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By Burgess Everett | 11/30/2015 07:57 AM EDT


WILL REPEAL HIT OBAMA'S DESK THIS WEEK? The wrangling over how to repeal Obamacare with budget reconciliation will come to a head this week, beginning with a kick-off meeting tonight among Senate Republicans to chart a path forward. It does not sound like there are currently 51 votes for the plan to defund Planned Parenthood and strike down the health care law's individual and business mandates, but top Republicans are insisting they will get there as early as this week and there is a method to their madness. Three Republican senators, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Mike Lee, have vowed not to vote for the repeal effort because it does not far enough. Rubio won't be at the meeting intended to
snag his vote, he'll be campaigning in New Hampshire, and Cruz will be campaigning in North Carolina on Monday.

Unfinished business: Top People Who Know Things are expecting a transportation conference report to land as early as today. Federal transportation policy expires on Friday and the omnibus will need to be delivered shortly after on Dec. 11, so time is beginning to become a factor for Republican leaders Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell.

RIDING INTO BATTLE: Republicans are going to get some riders in the omnibus, the question is just how far they are going to push it, Seung Min Kim reports. "Republicans see the end-of-year funding bill due Dec. 11 as their best path for achieving their top policy priorities ... rollbacks of Obama's environmental and financial regulations are among some of the stickiest areas, Democratic aides said. Meanwhile, Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), are lobbying to loosen some campaign finance regulations. And there is the mounting pressure from dozens of GOP lawmakers to curb the flow of refugees fleeing war-torn Syria into the United States in the aftermath
of the terrorist attacks in Paris." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f670c62fd5b6362a4934014408082b516bd17bf59448866e3fdc4210876cd783

BATTLEGROUND DC: The Washington Post is trying to gin up opposition to using the District as an area for compromise in the omnibus, a place for Republicans to stick aggressive riders where Democrats aren't worried about offending their constituents because D.C. lacks congressional representation. From the editorial: "It's important that House and Senate Democrats, whose votes likely will be needed for passage of a budget, protect the District's interests. It may prove to be too difficult to eliminate the existing riders on abortion and marijuana (although the effort should be made), but under no circumstances should Democrats accept a budget that includes the new rider interfering with the
Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Amendment Act, which bars employer discrimination based on reproductive health decisions." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f670c62fd5b6362a6588471e69f4f51a70bfd462cdc1dbe98647baabcfcb0a65

Expectations: Forced to choose between antagonizing the District and a more sweeping policy rider, Democrats typically chose the District.

THE SHADOW PRIMARY: Senate Republicans aren't exactly leaping out with their presidential endorsements, but Ted Cruz may force their hand. As Cruz rises, more and more senators are talking nice about Marco Rubio, who appears to be The Establishment's No. 1 prospect as we head into actual primary season. "Just this month, Rubio has racked up endorsements from nine members of Congress, compared with two for early GOP front-runner Jeb Bush. More House endorsements for Rubio are set to roll out in December, according to campaign sources, and several GOP senators said privately they expect their colleagues to get behind Rubio once the GOP field thins," Seung Min and I report this morning.

Beltway battle: Regardless of what is happening on the campaign trail between the outsider candidates Donald Trump and Ben Carson, Senate Republicans will tell you it could come down to the disciplined Cruz and the hopeful Rubio. It's clear where many senators' affections lie: But "Cruz winning the nomination 'could happen with the angry situation we have out there' among the GOP electorate, said one Republican senator who hasn't endorsed in the race but does not want Cruz." Accordingly, Republicans have been watching closely as Rubio hammers Cruz over this spring's NSA vote, tossing Rubio a few attaboys for alleging Cruz weakened the U.S. intel capabilities. But official backing from more
of the caucus may be months away: Many veteran Republican senators don't want to endorse while Lindsey Graham is still in the race. Our story: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f670c62fd5b6362a006768fac23c54db6bc3e058ca43cc3f09560ae25926b515

CRACKIN' DOWN: House Majority Whip Steve Scalise is cracking down on the "Hope Yes, Vote No" crowd that are likely to turn the omnibus into a mostly Democratic affair, per an internal welcome back note obtained by Huddle. "Too many in our Conference are falling into the pattern of voting no on tough bills while actually hoping the bill passes because they know that the outcome will be even worse if the bill fail ... The vote that hurts our Conference is the no vote from a Member who hopes the bill passes, but relies on others to carry that load. That vote isn't fair to the Members who shoulder the responsibility of voting yes ... the story of a bill that passed with 150 Republican votes is
much more positive and assertive than the story of a bill that passes with 79 Republican votes," Scalise writes. He also asks his team to take the lead on Paul Ryan's reform agenda by establishing regular order in the House, generating bottom up solutions and empowering committees. (Via Lauren French)

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DECEMBER BECKONS. Welcome to the Huddle, your play-by-play guide to everything Capitol Hill, where Congress is already eyeing the next holiday break -- and so am I. Please send tips to beverett@politico.com and follow along on Twitter @burgessev.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The Senate is in at 3 p.m. and will vote at 5:30 p.m. on confirmation of Gayle Smith to be USAID administration. The House is in at at 2 p.m. and will vote on a host of suspensions at 6:30 p.m.

AROUND THE HILL - House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy holds a pen and pad at 11:30 a.m. in H-107. The Wastebook Wars begin with Sen. James Lankford unveiling his Government Waste Report at noon in S-325. Women Senators for Hillary will hold an endorsement event at 6:30 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency at 400 New Jersey Avenue NW.

PREVIEWS YOU CAN USE: Lankford continues Oklahoma mentor Tom Coburn's legacy with his pigskin-themed "Federal Fumbles" report, which includes 68 spending and 32 regulations that Lankford views as wasteful. The lead example: The federal government wracks up a billion in debt a day, "yet the federal government funds research into the dating lives of senior adults? The federal government, or Match.com?" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f670c62fd5b6362a9fd45f4ae1f0c1d87951ce3c3a0eef144f7cd40edef5f6fc

TK: Sen. Jeff Flake has his own Wastebook coming soon.

STEERING RACE: NJ's Daniel Newhauser reports that this month continues the Ryan Revolution as members jockey for a half-dozen seats on the Republican Steering Committee. "Republicans will vote for six at-large members to join the committee after the restructuring task force repurposed those slots, which were previously reserved for top committee chairmen. But complicating the process, each Republican member gets only one total vote, meaning members will have to choose between loyalties and back only one candidate. The top six vote-getters will take hold of the seats ... The idea behind the reorganization was to decentralize power. But in a sense, it will factionalize the conference, as some
members will have to choose, for instance, between their committee chairman or the designee of their intraparty caucus." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f670c62fd5b6362a8a9d858054d74db747ba17587073f53c36da29360896f1fc

OBAMA IN PARIS -- Climate conflict with GOP heats up: Watch for spending riders and the climate talks to intersect, with the government funding bill and an international climate accord due by the end of next week. NYT'S Carl Hulse: "Mr. Obama is set to remain in France until Tuesday, taking part in the climate talks he considers a major part of his agenda ... congressional Republicans have drawn a line against the president's climate initiatives, and the House is scheduled to vote this week on legislation that would undo new Environmental Protection Agency rules on power-plant emissions - a major element of the administration's efforts to address climate change. The legislation is unlikely
to become law, but Republicans hope it shows the international climate negotiators that the nation is not united politically behind the president's proposals." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f670c62fd5b6362aba7cf9ace71b698357cf9bfce8034e46d5c3e4e4a8acb610

HAWKS WANT TROOP INCREASE: Sens. Lindsey Graham and John McCain now want 10,000 troops each in Syria and Iraq, the two amigos said in Baghdad. "'The only way you can destroy the caliphate is with a ground component,' said Graham who is seeking his party's presidential nomination. 'The aerial campaign is not turning the tide of battle.' McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, recently proposed intervention in Syria by a European and Arab ground force backed by 10,000 U.S. military advisers and trainers ... The senators met earlier with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi who they said had welcomed the idea of more U.S. troops. 'If you went up to 10,000, you're not getting
pushback from the Iraqis,' said Graham. 'The difference between 3,500 and 10,000 is meaningless politically inside the country (but) militarily significant.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f670c62fd5b6362a0d351fd929f30dfddd3b14627f6da435a5041d3a2057e406

SCHEDULING ALERT: Per Matt Fleming of Roll Call, Dick Cheney's vice presidential bust will be unveiled on Thursday. It will be sculpted by William Behrends, who will also handle Al Gore's bust. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f670c62fd5b6362a28e8fec1eaf21807bb357b2d4de6d7b710f15400fc50497f

WEDNESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Alexander Levine was the first to answer that Montclair, N.J., is home to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and Stephen Colbert.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Alexander has today's question: This man stepped into the leadership void for his party in the '20s and ran for president repeatedly. Name the man, the elections he ran in and his party. The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. Email me at beverett@politico.com

GET HUDDLE emailed to your Blackberry, iPhone or other mobile device each morning. Just enter your email address where it says "Sign Up." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f670c62fd5b6362a285263438acdfd4a49c6d0b04c92f5ddfc67296b0de942c8

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