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10/24/2018 08:04 AM EDT


By Nolan D. McCaskill (nmccaskill@politico.com or @NolanDMcCaskill)

TURNING RHETORIC INTO POLICY -- The House Ways and Means Committee will work with the White House and Treasury Department to "develop" President Donald Trump's 10 percent tax cut for middle-income earners, according to Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), who chairs the tax-writing committee. But the policy will only be advanced if Republicans maintain their House and Senate majorities, Brady said. "Despite strong economic growth, the tax law hasn't proved as popular as Republicans thought it would be," The Wall Street Journal's Richard Rubin writes. "Middle-class households did benefit from last year's tax law, but many taxpayers barely noticed the individual tax cuts that were implemented through
lower paycheck withholding in February."

"In past administrations, a presidential statement would often mark the end of a policy process, the conclusion of a considered study of pros and cons," he adds. "In the Trump administration, the policy process sometimes works the other way around, starting with a presidential pronouncement that spurs lawmakers and staff to fill in the blanks." Trump insisted his administration has a way to make the new bill revenue neutral but refused to elaborate. "We're going to announce it at the time," he told the Journal. "But we think we can make it revenue neutral based on certain things." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=be22ac58a40b2b4fea8e8799dcc5bdaf5b893647420fa79cd28aa26a5756fd0e67343edf3195b68ce2f250ceef3ad74a

Related: "'In the service of whim': Officials scramble to make Trump's false assertions real," by The Washington Post's Philip Rucker and Ashley Parker: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=be22ac58a40b2b4f5fac2dced542199a99c22490d5565537f099e50c67f504db9e39e8eafb8db9942ba399cf66990578

NO PROOF -- The president conceded he has "no proof" to back his claim that a migrant caravan approaching the southern border includes "Middle Easterners," though he argued that evidence could eventually surface. "There's no proof of anything, but there could very well be," he told reporters. "His administration sought to reorient its condemnation of the migration away from alleged terrorism and toward other alleged criminal activity," Elana reports. "Department of Homeland Security spokesman Tyler Houlton tweeted that his agency 'can confirm that there are individuals within the caravan who are gang members or have significant criminal histories.'"

Trump's admission came hours after Vice President Mike Pence claimed "it's inconceivable that there are not people of Middle Eastern descent in a crowd of more than 7,000 people." "The White House has embraced the migrants as a wedge issue as the GOP battles to limit Democratic gains in next month's midterms, making a political wager that a hardline approach to immigration will rally Trump's base and woo swing voters," she adds. "Trump, however, denied on Tuesday that he is highlighting the migrant caravan for political reasons." Trump said he was elected because "I'm a very non-political person." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=be22ac58a40b2b4f351d9b42f9b8e22a6a757c06b728cc44a6f0fbd8efa7768d695baa08bbebdc3db5619320dbc9154f

Related: "Trump has whipped up a frenzy on the migrant caravan. Here are the facts," via Ted Hesson: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=be22ac58a40b2b4f160c2844c828d45a950ec09dfd74059f68510b66b8cdd0418151f3e0bc15db889488504ec71b6419

LEAVE IT TO LAWMAKERS -- The president said the U.S. response to the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi will fall on the legislative branch. "In terms of what we ultimately do, I'm going to leave it very much -- in conjunction with me -- up to Congress," Trump told reporters. "I want to have the folks in Congress come back and make recommendations to me." He clarified that he wants bipartisan recommendations and suggested lawmakers don't "feel any differently than I do." The U.S. is revoking visas for 21 suspects, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is considering possible sanctions against them.

"The crisis over the Khashoggi killing continued for a third week as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan laid out his case Tuesday for why he believes Khashoggi's death was premeditated and not the result of an interrogation or interview gone awry," Bloomberg's Justin Sink and Nick Wadhams write. "Trump on Tuesday offered some additional criticism of the Oct. 2 killing and Saudi Arabia's response to it, saying that it was 'a very bad original concept.'" Trump called the cover-up "one of the worst in" history. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=be22ac58a40b2b4f09750c4bab95d51d6879ade7d128d23ce5fe6a0822ac122cd4f0ea7b95e80ac7b89e6fb878f8dc5f

HAPPY WEDNESDAY! Thanks for reading Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Oct. 24.

TUESDAY'S MOST CLICKED: USA Today's interview with President Donald Trump, who told the newspaper he was prepared to send "as many [troops] as necessary" to the border, was the winner.

President Trump says a red wave is coming on Election Day. Is he right, or will the tide turn blue? Compete against the nation's top political minds in the POLITICO Playbook Election Challenge by correctly picking the winning candidates in some of the most competitive House, Senate and gubernatorial races in the country. Win awesome prizes and eternal bragging rights. Sign up today!

MIA: MISSING IN ADS -- What a difference a cycle makes. When it came to campaign ads in 2016, Trump was the star. Now he's relegated to the background. "The president's policies and approval rating are still huge factors in the Democratic drive to retake the majority," Elena Schneider reports. "But Trump is already so ingrained in voters' minds -- and their impressions of their members of Congress -- that Democrats aren't pummeling Republicans with the same quantity of ads linking them to Trump as they did in 2016." The DCCC and House Majority PAC ran 65 Trump-themed ads in 20-plus key districts in the final weeks of the 2016 campaign.

This month, however, those groups have aired just 14 Trump-themed ads in eight districts. "The shift is starkest in the Minneapolis suburbs, where the candidates in one key race are the same, but the campaign is playing out on different terms," she writes. "Democrat Angie Craig is in a rematch with freshman GOP Rep. Jason Lewis, a former radio host the DCCC branded 'mini-Trump' in a 2016 ad. This year, Democrats have instead hit Lewis on raising money from 'special interests' and becoming 'all Washington.'" More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=be22ac58a40b2b4f60321b26b466ae3014ea5171a8129842e2c08ba13af8b74cf12a2b87a059fecc523e40bf9330217a

Related read: "DeVos used as a villain to rally Democrats in midterm ads," from Michael Stratford: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=be22ac58a40b2b4f40564997f31555861bc2f13023e47d5d94ed24a0c4a08f5c259f6cedb19e51d800288351d3ecd656

THE TRUMP PARADOX -- Early voting kicked off Monday in Florida and Texas. So former Vice President Joe Biden traveled to Jacksonville and Tampa to rally for Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and gubernatorial nominee Andrew Gillum. Meanwhile, in Texas, Trump rallied in an 18,000-seat Houston arena for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Gov. Greg Abbott, whose reelection races are less competitive than the Florida pair's. The vulnerable local congressman, Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas), was notably absent. "The split-screen between Florida and Texas -- one of the most crucial presidential battleground in the country, the other a pillar of conservative strength -- neatly illustrated Mr. Trump's role in the
fall campaign," The New York Times' Jonathan Martin and Maggie Haberman write.

"He is often away from the center of action, shunned by many of his party's most vulnerable House candidates but still commands enthusiastic audiences on a scale rarely seen in a midterm election," they continue. "Two weeks before the ballots are all counted, and the first verdict rendered on his presidency, Mr. Trump is both overwhelming the campaign with tactics like attacking the migrant caravan but is also detached from some of the races that may determine who controls the House." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=be22ac58a40b2b4f7cf68fcf5d8db20a589c30697fe87f191e20e5ca85d5b126efdbfece5e58b4843854edb78ff655d8

Related: "Trump aides hounded in D.C. are smash hits on GOP stump," by Annie Karni: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=be22ac58a40b2b4f7db4fe3031f2c141a86b68be69671356ccdaa2af1649eef9df7e489baef313791a96e5ceda3ee36f and "Rick Scott battles the pollsters in Florida Senate race," from Marc Caputo: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=be22ac58a40b2b4f75480e16ed457177f3bf78541a7e6ffd11b78dde79f377265403d0b6d967848563bc6e6f0b676b57

MIDTERM MONEY MOVES -- The RNC has transferred $3.5 million apiece to the NRCC and NRSC. "The last-minute infusion ... is designed to help the congressional committees combat a wave of Democratic spending," Alex Isenstadt reports. "House Republicans, in particular, have found themselves deluged. Through the end of last week, the [NRCC] had been outspent on the TV airwaves by its Democratic counterpart, $65 million to $44 million." The RNC has given the House and Senate GOP campaign arms nearly $17 million in total. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=be22ac58a40b2b4f61eae06c483e838437c35a37366ed006435c6d0f309458e0e2fe8347f95bea288a094ab52bf8f2e7

MCCARTHY OFFICE UPDATE -- Police said nothing taken from House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy's (R-Calif.) Bakersfield office contained sensitive information. The Bakersfield Police Department said "several items" were taken, but none that "contained information of a sensitive nature." "Among the items taken were electronics which were not connected to any federal networks, nor did they contain or store any personal or governmental information," the police department added. McCarthy and his staff were not in the office during the break-in. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=be22ac58a40b2b4f5e2f754a5d0f392f1b876a135f5840754a92cf0aae61aeb1d2f559469774f454c70c9e6dffe0bd3b

UNDETERRED -- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said a man disrupted his dinner with his wife, Elaine Chao, on Friday, shouting, slamming his fists on the table and even throwing the Transportation secretary's to-go box on the ground outside. "I'm not sure exactly what in my career suggests I would be easily swayed by such a spectacle," McConnell wrote in an op-ed, calling out the left's "intimidation and mob tactics." "The reality is simple: I will not be intimidated." He encouraged civility over mudslinging, "hatred and toxic behavior" and said the Republican-controlled Senate will continue doing its work: passing legislation and confirming conservative judges.

And, if you were wondering, "I enjoyed my meal in Louisville on Friday night, and I will continue to eat with my friends and family at my favorite Kentucky restaurants," McConnell wrote. "I was not the first senator confronted, and I unfortunately likely won't be the last. But the Senate will not be intimidated by the antics of far-left protesters, and we will continue our important work." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=be22ac58a40b2b4f30bcfc5dc1ecd45ee3a6e6dff6bc2340037f15653ceb3fce373327a1c3e3eef412cc4185d742f452

ROSENSTEIN INTERVIEW POSTPONED -- Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein won't be participating in a closed-door interview with lawmakers today, Reps. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) announced. Goodlatte, the Judiciary Committee chairman, and Gowdy, the Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman, said the transcribed interview has been postponed because "[t]he committees are unable to ask all questions ... within the time allotted." "Mr. Rosenstein has indicated his willingness to testify before the Judiciary and Oversight Committees in the coming weeks in either a transcribed interview or a public setting," the chairmen wrote. "We appreciate his willingness to appear
and will announce further details once it has been rescheduled."

Conservatives have demanded a chance to interview Rosenstein since a New York Times report said the deputy attorney general proposed wearing a wire to secretly record the president and suggested invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office. "Under the terms of the deal for the House interview, [Reps. Mark] Meadows and [Jim] Jordan would not have been able to attend and would have had to seek to ask questions through the committee chairmen, both of whom are retiring from Congress at the end of the year," Josh Gerstein writes. "Rosenstein and his allies insisted that his statements were sarcastic reactions to comments made by others in private meetings last year." More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=be22ac58a40b2b4f0275231b5b7500377e710fa1aa2fd3d3f5b3ee9c3a33cd1a506b995d16bffa858f4d947d3bb56285

TRANSITIONS -- Rob Damschen has been named House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady's (R-Texas) communications director. Damschen was most recently the committee's press secretary.

TODAY IN CONGRESS -- The House and Senate are out.

AROUND THE HILL -- The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on judicial nominees at 10 a.m. in 226 Dirksen.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) will hold a meeting to discuss the construction of a projected bike lane between Union Station and the U.S. Capitol grounds on Louisiana Avenue at 7 p.m. in HVC-201.

TUESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER -- Chris Armstrong was first to correctly guess that New Hampshire is a state that was apportioned the same number of seats in the 63rd Congress that it currently has: two. Excluding states with only one representative, the other states are Connecticut (five), Idaho (two), New Jersey (12) and South Carolina (seven).

TODAY'S TRIVIA -- From Chris: In 1987, as part of the Iran-Contra investigation, Congress held joint hearings of the House Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran and the Senate Select Committee on Secret Military Assistance to Iran and the Nicaraguan Opposition. Who is the only current member of Congress to have taken part in the investigation? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your best guess my way: nmccaskill@politico.com.

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