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10/27/2017 08:03 AM EDT


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

With an assist from Seung Min Kim

LAWMAKERS CALL FOR ACTION ON SEXUAL HARASSMENT - The sexual harassment scandals involving major Hollywood and media figures are focusing new attention on Congress, where critics say procedures for preventing and punishing such action remain woefully inadequate in the long-time boys club. "Many of us in Congress know what it's like because Congress has been a breeding ground for a hostile work environment for far too long," said Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), who recounted her own experience being harassed as a congressional staffer. "The chief of staff held my face, kissed me and stuck his tongue in my mouth," Speier said.

Speier and Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich.) plan to introduce a bill next week that would overhaul the Office of Compliance (OOC), which handles sexual harassment complaints, and make harassment training mandatory for every office. The lawmakers and several staffers say current procedures for reporting harassment on the Hill are burdensome and archaic: Many people aren't aware of the OOC, lawmakers and aides aren't required to undergo mandatory training and victims must submit to as much as three months of "counseling" before lodging an official complaint. In an interview Thursday, Speier called the OOC "toothless" and "a joke."

Complicating matters is the fact that each office operates as a fiefdom with its own rules and procedures. For example, when Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) faced complaints from several female staffers about his chief of staff, Kenny West, Meadows turned to his friend Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) for help. Gowdy's chief of staff interviewed the female aides and recommended Meadows fire West, though Meadows kept him on payroll for months after that, according to an OCE report. "It's time to throw back the curtain on the repulsive behavior that, until now, has thrived in the dark without consequences," Speier said. Much more from Rachael and Elana: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=af69a2108087ec7cacb5ae2f91660be11b42b2d2ae26908de9600e2e4819e3c06288137aa525cf9677272dae0ba36c69

HOUSE PASSES BUDGET IN SQUEAKER VOTE - House Republicans cleared a crucial hurdle in their push to rewrite the tax code Thursday, narrowly approving the Senate's budget in a 216-212 vote. House GOP leaders are planning to unveil their long-awaited tax bill next Wednesday with hopes of shepherding it through the committee and the House floor by Thanksgiving. But Republican lawmakers are still sparring over key issues, including the state and local tax deduction and changing the tax structure for 401(k) retirement accounts. Jen Scholtes and Rachael Bade: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=af69a2108087ec7c7b322c27e1c12a61af120e022ef24025666fd5967bbc7ea3ee60c286253130ccd4f5f8a6d4d6da1e

From POLITICO Magazine: "How the GOP learned to stop worrying and love spending," via Michael Grunwald. Read: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=af69a2108087ec7c483ef8bd0489f42d3ae8fe758dea1f4c4679e3a2c0cdf9ff34eabdd93d58e43af52f9f4f518a89d9

GOP PREPARES TO WIND DOWN RUSSIA PROBES - Republican lawmakers say they're preparing to wrap up investigations into Russian interference in the coming months even though the most politically explosive issue - whether Trump associates colluded with the Kremlin - remains unresolved, Kyle and Elana report this morning. Now Democrats have to decide whether to join with Republicans or break with the GOP completely and end any chance of presenting a unified front against continued Russian threats. House Intel leaders want to meet with their Senate counterparts soon to compare notes. Wildly divergent conclusions, Rep. Mike Conaway said, could "embarrass the institution." More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=af69a2108087ec7ce1ba0be6cecea0a3aeb5ef42b3366463e75d8354262d74599ed2a73bf4321f0824f2da6490d72208

Related Russia news: Republicans are spoiling for a fight over special counsel Robert Mueller's budget, Darren Samuelsohn reports: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dfb3270f03ac0dacba2bdfa136df1abc31ea88b30fde14b752112bee335836439a245cd0d6a976dee9d01929213f9a6d And John Podesta and former DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz denied to congressional investigators that they knew about any arrangement to pay for the Trump dossier, CNN's Manu Raju and Jeremy Herb report: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=af69a2108087ec7c56eb7147690144254e96e9c5bbc3524d8c18c1a44c1a446526ffe15e70351cde1b1e60502e3b297e

WELCOME TO HALLOWEEN WEEKEND Y'ALL. Thanks for tuning in to POLITICO's Huddle on this Friday, Oct. 27, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill. Can you guess which musical duo your Huddle host and her husband will be dressing up as this year? Get it right and I'll give you a shout-out on Monday: hcaygle@politico.com

THURSDAY'S MOST CLICKED: Brian Faler's list of six things that could derail the GOP tax plan was the big winner.

WH TO MOVE AHEAD WITH RUSSIA SANCTIONS - The State Department will soon begin implementing new sanctions against Russia after several lawmakers questioned the weeks-long delay, Elana reports. Lawmakers including Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker have been demanding action after the Trump administration missed a key Oct. 1 deadline to begin implementing new sanctions. The latest news comes after Foreign Policy reported Thursday that the State Department has shuttered its office that oversees sanctions policy and now has one mid-level official in charge of coordinating sanctions.

McCONNELL'S JUDICIAL BLITZ - Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has teed up confirmation votes for four circuit court nominees, the judges who give the final word on the vast majority of cases that don't reach the Supreme Court. The confirmation votes could occur next week (depending on if Democrats yield back time), with two of the nominees having advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee just Thursday. "Nominees typically have to wait a day after a committee vote before they can be considered on the floor, but Democratic senators gave consent to speed up the process in exchange for not working on a Friday, a McConnell spokesman said." Seung Min and Josh Gerstein with more:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=af69a2108087ec7cd7cf365d7bf58e80263a6baef17863f513e6c5eb7c9c75db81b02ae4bec42fec0a006816ae5229dc

EVEN THE LOSERS GET LUCKY - Danny Tarkanian is a five-time loser in Nevada politics. But the insurgent challenger to Sen. Dean Heller, a formidable but vulnerable incumbent, might just be Steve Bannon's best hope of shaking up the GOP next year, BuzzFeed's Alexis Levinson reports. A super PAC aligned with McConnell was already attacking Tarkanian this week for his ties to Bannon. Tarkanian was happy to embrace Bannon, but only to a point, during an interview with Levinson and "sounded as much driven by his personal desires to live up to his famous father as by politics." So far Tarkanian has only raised about $300,000 compared to Heller's more than $4 million in the bank. More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=af69a2108087ec7c703fc30fe8a1927aef3a6544354ccfaf8a860873f94cd6e447a67b3c9da27165908649b682478f5d


** A message from The Science Coalition: American-made innovation - fueled by the nation's investment in basic scientific research - is creating jobs, sparking economic growth and keeping the United States globally competitive. Find hundreds of examples of companies created from federally funded university research in The Science Coalition's "Sparking Economic Growth" database. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d107be42dcf92b275eb45fac4c9bb21a5a679ba8ad773b5b00a6b3e26c4a52b52ab8b40a5517126ad1fccbae0eb762a5 **

GUYS, YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS THIS - Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) is hosting a Halloween costume contest for dogs on Tuesday. The puppy pawty kicks off at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday on the first floor of Dirksen near Tillis' office, according to a source familiar. Tillis and Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) will be judging the bipawtisan competition.

BIPARTISAN CO-DEL TO PUERTO RICO - House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer are leading a bipartisan delegation of lawmakers to several hurricane-ravaged areas weekend, including Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the Florida Keys. Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) as well as Reps. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.), Norma Torres (D-Calif.), Anthony Brown (D-Md.) and Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.) are joining them for all or part of the trip. Kyle with more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d107be42dcf92b27e3c6d073a028a59be8a88b7e311f36fcf57462adbc74afac3d5f9402d99e0690603cf034aca04feb

MORE QUESTIONS AFTER NIGER BRIEFING - Senators say they have many more questions after Pentagon officials briefed them Thursday on the deadly ambush in Niger earlier this month that killed four American soldiers. At the top of the list is why it took military officials two days, and an exhaustive search, to find the body of Sgt. La David T. Johnson. Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) praised the briefing after accusing Pentagon officials of withholding information over the last few weeks, but said he still had "100 questions" that the officials could not yet answer. Thomas Gibbons-Neff and Eric Schmitt with the New York Times: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d107be42dcf92b27d2d07d194fa7cc82e2d87810ccb9258acd0ba9cf67793bafe94d1039c41bbd5760e7498d210ac10b

NO LOVE LOST - GOP senators may be slowly coming out of the woodwork to endorse firebrand Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore (see Sen. John Cornyn's statement earlier this week), but don't expect Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) to be joining that bandwagon. "A guy who says that a Muslim member of Congress shouldn't be able to serve, that's not right," Flake said, NBC's Frank Thorp reports. Moore has previously said Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) shouldn't serve in Congress because he's Muslim.

--The Dallas Morning News: "John Cornyn betrays himself and his party with embrace of Roy Moore." Read the op-ed: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d107be42dcf92b27799f6745a9afbb216ae7bce61f2bcc80edbd3a24f4b0e19a41ba83c3cbb6ae97eb358cce4b1461c1

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The House and Senate are out until next week.

AROUND THE HILL - It's quiet up here today. Enjoy!

THURSDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Andrew Fasoli was first to guess than Jan. 23, 1973 was historic in the House because it's the first time members voted using the electronic voting system. The first electronic vote wasn't on a piece of legislation but instead a roll call of members.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - This man served in the House and Senate for more than 30 years. But perhaps the thing he is most known for is sending the presidential family a replacement after their beloved family pet died suddenly. This pet, which would be unusual today, served a practical purpose at the White House. Name the pet and the lawmaker. 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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** A message from The Science Coalition: The Science Coalition's Sparking Economic Growth report identifies companies created from federally funded university research. Each company is a shining example of how America leads the world in science and technology - and why the United States must continue to invest robustly in basic scientific research to ensure that we maintain this leadership. Learn how FreshAir Sensor's technology, based on NIH and NSF-supported research at Dartmouth College, provides real time monitoring and detection of smoking in unauthorized areas. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d107be42dcf92b27eac7050ee9b050a054d3f1589e2e644092609b0929273ad74ac8b5e436a8a72af5f38ed9175235b4 **

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