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11/08/2017 07:58 AM EDT


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

OH, WHAT A NIGHT - Democrats scored big gains from Washington to Maine last night, notably winning the gubernatorial races in both Virginia and New Jersey and flipping several seats in the Virginia House of Delegates, possibly giving them control of the chamber depending on outstanding recounts. "I certainly didn't see this ass-kicking coming; this is pretty stunning," said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). "Republicans have two problems: their president and their agenda. And I don't think either of those liabilities are disappearing anytime soon." Democrats are now expecting a surge in fundraising and recruitment, though party leaders stopped short of predicting they will take back the House
next year, Gabe Debenedetti reports.

Democrats and even some Republicans billed the wins, particularly Democrat Ralph Northam's triumph in Virginia, as a resounding rejection of President Donald Trump and his divisive rhetoric. "I do believe that this is a referendum on this administration," GOP Rep. Scott Taylor, who represents the Virginia Beach area, told the New York Times. "Democrats turned out tonight, but I'm pretty sure there were some Republicans who spoke loudly and clearly tonight as well." Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns with more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ff94023cc4c88f9020df16e6d27ed84ad42ca76f049f64aa61cbe660937178769a829a628d428d5f35919eb7f228ff84

In Utah, John Curtis, a moderate Republican and mayor of Provo, was elected to replace former Rep. Jason Chaffetz. "I pledge to serve the underrepresented," Curtis said during his victory speech. "It means if you're not white, Mormon and male, I am still here for you." The Salt Lake Tribune's Courtney Tanner with more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ff94023cc4c88f90ad653821c4e3566c1e5efd2f315feaf584f80fa8e5fb944e9df0979d01a5ab7b21743c4c8fca0818

RYAN'S RECORD-SETTING SPEAKERSHIP - When Paul Ryan was first elected speaker two years ago, he promised an "open process," that would be "more participatory." But two years later, "the House Rules Committee, which is controlled by the speaker, just set a record for the most closed rules in a session - barring lawmakers for the 49th time from offering amendments on a bill," Rachael reports. And Ryan has yet to allow a single bill be governed by an open rule, meaning members could propose changes on the floor. "We're supposed to have a speaker who keeps the House open," said GOP Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan. "There's a lot of protection happening right now, where leaders are trying to shield
their members from votes."

Ryan's response: "We absolutely have an open process," Ryan told reporters during a press conference Tuesday. "We're going through the committee process. All these bills are going through the committee." Rachael with more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ff94023cc4c88f903d15526f4e082a1636f21c4adfcea9f4c61739c7d46d443941790bfd9db552598c2c0aa8b74313fb

SENATORS LOOK TO BOLSTER BACKGROUND CHECKS - Senators on both sides of the aisle are looking at ways to strengthen the national background check system after the deadly Texas church shooting over the weekend. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) is talking to Democrats about a bill that would better ensure the criminal histories of potential gun buyers are properly transferred to the FBI's system, Seung Min reports, something the Air Force failed to do in the case of the Texas gunman. And Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) are working on a bill to ensure all domestic violence convictions in the military are captured in the federal database.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will also hold a hearing on the background checks database and bump stocks, the deadly firearm accessory used in the Las Vegas shooting, on Nov. 14. SMK with much more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ff94023cc4c88f900c40114ff9e60e4f9c0f97939e1c5726162319b12d22383982d0f7cfa503313aa99e23ca83b68e4f

DON'T WORRY, HUDDLE'S ALWAYS HERE FOR YOU. Welcome to Nov. 8, and thanks for reading Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill.

What Actually Did Happen? 365 days later, POLITICO Editor Carrie Budoff Brown looks at Election Day 2016 through the perspectives of five women who worked for different presidential candidates. In this exclusive POLITICO Women Rule podcast, Symone D. Sanders, Pam Bondi, Jennifer Palmieri, Catherine Frazier and Jessica Ennis share their experiences, memories and takeaways from inside the campaigns and outline what they think the next woman who runs for president needs to do to win. Tune in HERE.

TUESDAY'S MOST CLICKED: The list of five things to watch in the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races, written by Kevin Robillard and Ryan Hutchins, was the big winner.

TAX TALK: A MUCH DIFFERENT BILL - "Senate Republicans on Tuesday were considering a starkly different approach to overhauling the tax code than their House colleagues, weighing a delay in the implementation of a major corporate tax cut and other measures to alter the cost and impact of the plan," the Washington Post reports. Senate leaders are considering postponing the corporate tax cut until 2019 and are looking at a complete repeal of the state and local tax deduction, going farther than the House where GOP leaders preserved part of the tax break to appease blue-state Republicans. The Senate Finance Committee will introduce its bill Thursday with a markup scheduled for next week. Damian
Paletta, Mike DeBonis and Ed O'Keefe with more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ff94023cc4c88f902a5018e20fb0fdb20f976a18ce491a6be512e10819c7023d78271def3d9a8e4890ee5c67806fd75a

LAWRENCE'S TOP AIDE SUSPENDED - Rep. Brenda Lawrence's chief of staff has been placed on leave following allegations of sexual harassment from female staffers first reported by POLITICO. Lawrence (D-Mich.) suspended Dwayne Duron Marshall after Rachael reported Tuesday on four former staffers' accounts of how Marshall treated women in the office. The aides said he made frequent comments about their looks and engaged in occasional unwanted touching - something Marshall firmly denied in a statement. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ff94023cc4c88f90e3ace65353561f78ce53904f2aec490c4ead793cb8f6bfb205ef3c9356459b4f2766a8b4ac257a94

Across the Capitol, a bipartisan group led by Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) introduced legislation Tuesday that would immediately require sexual harassment training for senators as well as staffers. Grassley was the chief author behind the 1995 law that first set workplace standards for Capitol Hill, policies many staffers and lawmakers now say are outdated and in dire need of an overhaul. The bill also calls for a review and update of current sexual harassment training programs. Elana with much more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ff94023cc4c88f90a2cceb7a16e5c0681e069522eb21ed59459288b55f7f140ea7b847b05a892644d8db356c6f8f9c91

COMING LATER TODAY: More than two dozen members of the Congressional Hispanic and Progressive Caucuses will make clear that they won't support a year-end spending bill that doesn't include a legislative fix for Dreamers. Democratic leaders have been hesitant to publicly stake out that position, not wanting to be tagged with "threatening a government shutdown" when Republicans control the House. It's almost certain Republicans will need Democratic votes to pass a government funding bill in December. Reps. Luis V. Gutiérrez (D-Ill.), Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) will lead a press conference on the issue at 1 p.m. today in HVC Studio A and members are
also planning on publishing an op-ed.

CALL ME MAYBE - Senate Democrats meeting with top White House aides on Tuesday were surprised with a call from President Trump, who is still halfway across the world in Asia, Elana reports. Broadly speaking, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin said, they implored Trump and his party to slow down, noting red state Democrats' votes could be in play if they're included in the Senate process, which is unlikely. The president tried to convince Democrats to back the bill by telling them how much he would lose personally if the GOP proposal passes. "My accountant called me and said 'you're going to get killed in this bill,'" Trump told the Democrats in the meeting, according to NBC's Leigh Ann
Caldwell.

Behind the scenes: Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), one of a dozen senators who attended the meeting, snapped this pic from inside the room during Trump's call. Also, his Instagram account is pretty great if you don't already follow it. See the pic: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ff94023cc4c88f9079f5fc249209a8efcff54de7e0201366587e1e7bdf72d07b663d340932c5aa0216ebf5cc6b12054b

QUICK QUESTION: WHAT'S A SENATOR? The jury in Sen. Bob Menendez's federal bribery trial ended its first full day of deliberations Tuesday with one very basic unanswered question lingering for a juror: What's a senator? "U.S. District Judge William Walls declined to answer the question, and he refused that juror's request for a transcript of Monday's closing argument by Menendez's attorney," Bloomberg's David Voreacos and Neil Weinberg report. "The juror's question, odd as it may have seemed, may have related to whether [co-defendant Salomon] Melgen could have been considered a Menendez constituent." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ff94023cc4c88f90880ff79fb450c431214eb51adad3cb9de4866ce78480be178c533e79b66772d7b1eb186d129a37f8

HOUSE TO HOLD MEMBERS BRIEFING ON TECH STAFFERS - The House will hold members-only "listening sessions" on the use of shared employees next week, with the briefings coming months after several Democratic staffers were fired and remain under investigation over allegations of misusing the House computer system. Imran Awan, a longtime House aide until earlier this year, and several of his relatives also working on the Hill have been at the center of a Capitol Hill criminal investigation involving procurement theft. The House Administration Committee also plans to hold a hearing on the issue, although a date has not been set. Awan and his wife were indicted this summer on unrelated bank fraud
charges. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ff94023cc4c88f90ad08a0854fefe398dcae20fa770c1f90323067855855af08a939079ebec4eb61287ae287fae3c7db

TWO RETIREMENTS AND A SENATE BID - GOP Reps. Frank LoBiondo of New Jersey and Ted Poe of Texas both announced plans to retire Tuesday. And given the Democratic wins in last night's election, we could see more Republican retirement announcements shortly. LoBiondo's seat represents a pickup opportunity for Democrats. Separately, Rep. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) is also planning to leave the House chamber to run for retiring Sen. Jeff Flake's seat, she's telling her in-state colleagues. McSally will take on Kelli Ward, the former state senator backed by Steve Bannon. The Arizona Republic with more on McSally: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ff94023cc4c88f90e44bbce1f663801ef01728453447c15c6e87278a44c5b364e215eb90367221cb6a518b76ac0376de

Quote du jour: Arizona's senior Sen. John McCain, who beat back a primary challenge from Ward last year: "I'm shocked - shocked - to hear that Martha McSally might be interested in running for the United States Senate." (h/t Seung Min)

COMING ATTRACTIONS: SESSIONS IN THE HOT SEAT - Democrats are planning to pepper Attorney General Jeff Sessions with questions about former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos when the AG appears before the House Judiciary Committee next week. "Papadopoulos told authorities that he urged Trump - in a meeting that included Sessions - to travel to Russia for a meeting with Putin. Sessions reportedly shot down the proposal, but he later told congressional investigators he had no awareness of any Trump campaign contacts with Russian officials," Kyle and Elana report. Sessions will also testify before the House Intel Committee behind closed doors on the same day, Nov. 14, according to
Reuters.

Later today, Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson, the firm behind the Trump dossier, will appear before the House Intel panel, Bloomberg's Billy House reports. Simpson is expected to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights, CNN's Manu Raju reports.

WALKER GUNNING FOR WAYS AND MEANS POST - North Carolina Rep. Mark Walker, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, is eyeing a spot on the coveted Ways and Means Committee. Walker announced Tuesday he was running for one of two GOP spots opening up on the committee due to Republican retirements. "Walker, who spent almost two decades as a Baptist pastor, said he hoped to focus on the plight of inner-city communities if tapped to join the tax-writing panel," Kristina Peterson reports for the Wall Street Journal.

FIRST IN HUDDLE: FARM BILL TALK? House GOP Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash) will host Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue this morning at 9 AM. Perdue's appearance is part of McMorris Rodger's ongoing "Meet the Cabinet" series for House Republicans. Education Secretary Betsey DeVos, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, HUD Secretary Ben Carson, Small Business Administrator Linda McMahon, UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin have participated in the past.


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TODAY IN CONGRESS - The Senate meets at 10 a.m. with roll call votes related to two nominees expected later in the day. More info: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bc30768fce7100ad1b75691aa8d5a4d1dea604b497ab6b18769e35953c905cb19b52ff79227eee2e6e8f5664fed237f6 The House convenes at 10 a.m. with first votes around 1:30 p.m. and last votes around 4:30 p.m. Today's agenda: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bc30768fce7100ad5c431746f4b44f910d8d789359ddd2baf336fcf791bd27c80b1aab2036db56aa4c81f792b7ecdcb9

AROUND THE HILL - Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Reps. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) and Mark Takano (D-Calif.) will participate in an event starting at 8 a.m. on increasing hiring opportunities for veterans at Charter Communications' DC office.

Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) hold a press conference on their anti-abortion bill at 10 a.m. in the House triangle.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Finance ranking member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Ways and Means ranking member Richard Neal (D-Mass.) hold a press conference on corporate tax cuts that benefit the middle class at 10:30 a.m. in the Longworth lobby.

The House Military Veterans Caucus holds an event on the benefit of assistance dogs for veterans at 10:30 a.m. in 340 Cannon. Reps. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.), Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) and Tom Rooney (R-Fla.) are expected to participate.

Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Ruben Kihuen, (D-Nev.) hold a press conference on the Future Forum and their efforts to ease student loan debt at 11 a.m. in the House triangle.

House Foreign Affairs Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.) and other committee members meet with
U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley with a photo op at 11 a.m. in 2200 Rayburn. Senate EPW ranking member Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) hold a press conference on nominees at 12:15 p.m. in the Senate swamp.

Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) holds a news conference with members of the Democratic Faith Working Group on Obamacare enrollment at 2 p.m. in the House triangle. Reps. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) hold a press conference on the GOP tax plan at 2:15 p.m. in the Longworth lobby.

Reps. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.) and Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich.) hold a discussion on women in infrastructure development at 2:30 p.m. in 2247 Rayburn.

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and other congressional leaders unveil a "commemorative chair" in honor of American POWs and those missing in action during a 3 p.m. ceremony in Emancipation Hall.

TUESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Samuel Shelley was first to guess several historic electoral events that have happened on Nov. 7 in the last 100 years: In 1944, FDR was elected to a fourth term as president; the Bush v. Gore election happened on this day in 2000 and in 2006, Democrats took back the House, leading to Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) becoming the first female speaker in history.

And on Nov. 7: Janette Rankin from Montana became the first woman elected to Congress in 1916, President Richard Nixon was elected to a second term in a landslide in 1972, and in 1989 Douglas Wilder was the first African American elected governor in the U.S.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - John McKechnie with today's question: In the early days of the Republic, elections were held over the span of several weeks to accommodate travel difficulties. Which was the first presidential election to be held on a single day and when? The first person to correctly guess the answer gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your best guess my way: hcaygle@politico.com.

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