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10/21/2015 08:25 AM EDT


By Rachael Bade (rbade@politico.com or @RachaelMBade)

RYAN OUTLINES HIS PATH TO SPEAKERSHIP -"Ryan will serve as speaker if gop unites behind him." Jake Sherman , John Bresnahan and Lauren French report: "Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, who for years has resisted a move into House Republican leadership, said Tuesday night he would serve as House speaker if he is the party's 'unity candidate.' Ryan, the Ways and Means Committee chairman, wants to know by Friday if the 247 members of the House Republican Conference support him. If not, he is 'happy' to continue as chairman of the powerful tax-writing panel, the 45-year-old lawmaker said.

"The Wisconsin Republican laid out a series of 'requests' to his GOP colleagues on Tuesday night, including a demand that the major factions within the Republican Conference endorse him before he agrees to seek the speakership. Ryan is clearly trying to shift the onus of his decision onto the House Freedom Caucus, a group of hard-line conservatives that repeatedly sought to undermine Speaker John Boehner. Ryan wants the group to refrain from any attempts to remove him from the speaker's chair if he makes a decision it disagrees with, though it's not at all clear the Freedom Caucus will agree." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fc7ea5a5d81f79fef22a2fd6ceec79297da549f4641eb67ce2cc555c5f179c09

HOW HE GOT TO (ALMOST) YES. The three amigos take it again: "Late last week, Ryan, a father of three, came around to the idea of seeking the job he once dubbed as perfect for an empty nester. He settled on a five-point plan. The first was setting conditions under which the next speaker could thrive. Vision. Unity. Family. Regular Order. And do away with the 'motion to vacate,' a procedural tactic to force a floor vote on his speakership should he antagonize the far right.

"But then came the hard part: getting everyone on board. Ryan would trade his quiet weekends spent in solitude with his family in Janesville, Wisconsin, for an obtrusive security detail, and his committee work for the plush speaker suites - only if the entire GOP conference was in sync. Clearing the bare minimum 218 votes on the House floor would get him the job, but he wants more than that. He wants a mandate.

"Before firmly committing to a bid, Ryan is demanding the endorsement of all the major caucuses within the GOP conference - the Republican Study Committee, the Tuesday Group and the House Freedom Caucus. Anything short of that, Ryan said, and he will gladly walk away and serve as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee while the House Republican Conference continues to flail." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fc7ea5a5d81f79feea556db05c16cb7d8a8139d2472dfdb42f9cf787e468b28d

In other words, Ryan is playing hard-to-get, per Aaron Blake on The Fix, who called that a "smart" move: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fc7ea5a5d81f79fe3b0a97d495c64ff3a994405a6772b6b825a7353cf7b48798

UNRESOLVED ISSUES: A WARY HOUSE FREEDOM CAUCUS. Lauren French on what's probably Ryan's biggest challenge this week: securing the Freedom Caucus endorsement: "[L]lawmakers in the 40-member group of hard-line conservatives came away wary of the Ways and Means chief's demand for unconditional support. They were dismissive of his Ryan's request that they relinquish a procedural tactic they used to threaten to strip outgoing Speaker John Boehner of his title - one of the most potent weapons in the group's arsenal."

"And it is clear the conservative lawmakers will insist on more specifics from Ryan before they would consider an endorsement. Sources within the caucus said he'll have to discuss policy and procedural changes the Freedom Caucus wants and offer up tangible promises to decentralize power from leadership to rank-and-file members if he wants their backing. Without specific pledges, those sources said, Ryan will have a hard time clinching the backing of 80 percent of the group's members - its threshold for an endorsement." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fc7ea5a5d81f79fef2b36b1402ff841afa1d9a0d8e4e0119dca10fdfbcdbdb93

GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING. IT'S OCT. 21, 2015. Thanks for reading Huddle, where we're proudly flaunting our team's late night takeout of the Ryan announcement. Someone give Jim Jordan some oxygen - between the leadership meetings and prepping for Hillary Clinton tomorrow, he's looking a little tired. Email me here as needed: rbade@politico.com, or Tweet: @RachaelMBade.

TODAY IN CONGRESS: The House returns at 10 a.m. First votes between 2:15 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. Last votes expected between 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. The Senate returns at 9:30 a.m. to continue work on cybersecurity legislation.

AROUND THE HILL: At 10 a.m. Speaker John Boehner and GOP leaders host a press conference; Sen. Roger Wicker, Dianne Feinstein and Richard Blumenthal will talk tractor trailers; Reps. Mike Quigley, Dan Newhouse and Dan Lipinski discuss positive train control; and Dem Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra and Vice Chairman Joe Crowley host a media availability. At 12:30 p.m., Reps. Jan Schakowsky and Frank Pallone hold a presser on vehicle safety improvement legislation.

At 1 p.m., House Democratic Whip Steny Howyer hosts his pen-and-pad. At 2:15, Sens. Roy Blunt (R-Mo) and Chris Coons (D-Dele.) are hosting a community policing briefing highlighting Kansas City as the gold standard (Here's why: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fc7ea5a5d81f79fec6ce369a5958f53177473473538dd258fca7cc548835a43f At 4 p.m., Foreign Relations Chairman Ed Royce and panel members host Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. At 6 p.m. in Russell, Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand and numerous members of the New York delegation are hosting the first ever "Brooklyn Night" with the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce

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"WELCOME TO CR HELL." Approps King Hal Rogers is gonna love this piece. This month's issue of POLITICO's The Agenda examines our broken budget process. Darren Samuelsohn on just how crappy CRs are policy-wise: "POLITICO's exhaustive review of what really happens under a CR found scores of negative repercussions, drawn from interviews with more than three dozen senior budget leaders and department directors, members of Congress and their aides, as well as the advocacy groups who lobby on behalf of the different agencies and their programs. Planning and hiring stop; reforms and new projects are put on ice."

"Some effects are specific and local: In New Mexico, the Los Alamos National Laboratory had to suspend a project that would expand its ability to handle crucial weapons-grade plutonium. Some of them are broad: The Food and Drug Administration won't get the money it needs to implement a 2011 food safety law laden with important deadlines. More than 450,000 immigrants who have flooded through the U.S. southern border are stuck in legal limbo because the Justice Department can't hire more federal judges to process the paperwork; new Secret Service training recommended in the wake of several recent security lapses at the White House can't take place."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fc7ea5a5d81f79fe241c8ecec1dc237bf5521bb8a611042761b8a2344a68febe

CRUZ WARNS MCCONNELL ON DEBT CEILING. Burgess Everett reports: "Ted Cruz is accusing Republican leaders of prematurely capitulating to President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats on the debt ceiling, and he's urging his party to take a hard line against a 'clean' debt ceiling increase even if it means flirting with a default. The Texas Republican's aggressive stance comes as GOP leaders are grasping for a plan to raise the nation's borrowing limit just two weeks before the nation risks a catastrophic default. The House is mulling a debt ceiling package loaded up with goodies for the right, but the White House has flatly stated it will accept only a "clean" measure without any strings
attached." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fc7ea5a5d81f79febc5fa022361735bb214fceaa36ccc11591fadccea126bc11

SENATE DEMS ASK RNC FOR BENGHAZI REIMBURSEMENTS. In a knock on the Benghazi committee from across the Rotunda, Senate Democratic leadership today will send a letter to the RNC asking for them to reimburse the Treasury for expenses incurred by the Select Committee - because, duh, it's pure politics, they say. From their letter: "Due to the political nature of the committee, we believe it is inappropriate that a reported 4.7 million taxpayer dollars were used to finance its operations and that the RNC subsequently orchestrated numerous fundraising opportunities in its wake. Therefore, we urge the RNC to fully reimburse the U.S. taxpayer and cease all fundraising opportunities linked to the
Select Committee."

FIRST LOOK: Sens. James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) today will write Secretary of State John Kerry, encouraging him to, while helping those facing religious persecution, also maintain a rigorous security protocol to avoid unknowingly helping undercover terrorists. Here is the letter: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fc7ea5a5d81f79feb95a1647e3ce5dcb428061505582c804b3a484757d6a4e46

TUESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER. Andrew Smith was the first to answer that Sen. Peter Gerry (D-R.I.) lost his re-election in 1928 to Republican Felix Herbert, then came back six years and defeated Herbert in 1934.

TODAY'S TRIVIA: Which comes from our Kirtan Mehtan in Sen. Joe Manchin's office: Who was the last sitting Vice President to lose his party's nomination to be President? To whom was he Vice President, and who won the nomination that year? Email rbade@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=fc7ea5a5d81f79fe9bf4dab53b4227bf4b96c4aa716a5f8600df720008adecf7

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