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By Burgess Everett | 11/12/2015 07:32 AM EDT


Featuring Seung Min Kim

THE NEXT FRONTIER BETWEEN W.H., GOP: Gitmo. Washington is bracing for the release of a range of options from President Barack Obama on how he will finally move to shut down the infamous island prison, and Republicans that can battle him to a stalemate in Congress are already looking to the courts. Austin Wright breaks down where senators like John McCain are coming from and how the president is trying to outflank them: "The White House has suggested all options are on the table - leading the president's GOP critics to believe Obama could be gearing up to use his authority as commander in chief to shutter the prison if lawmakers refuse to go along with a plan due out as soon as this week for
clearing out the remaining 112 detainees. It appears to be to the White House's advantage to leave that possibility open."

Another constitutional battle: "The prospect of Obama going around Congress could goad reluctant lawmakers into working with the president to come up with a legislative compromise for shuttering the military prison and transferring the inmates to the U.S. mainland. 'Rumors are that he will act again in an unconstitutional manner,' said McCain (R-Ariz.), a former prisoner of war in Vietnam who's long stressed the need to close Guantanamo but wants the president to work with Congress to do so. 'I think it's unconstitutional. I think we'd have to go to court.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a93679bfe77a30f97d2b3e87d0ad2565d0fc8156d6e1cf4cbc34b5a828133dfa

LaHOOD WHACKS OBAMA: Oof. As transportation secretary, former GOP House member Ray LaHood was always on message (I know because I covered him for 18 months as a TransPro reporter). The president is right on high-speed rail, LaHood would say, and his former House colleagues were wrong on transportation. But LaHood is letting loose in his new book "Seeking Bipartisanship: My Life In Politics." "I do not believe the White House ever committed fully to a genuine bipartisan approach to policy making, despite the president's words to the contrary," LaHood writes. "He did not, as other presidents have done, place a high value on consulting with members of Congress." Peter Baker for NYT:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a93679bfe77a30f983302a8d19ae8dd6c1bebe24b740c9b47a6b13cce517e793

One of my first big stories: I found LaHood wandering through a stairwell in the Rayburn Building in the hours after House Republicans released their transportation bill in 2012. He said then it was the "worst" bill he'd seen in years, a major diss from someone brought in specifically to work with the House GOP. This was when it clicked a bit for me: The job of a Washington reporter is often to stand around until someone important walks by you. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a93679bfe77a30f94b24955171567595cf05f718d517275e42868c109476ec4c

THE BATTLE FOR 51: A budget reconciliation bill repealing Obamacare and defunding Planned Parenthood won't become law under this president, but Republicans are treating the matter very seriously anyway. After all, this could be great experience if they take the White House and could use the structure to get a bill signed in 2017, and if they don't do it conservative groups are going to lampoon the GOP. But today Republicans are just trying to get a dang majority in the Senate, and it's not proving easy, Jen Haberkorn and SMK report: "The latest ruling from the parliamentarian's office, which has the ultimate say on what can be passed using fast-track budget rules, said the defunding
language could stay - robbing the leadership and moderates of a procedural escape hatch. 'The House version obviously has some pieces in it that are complicating for me,' said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), adding that the Planned Parenthood provisions are a 'big issue.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a93679bfe77a30f9380d9cb5ab8f4541019a121fa34d50a75018488245f837d0

Why it's hard: Repealing Medicaid would also be a big problem for senators from states that have benefitted, Bolton reports for The Hill. "'I am very concerned about the 160,000 people who had Medicaid expansion in my state. I have difficulty with that being included,' said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican from West Virginia." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a93679bfe77a30f91319245d7a399c7edcdcefcbda2eb1002ea3ae6f2f20a92a

ONE DAY FROM THE WEEKEND. And welcome to the Huddle, your play-by-play guide to everything Capitol Hill, where Murkowski says some male reporters on the Hill could straighten out their attire. "Your tie's askew," she noted to The Hill's Alex Bolton, before starting a gaggle on health care. Please send tips to beverett@politico.com and follow along on Twitter @burgessev.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - We'll be seeing you next week.

WEDNESDAY'S MOST CLICKED: NYT's story about the new House speaker sleeping in his office, which honestly sounds terrible to me.

MAKING MOVES: Moira Bagley Smith is joining the U.S. Justice Action Network, an advocacy organization for reforming the criminal justice system. Moira will be the communications director for the group as it works to address prison overcrowding and help people released from prison avoid recidivism. She most recently flacked for Rep. Ann Wagner, and before that communications directed for House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and Sen. Rand Paul. She was also a journalist before that, including at the now defunct Gazette in Maryland, where yours truly also worked.

STEERING IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION: The House Steering Committee is getting ready for some drastic changes, Jake Sherman reports, as Speaker Paul Ryan makes good on his vows for reform in the chamber's structure. Nothing is decided, but here's what it's looking like for the panel that selects committee assignments: "During the current Congress, top committee chairmen would be removed from the panel and replaced with members elected by the House Republican Conference, according to multiple sources involved in and familiar with the talks. In the next Congress, the GOP would add additional regional representatives to the committee so it better reflects the makeup of the Republican Conference."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a93679bfe77a30f91b12ede7caf67564804b061ec568aff7f9197d1f322503e9

TICK TOCK -- MAKING ERNST: Joni Ernst went from a little known state senator to tea party darling to favorite over the bumbling Democrat Bruce Braley in just more than a year. Now she's the junior senator from Iowa, and Media Mogul Ken Vogel reports that the Koch network had a big role to play. They invited Ernst early in the cycle to a confab in New Mexico that began her meteoric rise, a strategy that offers clues of how the Koch network will work to elect the next generation of conservative lawmakers. "The Kochs and their allies are investing in a pipeline to identify, cultivate and finance business-oriented candidates from the local school board all the way to the White House, and Koch
operatives are already looking for opportunities to challenge GOP incumbents deemed insufficiently hard-line in their opposition to government spending and corporate subsidies." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a93679bfe77a30f9f1e4ff06f23dddb4c25cf0e1df90893d44552a6165102d33

CUT, CAP, COWER: Yeah, yeah, I see this one is a couple days old but it's worth returning to again and again. AP's Andy Taylor breaks down what a bunch of wusses Congress can be to make the numbers work on their legislation. Double-count some reforms here, reverse some cuts there and boom: Legislation keeps moving but there's no pain for members. It's playing out on cuts to big banks to pay for highways and on the soon-to-be-reversed cuts to crop insurance problems, a well-trod road most recently punctuated by the immediate reversal of cuts to vet benefits in the 2013 budget deal. "It all points up a truism in Washington. Vague bromides and promises about deficits and spending are easy for
politicians. Real spending cuts aren't. Despite all the national talk of needing to tackle deficit spending, the bundle of recent examples illustrate how Americans and their elected officials continue to resist - often fiercely - specific, real spending cuts." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a93679bfe77a30f9cd94a7965c2b8bba21a77533b4162a94cfb9fca1598516bb

WORK SMARTER NOT HARDER: LEGISLATIVE COMPASS - POLITICO Pro, POLITICO's premium subscription service, arms policy professionals with the ability to do more than just track bills. With Legislative Compass, Pros can quickly compare bill language, get whip counts, understand where bills originate and track who supports specific legislation in Congress. Become a Pro and empower yourself to make smarter decisions. Schedule your demo today.

WEDNESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Walton Cheney was the first to answer that The Cairo precipitated D.C.'s Height Act, banning skyscrapers.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Cheney has today's question: On December 10, 1824, this man became the first foreign dignitary to address the House of Representatives in its chamber. Also, his portrait still hangs in the House chamber. Who is this man? The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. Email me at beverett@politico.com

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