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11/16/2016 08:02 AM EDT


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

With assistance from Burgess Everett and Daniel Lippman

DID DONALD TRUMP SAVE PAUL RYAN? House Speaker Paul Ryan was unanimously nominated for his second term as speaker Tuesday (via voice vote), but just weeks before House Freedom Caucus Chairman Jim Jordan was planning to challenge Ryan for the top job. Then Donald Trump won and Jordan never launched his bid, instead falling in line with his caucus behind Ryan. "If Trump had not won, then the base would have demanded a scalp, and it probably would have been Paul's - and they may have been right to do that," House Freedom Caucus member Mick Mulvaney, who nominated Ryan for the speakership Tuesday, told Rachael.

What's next? Ryan still needs to get 218 votes on the floor in January to secure the speakership, meaning he can only afford to lose a few dozen Republicans. "A month and a half is an eternity in politics," Rep. Scott DesJarlais said, referring to the January floor vote for speaker. Rachael with this can't miss story: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=62246bf968f67e64075f58a40f1b5a919c12dc2b2f66568da918248a730cca7f

Other election results: Rep. Steve Stivers won his bid to lead House Republicans' campaign arm and Rep. Doug Collins beat outgoing RSC Chairman Bill Flores for the conference vice chair post.

TWEET DU JOUR- Daniel Newhauser (@dnewhauser): House GOP leadership elections final tally: White men: 7 White women: 1 Other: 0

NOW IT'S THE SENATE'S TURN- Senate Republicans and Democrats will hold their leadership elections this morning. There's expected to be no drama on the GOP side but Democrats still have some outstanding issues. The most pressing problem? With the daunting map Democrats face in 2018, no one seems eager to lead the party's campaign arm next Congress.

"Senior Democrats have been eyeing Rep. Chris Van Hollen, who was just elected to the Senate, for the DSCC post. But in an interview on Tuesday, Van Hollen said there's no plan in place for him to take the position. Democrats will be defending 25 seats, including 10 in states that Trump won," Burgess and Elana report. "Other high-profile senators such as Cory Booker of New Jersey and Al Franken of Minnesota have passed on the job. Sen. Chris Coons, another possibility, officially ruled out the job on Tuesday as well."

The other outstanding issue: Will Sen. Patty Murray challenge Sen. Dick Durbin for the whip job? Murray won't say what she plans to do. Sen. Bernie Sanders is also looking for a new leadership role but he's unlikely to leapfrog Murray, currently the No. 4 Democrat in leadership. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=62246bf968f67e6461ab22604e9e0828989473196fd9ef3f1feee822357a9815

THE TRUMP PROBLEM- Not a whole lot has changed for Republicans returning to Capitol Hill this week. Sure, Donald Trump was elected president. But lawmakers still find themselves confronting a barrage of Trump-related questions about his strategist Steve Bannon, mass deportations and even his lobbyist-filled transition team. "Now, Republicans are holding out hope that his passage from candidate to leader of the free world will bring about the long-awaited Trump pivot," Burgess reports.

"The reason for the challenging union between Trump and the Republican Congress? GOP lawmakers simply thought he would lose. 'We really hadn't thought [his election] was likely to happen. So we hadn't really thought about it much,' said a second Republican senator." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=62246bf968f67e6459d0d0abb9e41d170ebabe526239205a3b0dc69977d6b038

HOUSE DEMOCRATS PUSH ELECTIONS- After a tense back and forth, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi agreed Tuesday to push Democratic leadership elections past Thanksgiving. Democrats will now pick their leaders Nov. 30, with many saying they just need a little time to decompress and think about the caucus' next steps after their drubbing in the election. The delay is "a big deal because I think our leadership started out today thinking it was business as usual," said Rep. Marcia Fudge. "And I think that probably not just our leadership but many people in our caucus were surprised at the level of discontent in our caucus."

Will he or won't he? Rep. Tim Ryan still won't say whether he's planning to challenge Pelosi for the top spot after openly floating the idea. "We're having conversations right now," he said on MSNBC's Morning Joe today when asked directly about challenging her. "The Obamas are gone, the Clintons are gone, the Bidens are gone, Harry Reid is gone. We don't have anyone at the DNC. The House leadership race is really going to be an important signal to many Democrats, independents and moderate Republicans of what the new Democratic Party looks like," he added.

But time is running out for Ryan to jump in the race. Anyone wanting to mount a competitive challenge against Pelosi would need to start building support now, before members leave for Thanksgiving, and even then, it's a long shot. My story with Bres: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=62246bf968f67e64e82cc718173e4a50780b3bd206e42493fed72441bd8b77f6

Today: Members are invited to a post-election meeting this morning at the DCCC to talk about what happened on Nov. 8.

HEY Y'ALL, WELCOME TO WEDNESDAY, NOV. 16. Thanks for reading POLITICO's Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill.

** Presented by Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals: A story of courage -- Kristine's son, Brock, became sick and needed surgery. For pain, a multimodal analgesic approach was used after surgery, thus reducing the amount of opioids Brock received. Surgery was successful. The care team did an excellent job helping him manage his pain with MMA therapy. To learn more about Kristine and Brock's story visit http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=62246bf968f67e64c4dd9c910ca5131d45e18110d1b9466df42cfdfd0f9f6c0c **

TUESDAY'S MOST CLICKED- You guys really loved Rachael's story about House Speaker Paul Ryan's reelection chances.

TODAY IN CONGRESS- The House gavels in at 10 a.m. with first and last votes possible between 5 p.m. - 6 p.m. More info: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=62246bf968f67e64bf6f174483b11e1d11eeda43edc7a6c836ade3e5e438f1b2 The Senate meets at 2:30 p.m.

AROUND THE HILL- Freshman orientation kicks off at 8:30 a.m. in the CVC auditorium. Senate Republicans and Democrats hold their leadership elections at 9:30 a.m.

COMING TOMORROW: RSC ELECTIONS- The conservative Republican Study Committee votes tomorrow on its new chairman-House Freedom Caucus Rep. Andy Harris or freshman Rep. Mark Walker. Walker has commitments of support from 55 percent of lawmakers who have renewed their RSC membership (only current members can vote), according to a source with knowledge of his whip operation. Harris' office didn't respond to a request for comment about the numbers.

Harris and Walker will participate in a candidate forum today and the RSC will vote tomorrow. "We feel like we're in the range of where we need to be," Walker told Huddle. "But we've still got work to do. We feel like there's 10-13 more members who are kind of processing and undecided."

Related: Harris told the Washington Examiner he hopes "that within two years there's no need for [the House Freedom Caucus]." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=62246bf968f67e64c396c63e753c4c26fadbb1653702145f1b5af922605f8e35

CHECK PLEASE- The DSCC has returned $267,000 in donations from the Thornton Law Firm that's been linked to alleged straw donations. Lots of Democratic candidates returned money in the heat of the election cycle, but we're just hearing of the DSCC refund now. The DSCC was reviewing the donations previously.

TRANSITION WATCH- Trump is considering nominating Sen. Ted Cruz for Attorney General, reports Bloomberg's Jennifer Jacobs. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=62246bf968f67e64e1769bccfdab1681a7af93de2fb9522c61e1c3113f9ce121

AIN'T NO THANG- Speaker Ryan waved off questions Tuesday about Steve Bannon's past attacks on him, saying he's "looking forward" not back. "I'm looking to the future and I'm looking forward to how we make this work for the American people and how we make President Trump the most successful president in a lifetime," Ryan told reporters. More from Rachael: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=62246bf968f67e6492a75930fd64899815757abfe188b3ba481dfb274186743d

STEVE ISRAEL LOVES OLD MOVIES- Rep. Steve Israel was picked as "guest programmer" for Turner Classic Movies, telling TCM "that a favorite way to relax after a hard day's work is with a film" on the channel. His picks? The Candidate, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Best Man and Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, which Israel called his "safe movie, my retreat...so simple and beautiful." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=62246bf968f67e64ddbff50aef5896f1da625c184bdb7cd13e9315dc0ec80e30

SCOTT EYES FLORIDA SENATE SEAT- Florida Gov. Rick Scott gave his most definitive answer yet on whether he'd challenge Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson in 2018. "'It's an option,' Scott told reporters in Orlando during the annual conference of the Republican Governor's Association," reports Christine Sexton. Scott's current term as governor is up in 2018 and he's term-limited in the post.

Change of heart: "Scott's apparent change of heart follows last Tuesday's red-wave election that handed Trump the presidency and kept both chambers of Congress in the hands of the Republicans. ... 'It was appealing to him before,' said a Republican familiar with Scott's thinking. 'But now it's even more appealing.'" More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=62246bf968f67e64ee082fb208ed0acf4d75afcff08afebcc6ca3a420240c2a4

Don't count Nelson out yet: "Whoever it is, I run my race like there's no tomorrow," he told the Tampa Bay Times' Alex Leary. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=62246bf968f67e64ac6b588ee890a295d06d614abff3b3e73676d93f0acfed3c

SENATORS WARN TRUMP ON PUTIN- Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham "are warning Donald Trump against cozying up to Moscow as lawmakers from both political parties voice alarm about potential consequences of the president-elect's foreign-policy moves," Felicia Schwartz and Kristina Peterson report for the Wall Street Journal. "'I worry about Russia,' Mr. Graham said. 'They're a bad actor in the world. They need to be reined in. We need not concede Crimea.'" More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=62246bf968f67e642b7bacdd4a3538f53975e091fc8904cdee3c71aa51ec4271

BOUSTANY ENDORSES IN LA SENATE RACE- Outgoing Rep. Charles Boustany on Tuesday endorsed Republican state Treasurer John Kennedy in the December runoff for Louisiana's open senate seat. Boustany came in third behind Kennedy and Democrat Foster Campbell. If Kennedy wins the seat, Republicans would have 52 Senate seats compared to 48 for Democrats. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=62246bf968f67e64fadf7f3e0a9aa9e302238f5bdbb7b3a3ba4f0d369b7325bf

PRICE CONSIDERED FOR HHS- House Budget Chairman Tom Price is being considered to run the Health and Human Services Department in President-elect Trump's administration, Jennifer and Rachael report. Price was an early Trump supporter, is an orthopedic surgeon and "has been one of the GOP's top voices on Obamacare repeal and other health care issues." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=62246bf968f67e64a703d783bf39546fb3bd4ab5c1a3d08349fe21d2077c9252

TUESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER- Joseph Pratt was the first to correctly guess that Elbridge Gerry was the Declaration of Independence signer who isn't buried in one of the original colonies (he's interred in D.C.) and inspired the word "gerrymandering."

TODAY'S TRIVIA- Shelby Boxenbaum with today's question: Who was the first president whose mother was able to vote for him for president? The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in tomorrow's Huddle: hcaygle@politico.com

GET HUDDLE emailed to your phone each morning.


** Presented by Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals:
Kristine's son, Brock, became very sick and needed surgery. As a mother, her primary concern was making sure he received the best care available, leading to the greatest recovery possible.

Before the procedure, she asked her son's care team if a multimodal analgesic (MMA) approach could be used during and after surgery. She knew MMA therapy would mean her son would receive multiple types of pain medications to treat different pain pathways in his body, which could reduce the amount of opioids he would receive.

Fortunately, Brock's surgery was successful. His care team did an excellent job of helping him manage his pain with MMA therapy, and stay on track for his recovery following surgery. To learn more about Kristine and Brock's story visit http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=62246bf968f67e64c4dd9c910ca5131d45e18110d1b9466df42cfdfd0f9f6c0c **

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