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10/06/2017 07:59 AM EDT


By Heather Caygle (hcaygle@politico.com or @heatherscope)

With an assist from Daniel Lippman

THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG - Embattled Rep. Tim Murphy will resign from Congress Oct. 21 after the pro-life congressman was caught (via a series of text messages) encouraging his lover to have an abortion. But it turns out that was just the beginning. Several ex-staffers now say Murphy and his long-time chief of staff Susan Mosychuk - who had a close personal relationship, even feeding each other in public, according to sources - made working in the office a living hell.

'An affront to creeps': Mosychuk would berate staffers, calling them "worthless" or "garbage," interrupt their bathroom breaks and make them take the stairs instead of the elevator if she was angry, according to several former employees. "I know what these people are like. To call them creeps is an affront to creeps," Nick Rodondo, Murphy's former district director, told a Pittsburgh radio station. There are also lingering ethical questions about Mosychuk's salary. Rachael, Jake and Bres with much, much more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7c308bf4487436306b616851e7920b198d4d701e642bc2968aab4fc1a6c8952310b419f556a1b0fe3851623e8bbd810c7c9b919c5fd66c70

THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM - Rep. Linda Sánchez, a member of House Democratic leadership, said Thursday she thinks it's time for longtime Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and her top lieutenants, Steny Hoyer and James Clyburn, to step down. "I do think we have this real breadth and depth of talent within our caucus and I do think it's time to pass the torch to a new generation of leaders," Sanchez said on C-SPAN's Newsmakers, which will air in full Sunday. Sanchez, who ranks fifth in leadership, is the most prominent Democrat to publicly question Pelosi's tenure. Her comments - and their timing - shocked the caucus Thursday, according to several sources.

"What she's saying is we need to have a discussion and can't continue to ignore that there is an elephant in the room," said a source close to Sanchez. Pelosi and Hoyer have been the top two Democrats for nearly 15 years, Clyburn as No. 3 for the last decade, and all are in their mid-to-late seventies. Several other Democrats have said privately they too want to have a discussion about their future plans but didn't understand the timing of Sanchez's remarks. Drew Hammill, Pelosi's spokesman, said any talk of a leadership change is a "distraction" from what Democrats are focused on - winning back the House. Your Huddle host with more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7c308bf448743630298ff480c951630661384d4845b1ae1340ff808811526e7cf9168e5372f3afa976b725cb21a1855b5d0774a07e778019

A ROUGH RUN FOR THE GOP - Just in the last week or so, firebrand Roy Moore beat out McConnell-backed Luther Strange; Sen. Bob Corker announced his retirement and the establishment's preferred choice, Gov. Bill Haslam, declined to run; VP Mike Pence's chief of staff was recorded encouraging a "purge" of GOP lawmakers disloyal to Trump; former lawmaker-turned-convicted felon Michael Grimm, backed by Steve Bannon, announced a primary challenge; and Murphy resigned amid scandal. And that doesn't even get into the coming months, with lingering questions about the next steps for several GOP senators including Susan Collins, Orrin Hatch, Jeff Flake, Roger Wicker and John McCain.

'Everybody is angry at everybody': "We had a pretty rough patch back in 2010 and 2012, and just when that sort of calms down, here comes the next wave," said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas. Then "it was more ideological, whereas now it's just more everybody is just angry at everybody." Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns with this New York Times special: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7c308bf448743630a3be932acb4c5507ad7047cc5ebb21de505ffd9ef92f2c33c968de65e9d9a7dfa0442e220bffef556a5610a677d3a30c

MOORE PROBLEMS FOR McCONNELL - GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore rode into Washington this week - although not on an actual horse this time - for meetings with top conservatives, snubbing GOP leaders along the way. Moore huddled with defiant Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah), Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and conservative leaders including Club for Growth President David McIntosh and Jim DeMint. "One person Moore did not see: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, whom Moore wants to dethrone. And he did not visit the Senate Republican lunch, as is customary for Senate GOP primary winners," Burgess and Seung Min report. More on Moore:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7c308bf4487436308371d41244040e65fb78823aa2a14993eae6a2a16f675dfd19af14b035e0bb77f93be1a60b60bff0c3afb96a84e3c9c7

FRIYAY GUYS, WE DID IT. Welcome to Oct. 6 and thanks for tuning in to POLITICO's Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill. Our beloved Crimson Tide heads to the Lone Star State to take on Texas A&M tomorrow at 7 p.m. Rollllll Tide!

PROGRAMMING NOTE: Huddle will be taking the day off Monday, Oct. 9, for Columbus Day but we'll be back in your inboxes Tuesday morning.

THURSDAY'S MOST CLICKED: The AP's story on the House budget vote Thursday was the winner.

NRA TRIES TO HEAD OFF GUN CONTROL FIGHT - The NRA on Thursday called on federal regulators to examine current policy on bump stocks, an effort to head off a gun control fight in Congress after several lawmakers said they're supportive of banning the firearm accessory. "Officials with the group have told Capitol Hill Republicans and Trump administration officials they would prefer a new rule or regulations from ATF, rather than hastily cobbled together legislation," Rachael, Josh Dawsey and Bres report. The Las Vegas shooter used bump stocks to convert his guns into automatic weapons. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7c308bf448743630fdad9001c57e224016d3e7265ef40b07b120ceb6134fbb34482ab490bfe034ad947517a3f269188e92cec6809c8f8603

NRA President Wayne LaPierre speaks: "What the NRA has said is we ought to take a look at that and see if it's in compliance with federal law and it's worthy of additional regulation," LaPierre said during an interview on Fox News. "That being said, we didn't say ban [them], we didn't say confiscate [them]." Cristiano Lima with more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7c308bf448743630f54a77639b36dc5eca4ad34be08bf3fe03474a2e0a44a53581bc1e951022759cbbad5718044ba2a8438e71cfbf2a5922

WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH DACA? The White House is finalizing a list of its legislative priorities and the proposal includes nonstarters for several key lawmakers, including a plan to significantly slash legal immigration. White House aide Stephen Miller, upset after Trump's dinner last month with Democratic leaders, has been working since to bring the president back to a tougher immigration stance, Josh Dawsey, Andrew Restuccia and Matt Nussbaum report.

Sabotage? Some Republican aides say Miller is purposefully trying to sabotage the deal by making demands on legal immigration that unite Democrats in opposition and divide Republicans, reports HuffPost's Elise Foley and Matt Fuller. "Until Miller takes a backseat, the DACA deal is going nowhere," said one GOP aide.

Meanwhile, GOP Sen. Jeff Flake (Ariz.) is floating his own immigration compromise, which would combine protections for Dreamers with policies focused on deporting gang members and beefing up border security. Burgess with more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7c308bf4487436303ac9c60ea3cb7d4bab21e5201e3e7ea111931d5c0a193a45d6dacbf180b9a3c447b1517cd304381ff504f8fd35a30447

WHY CAN'T WE BE FRIENDS? Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, the GOP establishment's pick to take on Sen. Claire McCaskill, is trying to fend off a possible primary challenge before even officially entering the race. Hawley called Steve Bannon late last week after reading a New York Times report that the combative former White House strategist was considering putting up a far-right challenger against the AG, Kevin Robillard and Maggie Severns report. But Bannon is still hanging out with former state GOP chair Ed Martin - Martin texted a picture of the two together last week - and could back him in a primary. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7c308bf4487436309a6a30409e0cd363eb6c4b1a0ba3c6ee674e0946ce4daefea9009341e1bcf9a1779b4362d803135cc4a1756bbb0f8fd6

And don't miss Gabriel Debenedetti's report on how Democrats are looking to capitalize on the GOP dysfunction in 2018: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7c308bf448743630d8fc62691a9f320f5f46b5c856402e8ba9907b93584ab8f2291f54918dbb5541393f97b7380036f5624085d08cd4f9ea


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TO RUSSIA, WITH LOVE - "Republicans in Congress are weighing joining with Democrats to demand greater transparency for political ads on Facebook and Twitter, as both parties look for ways to prevent a 2018 repeat of Russia's election meddling last year," Elana, Kyle and Ashley Gold report this morning. "Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and James Lankford (R-Okla.), who both sit on the intelligence committee where Sen. Mark Warner is the top Democrat, said in interviews this week that they're looking at the proposal he and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) have crafted." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7c308bf4487436304664c56783124acd3ed318313040e3bd2f0cc7035f91fbabe0ef140cf661d8af93cfcf2e5733cb43b32915ea12fe081b

YOUR MONEY'S NO GOOD HERE- Multiple Democratic senators are washing their hands of donations from Harvey Weinstein after the New York Times detailed decades of sexual harassment allegations against the famous Hollywood producer. Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) have all announced they'll be giving Weinstein campaign donations to charity, the Times reports. Several other Democratic senators including Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), Al Franken (Minn.), Cory Booker (N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.) have received donations from Weinstein, BuzzFeed reports.

BLACKBURN ENTERS SENATE RACE - Conservative Rep. Marsha Blackburn officially announced her bid to replace retiring Sen. Bob Corker on Thursday. "I'm a hard core, card-carrying Tennessee conservative," she says in the announcement video, adding "I'm politically incorrect and proud of it." Blackburn's announcement came shortly after her biggest potential rival, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, announced he wouldn't seek the seat. Haslam had been seriously encouraged by the GOP establishment, particularly Corker and fellow Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander, to run for the seat. Kevin with more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7c308bf448743630201175d0df7ca7b6f15c7a198b7dc8cc93e45c5161ac731a327951b54b13d60550942ccc4d01e7caf576211503f56aef

LONG TIME, NO SEE - Sen. Bob Menendez was back in the Capitol Thursday, participating in a Foreign Relations Committee hearing and criticizing Trump's visit to Puerto Rico during a speech on the Senate floor. The New Jersey Democrat has mostly been absent from the Capitol since his federal corruption trial started in Newark last month. Roll Call's Niels Lesniewski with more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7c308bf448743630b0d6c6f0ca21725edc490c47817a39833acb512827612f125f6f728266cc8f5508a49cb03ec4ce29e1c510a7d3817b42

Related: Menendez won't say whether he'll resign if convicted, CNN's Manu Raju reports. "I have no intention of being anything but exonerated," Menendez told CNN. "So therefore, I'm not contemplating anything but reelection next year." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7c308bf448743630b20de724266a893689990edc5617d2c934d1320d659760e00e6e4a62470e4365a8028c4afae9d513ec63785580d6c1b7

WELCOME TO THE WORLD - Saul Hernandez, deputy chief of staff to Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), and Brittany Johnson Hernandez, deputy director of federal affairs at the March of Dimes, welcomed Elise Ileana Hernandez, who arrived at 6:57 p.m. on Oct. 3., 7 lbs., 6 oz. and 20.5 inches long. Pic: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7c308bf4487436300442b7d70e64861b2eb6efe7149e29ad60a8ee800ffa80b58cc3177b82e56a5fcb232e4361d474acbe61fcde2369961e

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The House returns Tuesday, Oct. 10. The Senate is out until Monday, Oct. 16.

AROUND THE HILL - Who's hosting happy hour?

THURSDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Jake Middlebrooks correctly guessed that William Jennings Bryan was the mystery politician who lost three elections to two men who shared his first name: William McKinley and William Howard Taft.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - This nearly 200-year old sculpture in the Capitol is inscribed with the words "Am. Im. 55." Who is depicted in the sculpture and what is the meaning of the inscription? Send your best guess my way: hcaygle@politico.com. The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle.

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