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10/09/2015 06:15 AM EDT


By Lauren French (lfrench@politico.com & @laurennfrench)

With an assist from Seung Min Kim.

Why McCarthy quit. Jake Sherman, John Bresnahan and Anna Palmer write,"House Republicans are in an historic state of chaos, torn between two ideological poles with no clear sense of who will serve as their next leader, and no idea of their governing agenda with several legislative battles in the coming weeks. California Rep. Kevin McCarthy's decision to abandon his bid for speaker Thursday afternoon just moments before a planned closed party election has set off a leadership scramble not seen in more than a decade. What makes this even more extraordinary, though, is there's no obvious line of succession to power. McCarthy was dogged by a host of factors. He thought he would win the
speakership, but be crippled by the same problems that dogged Speaker John Boehner. He said Republicans created the Select Committee on Benghazi to harm Hillary Clinton's chances of winning the presidency, which alarmed Republicans. Now, the party is searching for a new answer." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4f7dcc3bc09468c771e93cdb187feac9c625cec032345476b63e62daeb9c34b6

Now it's all about Paul Ryan right now. Anna Palmer, John Bresnahan and I report, "House Republicans are frantically lobbying Ryan to run for speaker after House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) abruptly ditched his bid Thursday for speaker, leaving a gaping hole atop the fractious Republican Conference and no obvious successor to John Boehner. The Wisconsin Republican is getting bombarded with calls and one-on-one appeals from GOP lawmakers, urging him to be the party's white knight. Boehner has had multiple conversations with the Ways and Means Committee chairman. Even before he dropped his own bid, McCarthy told Ryan he should do it. And the list goes on: House Republican
Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) spoke to him about it on the House floor, and Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) also has pushed Ryan to reconsider." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4f7dcc3bc09468c7e62b83ae7dd7956a821257fd48ae11731a5e381de748ab8d

And with no counterpart, McConnell plots alone. Burgess Everett and Seung Min Kim report, "Mitch McConnell has no dance partner in the House. That's bad news for Mitch McConnell. The Senate majority leader has made no secret of his strategy to keep control of the Senate next year and win the White House - by demonstrating Republicans can govern responsibly and avoid self-inflicted wounds. But the House GOP is in disarray, with no clear replacement for retiring Speaker John Boehner. And lawmakers have only a few weeks to navigate a series of fiscal land mines that includes the threat of a catastrophic debt default, another potential government shutdown showdown and a looming highway bill
deadline - big lifts in the best of times in the House, let alone a period of major internal strife." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4f7dcc3bc09468c74c5a3c0b6c32a2dac281a3c32762bfd8a3a36b7adceefbe1

But don't forget about the real work Congress still needs to do. Rebecca Shabad for CBS writes, "There is still a packed fall schedule. Lawmakers face several looming deadlines, including the need to raise the debt ceiling by early November and another government funding battle in early December." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4f7dcc3bc09468c73cd3e98f5de856d5b989257a8de2654f2dfbd543b8965b27

Happy Friday, October 9, 2015, and welcome to the Huddle, your play-by-play guide of everything happening on the Hill. Thanks for reading all week. You can reach me with comments, concerns and tips at lfrench@politico.com or @laurennfrench. My pal Burgess is taking over next week. You can reach him at beverett@politico.com and should absolutely follow him on Twitter at @burgessev.

Today in Congress. The Senate is out of session until Oct. 20. Votes in the House are TBD.

Around the Hill: The Republican Conference will decide where they go from here at a 9 a.m. meeting. At 9:15 a.m., Rep. Rosa DeLauro will discuss trade at the House Triangle. Reps. Joe Barton, Henry Cuellar and Steve Scalise will have a press avail on the crude oil ban at the House Triangle. The Southern Delegation will meet from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. in 2216 Rayburn to discuss the GOP speaker election.

** A message from the National Association of Manufacturers: Manufacturers need lawmakers to support tax policies that encourage investment, allowing job creators to invest more money into new equipment and machinery to grow and compete. Congress must renew these incentives now and empower manufacturers to lead our nation to sustained economic growth. Learn more at www.nam.org/investmentweek. **

Benghazi Republicans release new Libya emails from Clinton. Rachael Bade reports, House GOP Benghazi investigators are charging that Hillary Clinton ally Sidney Blumenthal acted as her "de facto political adviser" on Libya despite having a financial stake in the country that Clinton eventually became aware of. In a lengthy letter to skeptical Democrats on Thursday, Republicans on the House Select Committee on Benghazi said that a new trove of emails recently turned over by the State Department offers more details on Blumenthal's role advising Clinton while he developed a business venture that stood to profit from State Department decisions. Republicans plan to call in Blumenthal to testify
for a second time about revelations in the emails, which Republicans intend to release next week. The developments came as Clinton prepares to appear before the committee October 22 to testify under oath about her handling of Benghazi." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4f7dcc3bc09468c75a4cd70613b7731a47e75fd6fce283ca88df76cd9f138c8c

In Kentucky, Republicans want Paul focused on the Senate. Kevin Robillard has the story, "Rand Paul is under increasing pressure from Republicans here and in Washington to pull the plug on his stagnant presidential campaign and instead recommit his resources to keeping his Senate seat in GOP hands. D.C. Republicans think Paul's poll numbers have flat-lined - and operatives worried about retaining control of the Senate are ready for him to start spending a lot more time in Kentucky and a lot less time in Iowa and New Hampshire." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4f7dcc3bc09468c767102d877c4891033d7bf357733300152a4cc4f08b65274e

Warren, others, head to Europe. Matt Viser for the Boston Globe, "Senator Elizabeth Warren is planning to leave Friday on a congressional trip to Europe for a six-day mission focused largely on economic issues and a Syrian refugee crisis that has sent migrants fleeing into Eastern Europe. The trip, which is being spearheaded by Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, will include stops in Greece, Ukraine, and Germany.... In addition to the Syrian refugee crisis, the trip will explore the Greek debt crisis and eurozone economic policy." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4f7dcc3bc09468c732d8bcf4c402a2f99f64f09572be162723dd956e2b509cc6

Ribble leaves Freedom Caucus. Your Huddle author reports, "A second Republican has dropped out of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. Wisconsin Rep. Reid Ribble announced on Thursday he would leave the conservative group after its aggressive moves during the House leadership race. Ribble said in a statement that he joined the Freedom Caucus because the group was "focused on making the process reforms to get every member's voice heard and advance conservative policy." But since Speaker John Boehner resigned in September, the group has waded into the internal politics of the Republican Conference." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4f7dcc3bc09468c7d8088a2e6731be5cfd24f9771529809c4ab392eb6080ca69

Vitter's immigration oopsie. Senate Republicans, led by Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana, rolled out a hardline immigration bill earlier this week cracking down on "sanctuary cities" that faces a key vote once senators return from next week's recess. We found it a bit curious that tucked among the list of outside groups supporting the bill was the liberal AFL-CIO, since Vitter's proposal seems exactly like the type of immigration policies that the union would oppose. And turns out we were right, per this statement from Bill Samuel, AFL-CIO's director of government affairs: "Senator Vitter falsely claimed the AFL-CIO supports his discriminatory bill. We emphatically do not ... The AFL-CIO will
work with allies to defeat this bill and any similar legislation that scapegoats and criminalizes our immigrant communities." A Vitter aide said the mistake "was unfortunately due to an editing error" and noted that it was the International Union of Police Associations, a law-enforcement union affiliated with the AFL-CIO, that actually supports his bill.

When the Hill is in crisis, head to Twitter. Twitter can be a pretty insufferable place at times but occasionally we Washingtonians can hit the mark on funny (or well, kind of funny in a very D.C. way). A slew of Democrats opted to troll their Republican counterparts after the speaker race blew and some journos got in the mix. Here are some of the better tweets we saw yesterday. 1) Dingell gets in 2) Rangel and his smoothie 3) The empty chair is back 4) a Craigslist ad for speaker.

And if you're feeling nostalgic.....here is a blast-from-the-past video everyone should watch: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4f7dcc3bc09468c75f5d0856cf99f900ddc1d98730d1637fecb4d5542c5cfe10

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Thursday's answer. Michael Baker was the first to correctly answer that Robert Lucas, who won the 1995 Nobel Prize in Economics, had an ex-wife who put a clause in their divorce settlement that she would receive 50 percent of any award money. Her name was Rita.

Today's trivia. Michael Baker has today's question. Politicians, monarchs, and CEOs are often examples where family legacies reign. What family collectively has won more Nobel prizes that any other and in what disciplines? The first to email lfrench@politico.com with the correct answer gets a mention in tomorrow's Huddle.

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=4f7dcc3bc09468c7692ed6464fc5fa4facbcf3a101929edd831f315facd7f0bb

** A message from the National Association of Manufacturers: Our economy is not where it needs to be, and uncertainty is holding back greater investment in the economy. Increased investment by the manufacturing sector will make a difference. Investment incentives that allow companies to immediately write off at least 50 percent (or 100 percent for small businesses) of the cost of capital equipment and provide relief for businesses that continue to struggle have made a difference in recent years. These incentives expired at the end of 2014. Reviving and extending these important provisions will promote the investment needed to jump-start our economy into high gear.

To create jobs and grow the economy, manufacturers need Congress to act now. By reducing the tax cost of investment, these incentives allow job creators to invest more money into new equipment and machinery to grow, expand and compete. Congress must act to empower manufacturers to lead our nation to sustained economic growth. Learn more at www.nam.org/investmentweek. **

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