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By Seung Min Kim (
mailto:skim@politico.com
skim@politico.com or @seungminkim)

With an assist from Lauren French

THE RETURN OF THE CONFIRMATION WARS - POLITICO's Burgess Everett writes: "If Republicans capture the Senate majority in November, their sway over prominent judgeships and Cabinet vacancies - potentially including a new attorney general - will become one of the GOP's primary leverage points against President Barack Obama ... Weeks before the election, Republicans are split over whether to restore the supermajority voting requirement for nominees, which the GOP has uniformly argued is critical to empowering the minority, regardless of which party is in control."

"Changing the rules back would make it more difficult for Obama's presidential nominees to win confirmation in the short term and avoid charges of hypocrisy, given how loudly Republicans have complained about Democrats watering down the filibuster ... But more is at stake than just raw political power. Republican senators are wary of again rewriting Senate rules given that they've spent nearly a year talking about how short-sighted it was for Democrats to alter the Senate's fabric. Legislative action in the chamber was already declining last fall after the government shutdown, but the Senate's productivity plunged further after the 'nuclear option' was invoked in November."

--"'We should get it back to where it was,' said Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). 'You can see the destruction that has happened around here.'"
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb4513dcca4bc2b604111caac9c56b6b2e1ed1a6af66600e748b96
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb4513dcca4bc2b604111caac9c56b6b2e1ed1a6af66600e748b96

--How would a GOP-run Congress operate? The AP's Charles Babington tries to get some answers:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb451313e732b13238327072d61dd173f73821db8f635def5e119b
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb451313e732b13238327072d61dd173f73821db8f635def5e119b

BOEHNER ON ISIL: 'AT SOME POINT, SOMEBODY'S BOOTS HAVE TO BE ON THE GROUND' - The House speaker calls for a more aggressive strategy from President Barack Obama to combat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant during an interview with ABC News: "While a U.S.-led coalition continues to strike militants in Iraq and Syria, House Speaker John Boehner said President Obama's current strategy is insufficient to eliminate the threat posed by ISIS. 'If the goal is to destroy ISIS, as the president says it is, I don't believe the strategy that he outlined will accomplish that,' Boehner told ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos in an exclusive interview for ABC News in Portland, Maine, this
week. 'At the end of the day, I think it's going to take more than air strikes to drive them out of there. At some point somebody's boots have to be on the ground.'"

--"If the president requested new authorization for the use of military force, Boehner pledged to call the House back into session 'next week.' 'I'd be happy to,' he said. 'The president has not done that. He believes he has authority under existing resolutions to do what he's done.'"
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb451321ad9c136389f5dc681027c955d32a04da69fe1a5c7d6e17
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb451321ad9c136389f5dc681027c955d32a04da69fe1a5c7d6e17

--From that same interview, Boehner says he is "absolutely" confident that a Republican-led Congress could go along with an immigration overhaul. Roll Call:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb4513caa443f618396d83d871ed5d070d17c24e7b3457a2a72e3b
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb4513caa443f618396d83d871ed5d070d17c24e7b3457a2a72e3b

--Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Angus King (I-Maine) are among the lawmakers calling on Congress to come back and vote on whether to use military force against ISIL in Syria:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb45130304b8904d81161d3f04c31d70d222b44251c5b752a83e89
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb45130304b8904d81161d3f04c31d70d222b44251c5b752a83e89

--Fresh new polling numbers out this morning show Americans still resist sending U.S. ground troops into Syria, but there is broad support for airstrikes against ISIL targets in the region. CNN:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb4513a87ca590820aff2c2a39e921b70e0f8ec6e510beebe5333a
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb4513a87ca590820aff2c2a39e921b70e0f8ec6e510beebe5333a

NEW HOUSE GOP TO TACK RIGHT - The New York Times's Jonathan Weisman writes: "One nominee proposed reclassifying single parenthood as child abuse. Another suggested that four 'blood moons' would herald 'world-changing, shaking-type events' and said Islam was not a religion but a 'complete geopolitical structure' unworthy of tax exemption. Still another labeled Hillary Rodham Clinton 'the Antichrist.' Congressional Republicans successfully ended their primary season with minimal damage, but in at least a dozen safe or largely safe Republican House districts where more mild-mannered Republicans are exiting, their likely replacements will pull the party to the right, a move likely to increase
division in an already polarized Congress.

--Retiring Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) tells Weisman of the new crop of House conservatives: "I think they love their country every bit as much as we do. I think maybe they're not as pragmatic."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb4513d2e6ca5fe15c5393e1e6aaa9b779d8d4eb15f52567d4ef11
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb4513d2e6ca5fe15c5393e1e6aaa9b779d8d4eb15f52567d4ef11

HUDDLE SNEAK PEEK -- House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) is set this morning to squarely blame House Republicans for obstruction in Congress during a speech at the National Press Club. It's a familiar refrain for Democrats, whose midterm message has heavily centered on the so-called do-nothing Congress.

--Here are excerpts of the speech shared early with Huddle: 'As voters prepare to elect the next Congress, they have a clear choice. Maintain a Republican House majority that has made obstruction and partisanship its policy. Or elect a Democratic majority that will end the gridlock by focusing on the issues that matter and by working in a bipartisan way to make progress."

--"As a result of the Republican majority walking away again and again, Congress is now less productive and more divided than ever ... Theirs has truly earned the title: 'Do-Nothing Congress.' The American people deserve a Do-Something Congress. In fact, they deserve a Do-The-Right-Thing Congress, which is exactly what House Democrats are ready to do by working across the aisle to achieve results.'

--The Washington Post's Ed O'Keefe snags an interview with Hoyer in advance of his speech, in which the No. 2 House Dem is bullish on Democrats picking up seats in November - but not as optimistic as the top House Democrat, Nancy Pelosi:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb45133cd778e7acfd5134a4c78129818b7bce4be8cb320e556dc2
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb45133cd778e7acfd5134a4c78129818b7bce4be8cb320e556dc2

HUDDLE LONGREADS - USA Today's Susan Page travels to Tucson to sit down with former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), wounded in a near-fatal shooting in 2011 and now working as an advocate for stricter gun control laws. Giffords tells Page of her recovery process: "Hard, really hard ... Really, really, really hard.'
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb45137e12c9fb26d1f06c2871f8f2b2bf90bd92acf65cb557b40e
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb45137e12c9fb26d1f06c2871f8f2b2bf90bd92acf65cb557b40e

HAWKEYE BRAWL: BRALEY, ERNST BATTLE IN DEBATE - The Des Moines Register's Jennifer Jacobs has the wrap-up from the first debate in one of the most closely-watched Senate races in the nation: "Democrat Bruce Braley and Republican Joni Ernst squared off in a lively U.S. Senate debate Sunday evening, marked by heated exchanges on abortion, contraceptives, climate change and environmental regulations - and by biting attacks and comebacks, especially in the final few minutes. Braley went on the attack against a rival who is ahead by 6 points in the new Iowa Poll on the race, but front-runner Ernst responded in kind in their first face-to-face match-up. Braley repeatedly slammed Ernst for being
associated with the billionaire Koch brothers and an obstructionist tea party agenda, even as he called himself 'a bridge builder, not a bridge burner.'"

--"Ernst calmly fired back: 'Congressman, you threatened to sue a neighbor over chickens that came onto their property. You're talking about bipartisanship. How do we expect as Iowans to believe that you will work across the aisle when you can't walk across your yard?'"

-- And the Register reports on this little bit of color: "Although retiring Democratic U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin was sitting a few feet away in the audience, when Braley was asked who he'd telephone first if elected to the Senate, Braley answered: 'Chuck Grassley.'"
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb4513e1249805c068b574bffe69cdaddfddd87720241bb0f3facb
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb4513e1249805c068b574bffe69cdaddfddd87720241bb0f3facb

--The Wall Street Journal's Elizabeth Williamson profiles Ernst, noting that she is now "reaching for the political center."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb4513665efca784c06fe47b465a0af338199f08bd384277c76974
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb4513665efca784c06fe47b465a0af338199f08bd384277c76974

POLITICO LAUNCHES 'LESSONS FROM LEADERS' SERIES - New series convenes leaders from public and private sectors to examine the challenges of successful leadership, featuring live events, video interviews and feature-length stories:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb45132813ba0db26f695bd824cad99a53ced3d9989008be5b015b
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb45132813ba0db26f695bd824cad99a53ced3d9989008be5b015b .

GOOD MONDAY MORNING, Sept. 29, 2014 and welcome to The Huddle, your play-by-play preview of all the action on Capitol Hill. I'm your Huddle host for the week, so please send tips, suggestions, comments, complaints, and corrections to
mailto:skim@politico.com
skim@politico.com . If you don't already, please follow me on Twitter @seungminkim.

My new followers include @willnolannet and @Milbank.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - Recess recess recess recess recess.

AROUND THE HILL - House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) will deliver a speech on the House Democratic agenda at the National Press Club at 10 a.m.

DEMS OUTPACE GOP IN SMALL-DOLLAR GAME -- Shane Goldmacher writes for National Journal on how House Democratic candidates are kicking some GOP tail when it comes to small-dollar fundraising: "Democratic candidates for Congress are crushing their Republican counterparts in small-dollar donations-outraising their GOP foes by an average of more than $100,000 per candidate in the nation's top races. That's the finding of a new National Journal analysis of federal records in the most competitive House contests in the country. In those, the average Democrat has collected $179,300 in donations under $200; the average Republican has brought in only $78,535."

-- "The small-donor gap is consistent and persistent in red states and blue ones, between incumbents of both parties and challengers alike. In California, Democratic Rep. Ami Bera has outraised his GOP opponent, former Rep. Doug Ose, in small contributions, $215,000 to $26,600. In Florida, Democratic challenger Gwen Graham has outpaced her Republican opponent, Rep. Steve Southerland, $367,000 to $120,000 in small-money giving."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb451383ef265b743f6742d3c9040ff509e8fe3c82272e86db49fd
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb451383ef265b743f6742d3c9040ff509e8fe3c82272e86db49fd

TED CRUZ GETS PERSONAL - ABC News: "Sen. Ted Cruz shared a notably personal story today about his parents' struggles with alcohol and his father's decision to leave him and his mother when Cruz was 3. Speaking at the Value Voters Summit in Washington, Cruz, R-Texas, told the group that while living in Calgary, Canada, his mother and father had a drinking problem, and Cruz's father, Rafael, ultimately abandoned him and his mother. 'Both of my parents drank far too much. Both of them had serious problems with alcohol,' Cruz, 43, said. 'When I was 3 years old, my father decided he didn't want to be married anymore and he didn't want a 3-year-old son, so he got on a plane and left.' The Texas
senator said his father then moved to Houston and explained it wasn't until his father found Christ that he decided to return to his family."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb45137a2d88bc8d36aa815b385a7498d3d41f022448f22a0b74ca
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb45137a2d88bc8d36aa815b385a7498d3d41f022448f22a0b74ca

--Cruz won the summit's straw poll with 25 percent of the vote. The rest of the top four were: conservative activist Ben Carson, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, and former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.). Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) tied for fifth.

INHOFE BLOCKING EBOLA FUNDING - Niels Lesniewski and Humberto Sanchez write for Roll Call: "Senate Armed Services ranking member James M. Inhofe, R-Okla., is holding up most of a $1 billion request from the White House to combat the Ebola virus outbreak in Africa until the administration proposes a plan to keep soldiers from contracting the illness. 'Senator Inhofe has requested the Pentagon to outline a plan to protect U.S. military personnel from contracting Ebola,' an Inhofe aide said in an email. Inhofe is also demanding a plan to illustrate how the funding and effort could be taken over by civilian groups from the U.S. military.

--:The aide's comments came after the Senate Armed Services Committee approved, with limitations, the two requests Wednesday to reprogram a total of $1 billion from a Department of Defense wartime account to the humanitarian disaster account. The funding would have expired at the end of the week, but the committee's approval allows the Pentagon to spend $100 million of the funds until the Obama administrations meets the requests put forth by Inhofe."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb451307fcac304c61af0c45f3a7479fe916d6b093dc1f615219a4
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb451307fcac304c61af0c45f3a7479fe916d6b093dc1f615219a4

JIM TRAFICANT DIES AT 73 - POLITICO's John Bresnahan with the obit: "Former Rep. James Traficant, whose signature line during House floor speeches was 'Beam me up!' and who was expelled from Congress in 2002 following his conviction on federal corruption charges, died after being injured in a farm accident ... Local news reports said Traficant had been moving a tractor on his daughter's farm in Greenford, Ohio, when it toppled over on him. Traficant was taken to a local hospital but succumbed to his injuries."

--"Traficant, a Democrat, was a hugely controversial figure during his nine terms in the House. From his checkered past with mobsters, to demanding kickbacks from staffers, to a flamboyant personal style. In a town that has seen its share of corrupt figures - from Duke Cunningham to Jesse Jackson Jr. - Traficant stood out as one of the most unusual. 'I forfeited my future, and I didn't give a damn what they did to me. And from this day forward, I don't give a damn what anybody does to me. I'm going to say what I think is right; I'm going to do what I think is right,' a defiant Traficant told Fox News after his release from prison in 2009."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb45133c9db924a5cb0b828d0af2b60987317a8a267e015683a9f0
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb45133c9db924a5cb0b828d0af2b60987317a8a267e015683a9f0

--From Ohio-based writer Vince Guerrieri in POLITICO magazine, "Jim Traficant was our kind of crook."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb45130ed0a4e83ff34993ad78a60258d744494ddb34bcb831485e
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb45130ed0a4e83ff34993ad78a60258d744494ddb34bcb831485e

--And a roundup of the best Jim Traficant stories from the reporters who covered him:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb4513e00e5a54ae32eb5df43ed8f2d92137902c4278b631ba77c1
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb4513e00e5a54ae32eb5df43ed8f2d92137902c4278b631ba77c1

BURRIS ACCUSED OF $250K 'SHAKE DOWN' - The Chicago Sun-Times has the details on a bizarre twist involving the ex-senator: "Former U.S. Sen. Roland Burris tried to 'shake down' a business for a $250,000 a year job as a financial consultant in return for Burris' help promoting the business' products to the U.S. military ... The explosive allegations emerged Friday at a hearing ahead of the trial of South Sider C. Gregory Turner, who is accused of illegally trying to help lift U.S. sanctions against Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's regime. Burris is expected to be a key prosecution witness against Turner. But Turner's lawyers say the fact that the feds never charged the former Democratic
senator in connection with the alleged shakedown scheme means Burris is 'biased' in their favor."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb4513489d1f45572f2f34a91697278dff860c7d0f7bfbdf8d9c1a
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=321368df86eb4513489d1f45572f2f34a91697278dff860c7d0f7bfbdf8d9c1a

FRIDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Bob Thompson was the first person to correctly answer that former Speaker Dennis Hastert, Sen. Dan Coats, Billy Graham and Todd Beamer (who led the passenger revolt on United 93 on 9/11) all attended Wheaton College.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Which United States senator has written a political mystery novel? Name the senator and the title of the book. The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. Send those answers to
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skim@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.'
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