addition to the most comprehensive review of a Supreme Court nominee in history... With this additional information, the White House is fully confident the Senate will vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court."

The White House found no corroboration of the sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh after reviewing interviews in the report. "Senators who will decide Mr. Kavanaugh's fate are set to review the findings on Thursday, and some of them may draw different conclusions," The Wall Street Journal's Rebecca Ballhaus, Michael C. Bender, Kristina Peterson and Natalie Andrews report. "The result could leave senators in much the same position as last week--faced with two witnesses providing mutually exclusive accounts and forced to decide between them." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=01c4de246e67bda15f36ab1b59ebfd23c9765589c04c0cb9a66ce23629327eae2dc0bd07b21db5a4367bcb0d10ccdbf6

Related reads: "The F.B.I. Probe Ignored Testimonies from Former Classmates of Kavanaugh," per The New Yorker's Jane Mayer and Ronan Farrow: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=01c4de246e67bda1a3e9c1aba3a881594602c9d473846d8efd608950b27305df0882050726aadbc46487eb029a91aaa6 and "The FBI confidential Kavanaugh report: Who's allowed to read it and where," via NBC News' Frank Thorp V and Garrett Haake: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=01c4de246e67bda1b0bb496110e64f5df159d127fa3df9c499fcf44eb6514cc33dd69a12f63e41f89d78963bfb2caf1c

MANCHIN LEANING 'YES'? -- Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is still among the handful of holdouts who have not committed to voting for or against Kavanaugh. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) is the only other undeclared Democrat. "In the midst of a media frenzy, Heitkamp has run away from reporters who want to query her about the controversy surrounding the Supreme Court nominee, and her office is tight-lipped about anything related to the nomination," Bres notes. Manchin, meanwhile, appears to be leaning toward "yes." "It's clear Manchin doesn't want to be the 50th vote for Kavanaugh, but it seems like he'd be OK with being the 51st or 52nd, barring any new developments," he adds.

Aides say Manchin and President Donald Trump have discussed Kavanaugh's confirmation. But Manchin insists he'll remain undecided until he views the report. "I'm not doing anything until I see the report. Nothing until I see the report," he said. "Not even talk. I am totally undecided." He also suggested his vote will have no impact on his reelection race against state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey. "The Manchin campaign released a poll on Wednesday that showed him up 12 points ... with a month to go, meaning that the Kavanaugh confirmation fight is unlikely to matter significantly anyway," Bres reports. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=01c4de246e67bda18898c7d145e8097884cc8e80096ba453370724b64fe096c7ea32a8c3360e543fabbb6969d3e86df6

Related: "'They expect more from women': Collins and Murkowski face extra pressure in Kavanaugh fight," by Elana: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=01c4de246e67bda1d9355e5723b5748f4d1e3257bf3bb4167a8fb8c7e41d1cc74f15a9c22d1bcf3e5a50e676b282da22

GOOD MORNING! Thanks for reading Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Thursday, Oct. 4.

** A message from National Partnership for Women & Families: Access to abortion gives us dignity, freedom, hope. When opponents push abortion further out of reach, or criminalize it, they deny our humanity. With heightened threats from every branch of government, we must continue to fight to ensure that abortion is accessible to everyone, everywhere. **

WEDNESDAY'S MOST CLICKED: Andrew Restuccia's report on how the spotlight on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's drinking has highlighted President Donald Trump's "abnormal" abstinence was the winner.

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SENATE CONTROL UNCLEAR -- Republicans are struggling to put away a handful of Democratic incumbents they were expected to oust and Democratic challengers who are putting up surprisingly strong fights in three GOP-held seats. That leaves control of the Senate up for grabs with a little over a month before Election Day. "At least six Senate races ... are too close to call, according to a dozen senators, strategists and pollsters in both parties," James Arkin reports. "That means even a slight shift in the national political environment between now and Election Day could be the difference between a slim Democratic majority and firm Republican control. And another handful of races on both sides
are not yet out of reach." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=01c4de246e67bda1d27ec09b328b5fed501d2ca8133511f788a4a0d06deff5c3dae4e4a014995b8129935d0d3def2cda

Related read: "Senate polls: GOP leads in North Dakota, 4 other races close," from James Arkin: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=01c4de246e67bda1f6a522a80760684d89e2194f920e48429ccf272f1ccd2d4f4f5853c7f6b6d5c5ddc3e2e4b62675aa

FAA REAUTHORIZATION HEADS TO WHITE HOUSE -- The Senate overwhelmingly passed a five-year FAA reauthorization, which heads to the president's desk for his signature. "The bill passed the Senate by a 93-to-6 vote after six extensions that kept the FAA's funding at a level first set in 2012," The Washington Post's Ashley Halsey III reports. "The most recent of them came last week as lawmakers were in turmoil over Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh. Lawmakers circled back a day after Thursday's tumultuous Kavanaugh hearing to extend funding for a week so that the FAA did not run out of cash."

Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) hailed the legislation's passage as a "big, major deal." "This is something we've been trying to do for many years," he said. Indeed, Wednesday marked the first time a five-year bill had passed since the 1980s. "In addition to keeping programs such as the $36 billion NextGen program afloat and paying the FAA's 14,000 air traffic controllers, the bill tweaks airline regulations, sets additional guidelines for drone aircraft and provides funding for the Transportation Security Administration," Halsey writes. What else is in the bill: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=01c4de246e67bda13ff43fb2377de53cf3d21939c86e34276162bf28004a13d9c76eb205066ac69098cc82b1a5d35c09

SENATE ALSO SENDS OPIOIDS BILL TO TRUMP -- The Senate almost unanimously passed the final version of a sweeping opioids package, which now heads to the president's desk -- "just in time for lawmakers to campaign on the issue before the November midterm elections," The Washington Post's Colby Itkowitz notes. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) is the only senator to oppose the package, which passed 98-1. The House passed it 393-8 last week. The package includes dozens of smaller proposals that were sponsored by hundreds of lawmakers. "It creates, expands and reauthorizes programs and policies across almost every federal agency, aiming to address different aspects of the opioid epidemic, including
prevention, treatment and recovery," Itkowitz explains.

"It is one of Congress's most significant legislative achievements this year, a rare bipartisan response to a growing public health crisis that resulted in 72,000 drug-overdose deaths last year," she continues. "It marks a moment of bipartisan accomplishment at an especially rancorous time on Capitol Hill as senators debate Brett M. Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court." Much more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=01c4de246e67bda16d12e5ab4a62ad60c32959070b6bf9d453907602f9b32c4cbcfce37c8fd45d95408b3ef6e4866917

HOUSE DEMS PLAN PROBE INTO HEALTH POLICIES -- House Democrats are quietly preparing to launch investigations into the Trump administration's health care moves in anticipation of winning control of the chamber next month. "The wide-ranging inquiries, coordinated across multiple committees, would focus on the administration's most controversial actions on health care, which include chipping away at the Affordable Care Act, urging the courts to gut the health law's protections for pre-existing conditions, and separating migrant families at the border," Adam Cancryn and Alice Miranda Ollstein report, citing lawmakers and aides. But Democrats haven't made concrete plans just yet, with several
lawmakers unwilling to risk jinxing themselves by discussing their oversight agenda. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=01c4de246e67bda1db5dfe4e071f8d0c706b6f947aa8b73e68f7dc4022933480a6a15afdac8ec45e0fcc3896f2763068

'BOGUS BALONEY' -- Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said the president's intimation that he has a drinking problem is "bogus baloney." At a rally Tuesday, Trump encouraged supporters to google "Patrick Leahy slash drink" or "Patrick Leahy dash drink." "By Wednesday morning, an Internet search for 'Patrick Leahy drink' turned up mainly coverage of Trump's remarks," The Washington Post's Mike DeBonis points out. "Leahy said he had no idea about any interaction where Trump might have gotten any impression about his drinking habits." Trump, Leahy said, "attacks everybody except Vladimir Putin. Everyone knows it's bogus." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=01c4de246e67bda130649e6ca0d2db22e7000d2aba2a16aa75e3ef8e3881b06597fc1e06572c4b13814b22f5f9f0fdc5

Trump also mocked Kavanaugh's accuser at the rally, actions that were criticized by the key group of undecided GOP senators who will determine Kavanaugh's fate: Jeff Flake of Arizona, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. "Those three Republicans in particular have frayed or nonexistent relationships with the president," Burgess writes, "and Republicans playing point on Kavanaugh's confirmation were visibly frustrated with Trump changing up his tactics as a vote on Kavanaugh appears imminent." More on Republicans' response: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=01c4de246e67bda10431f5b4bc1e2f62ddf183c0f0bd97de280c5ae0dbc9e61ae18c88d2def220084dbd8a3f7eaffa13

Related: "Flake, Collins, Murkowski express dismay at Trump's mockery of Kavanaugh accuser," per Matthew Choi: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=01c4de246e67bda19030383ff51e95fabcd0a7e87c9222c667a60d6a1cab5454fbcb2cb14e374f11ae8707fb8d5d77cc

INTERN ARRESTED, FIRED FOR DOXING -- Capitol Police arrested Jackson A. Cosko for allegedly posting "private, identifying information (doxing) about one or more United States senators to the Internet." Cosko, 27, was an intern in Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee's (D-Texas) office but has since been fired. "Cosko has been charged with making public restricted personal information, witness tampering, threats in interstate communications, unauthorized access of a government computer, identity theft, second-degree burglary and unlawful entry," Burgess reports. He is set to appear before Judge Deborah A. Robinson in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia today. More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=01c4de246e67bda1bc8ef141aaf6863aa09ec1bb1c3b55ad0a657458bbcd8577834d3d178dbc0c3895fffcc048324893

TODAY IN CONGRESS -- The Senate meets at 11 a.m. to resume consideration of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Cloture was filed on the nomination, and a procedural vote is expected to occur Friday morning. The House is out.

AROUND THE HILL -- Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Judiciary Committee Democrats will hold a media availability to react to a staff briefing they will receive on the FBI's supplemental background check for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh at 11 a.m. in the Ohio Clock Corridor.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) will deliver remarks at a summit on prioritizing children in federal budget decisions at 2:30 p.m. in CVC-210.

WEDNESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER -- Zachary Israel was first to correctly guess that Lyndon B. Johnson is the only U.S. president who has been sworn in by a woman. Judge Sarah Hughes administered the oath of office to Johnson aboard Air Force One after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

TODAY'S TRIVIA -- From Zachary: Which man came within one vote (literally) of becoming president of the United States, and what position did he serve in? 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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** A message from National Partnership for Women & Families: A recent report by nonpartisan medical experts concludes that abortion is safe and effective health care. The report makes clear that quality abortion care is threatened by medically unnecessary regulations that target abortion providers, limited training opportunities, and a lack of public funding. These restrictions punish women and undermine care.

Now more than ever, we must continue to fight to ensure that abortion is accessible without shame, stigma or barriers.

Learn more and join the fight at www.liesintolaws.org/abortion **

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