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12/06/2016 07:53 AM EDT


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

With assists from Seung Min Kim, Elana Schor and Alex Byers

COMING TODAY- Lawmakers are itching to get home for the holidays (and leave the 114th Congress behind). The big-ticket item left to do? Pass a stop-gap spending bill that extends funding into next spring. House Republicans plan to unveil the bill today, Ben and Rachael report. "That suggests Congress will once again bump up against its funding deadline, with passage in the House on Thursday and in the Senate on Friday, assuming individual senators, and Democrats in particular, cooperate with the exit strategy." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d1fa10e0f09b32d925faccbf80c187edcee56d0e638894c2e70268653a0adc55

Not so fast... Republicans are considering adding language to the spending bill that would ease the confirmation of Gen. James Mattis, who will require a waiver to serve as secretary of Defense next year and faces the possibility of a Democratic filibuster.

What's at stake: "By including language to aid Mattis in the government funding bill, Republicans could use the specter of a government shutdown to attract Democratic votes to help Mattis get confirmed. But it could also backfire if Democrats oppose any effort to fast-track Mattis's confirmation, turning a sleepy fight over government funding past Dec. 9 into a different battle altogether," Burgess, Rachael and Connor O'Brien explain. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d1fa10e0f09b32d9ef62edf98cdd8762fc2ca58beff7f30f9e976932af34fd58

FREEDOM CAUCUS TAKES ON OBAMACARE PLAN- Incoming House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows says the group of right-wing rabble rousers has found a new cause célèbre: Doing everything they can to stop GOP leaders' plans to slow walk a full repeal and replacement of Obamacare. The proposal "will meet with major resistance from Freedom Caucus members," Meadows told Rachael in an interview.

The North Carolina lawmaker, calling it "the first big fight" for HFC next year, said Obamacare should be repealed and replaced within the next session of Congress, not three years as has been floated. Republican leaders will need the group's 40-ish members to pass an Obamacare repeal since House Democrats will oppose the plan. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d1fa10e0f09b32d978b7097185e48df40017f63889243fbee1036cfb4581ed70

NOT SO FAST- House Speaker Paul Ryan has decided to delay committee assignments for members until after they cast a public vote for speaker on the House floor in early January. The Hill's Scott Wong: "The move has sparked behind-the-scenes grumbling from a handful of Ryan critics, who say the delay allows him and the Speaker-aligned Steering Committee to dole out committee assignments based on political loyalty rather than merit or expertise." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d1fa10e0f09b32d915c9f1395aeefce6c008aa6b845cc30ca9b6398a20bd213a

GOP LEADERS BREAK WITH TRUMP- As it turns out, there is something Republican leaders disagree with President-elect Donald Trump on: Imposing large taxes on companies that move their businesses overseas. "I don't want to get into some kind of trade war," House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy told reporters Monday in response to a Trump tweetstorm on the issue over the weekend.

And House Speaker Paul Ryan also pushed back on the idea Monday, saying "an overhaul of the corporate tax code would more effectively keep companies in the United States than tax penalties." More from Jennifer Steinhauer with the New York Times: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d1fa10e0f09b32d9f3e7b9d4a7905f12517b37e825e24454e1e9baee48d34d65

PARTY ALL NIGHT- After a long night for House Democrats, here are the results of their caucus elections Monday: Rep. Ben Ray Luján was re-elected to lead House Democrats' campaign committee, the DCCC. Reps. Hakeem Jeffries, Cheri Bustos and David Cicilline were tapped by the caucus to lead the DPCC, their policy and messaging wing. Cicilline beat Reps. John Delaney and Matt Cartwright in a runoff. And Rep. Tony Cárdenas won out over Rep. Debbie Dingell to serve as the junior member on the leadership team.

HEY Y'ALL, IT'S TUESDAY, DEC. 6. Thanks for POLITICO's Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill. If you're like me, you've already ordered your game day gear for Dec. 31, when Bres' and my favorite team, the Alabama Crimson Tide, take on the Washington Huskies in the college football playoffs.

MONDAY'S MOST CLICKED- Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert's rib-related tirade was the big winner.

TODAY IN CONGRESS- The House meets at 10 a.m. with first and last votes around 4 p.m. Today's legislative schedule: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d1fa10e0f09b32d9cdaef9c2b57c1c4e521f534fa8572e55bd1f5af0d06ad15e The Senate gavels in at 10 a.m. with no votes currently scheduled.

AROUND THE HILL- House Speaker Paul Ryan and other Republican leaders hold a 10 a.m. press avail in the RNC lobby after their weekly conference meeting. Vice President Joe Biden will meet with House Democrats at their weekly caucus meeting at 10:30 a.m. in HVC-215.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a breast cancer survivor, will speak at the Tigerlily Foundation's annual women's breast health day at noon in the Rayburn Gold Room. Senate Democrats and Republicans recess for their weekly caucus lunches from 12:30 p.m. - 2:15 p.m.

House Judiciary ranking member John Conyers holds a forum on the Electoral College at 1 p.m. in 2226 Rayburn. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer holds a pen and pad in H-144 at 2 p.m. Speaker Ryan lights the Capitol Christmas tree at 5 p.m. on the West front lawn.

NO GOVERNING EXPERIENCE? NO PROBLEM- Ben Carson may not have a background in governing or housing development but that's not stopping Senate Republicans from lining up to gush about the HUD Department nominee. Burgess and Seung Min: "'If you can get a brain surgeon that wants to run housing, that's a good idea,' said Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who sits on the Banking Committee, which will consider Carson's nomination." And Scott's not alone. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d1fa10e0f09b32d969a9a3fc53cff130128aacd832cdf1d432b0cde1f8d0e5c2

SENATE TAKES A MULLIGAN- Turns out that in the Senate, you can pass a bill - and then take it right back. On Monday afternoon, the Senate easily cleared money-laundering legislation from Sens. Richard Shelby and Sherrod Brown and then almost as quickly, reversed its passage. Sources tell Huddle that the Democratic cloakroom had accidentally OK'd the hotline request that had included the terrorism financing measure and other items, without registering an objection that came from their own side. Hey, mistakes happen.

So where did that objection come from? West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who along with three other Democrats from coal states has vowed to gum up the works on anything and everything in the Senate until legislation regarding health care and pensions for coal-miners gets addressed in the chamber. Confirming the hold, a Manchin spox emailed us: "We are going to object to everything going forward."

HEITKAMP KEEPS IN TOUCH WITH TRUMPWORLD- Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp sparked fierce speculation about a potential move to the Trump Cabinet by meeting for more than an hour with the president-elect on Friday. And she's been in touch with Trump's team since, she said in a brief interview Monday.

"We've had some follow-on conversations," the freshman senator said, still decidedly mum on whether she has been formally offered any Cabinet post. Heitkamp added that she's talked with Reince Priebus, Trump's chief of staff-in-waiting, "about some of the issues we discussed" on Friday because he was unable to stay for the entire sitdown.

Related: Senior Democrats pressure Heitkamp and Sen. Joe Manchin to turn down Trump, from CNN's Manu Raju and Ted Barrett: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d1fa10e0f09b32d91aa212e15f008907adf6bd8f85585cc4bf50ca8816037258

WALDEN CHIEF OF STAFF TO DEPART- Energy and Commerce Chairman-to-be Greg Walden is losing his longtime chief of staff. Brian MacDonald, Walden's top aide for the last 18 years, emailed colleagues late Monday announcing that he's set to start a new chapter and relinquish his role by the end of the month. MacDonald was a key architect of Walden's bid for the E&C gavel, and said in his goodbye announcement that Lorissa Bounds will be his replacement in the Oregon Republican's personal office. No word yet on his next steps.

YOOHOO, ANYBODY HOME? Republican Rep. Scott Garrett lost his reelection to Rep.-elect Josh Gottheimer and since then has refused to help the incoming freshman take over district duties. "Gottheimer told The Record that Garrett has not returned his calls or responded to a certified letter asking about a transition, especially to ensure constituent requests do not fall through the cracks," Herb Jackson reports. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d1fa10e0f09b32d9cef80088d62109536a3a064f6803159c581323e1e5e24644

Garrett's office responds: "Any information that needs to be forwarded to the incoming office will be sent in a timely manner depending on each constituent's preferences, as has been done in the past," spokesman Chris Carofine said in a statement to Huddle.

** A message from the Stop The HIT Coalition: The Health Insurance Tax (HIT) drives up health care costs for small businesses, seniors, state Medicaid programs and middle-income Americans. The consequences are real. We need to repeal the HIT before it hurts small businesses and hardworking American families even more. Congress, please stop the HIT. Once and for all. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d1fa10e0f09b32d9c7a20c986039762ee2aacd324406bf85a9059649368a7571 **

POLITICO EVENT ALERT - WOMEN RULE: Join us for the fourth annual Women Rule summit, setting the 2017 agenda for women in the new Washington. Conversations to include: Women in the New Congress, Women on the Trail, What I Learned in the White House, and keynote conversations with Kellyanne Conway and Valerie Jarrett. Wednesday, December 7, 8:50am. Learn more: here. Livestream: here.

YOU BREAK IT, YOU BUY IT- Some Senate Democrats are feeling a little buyer's remorse after pushing through a rules change during their 2013 majority that now allows Republicans to confirm Trump Cabinet appointments with 51 votes (not 60 votes like it used to be). "I frankly think many of us will regret that in this Congress because it would have been a terrific speed bump, potential emergency break, to have in our system to slow down nominees," Sen. Chris Coons told CNN. More from Manu Raju and Ted Barrett: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d1fa10e0f09b32d9c25b5c35401aaab63c38acd9c654fed48da0b5412eea84d0

POLITICO EVENT ALERT - EMERGING HEALTH CARE LEADERS: Join POLITICO for the sixth annual Emerging Health Care Leaders event, a morning of one-on-one conversations with the emerging leaders who will influence the future of health policy. Thursday, December, 8 - Doors at 8:00 am; W Hotel. RSVP: here.

SCOTT SAYS (ALMOST) NO TO GOVERNOR'S RACE- For anyone who was hoping for a dream-team governor/lt. gov bid from Sen. Tim Scott and Rep. Trey Gowdy, your dreams are close to dashed. Scott came close to ruling out a run for the governor's mansion on Monday, saying that just doesn't drive him like his work in the Senate, reports Bob Montgomery with the Spartanburg Herald-Journal. Scott later told Hill reporters he hasn't officially ruled out running for the job but currently believes he can "do more good" in the Senate. Seung Min: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d1fa10e0f09b32d93b13116ac3987f3b362fb1c991ff86785af8bbf1f42b51e3

MONDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER- Cory Bisbee was the first to guess that Willliam Cohen was a House member and senator before leaving Congress to serve as secretary of Defense under President Bill Clinton. Rep. Bruce Poliquin holds Cohen's House seat while his Senate spot is filled by Sen. Susan Collins.

TODAY'S TRIVIA- Cory, student body president at Clark University, with today's question: This former senator from Maryland (and Clark University graduate) once challenged the incumbent for his party's presidential nomination, winning roughly 48 percent of the vote in the primaries and four delegate votes before being ejected from the Republican National Convention. Who was he and which member from New York (and cheesemaker) chaired the convention?

The first person to correctly guess the answer to today's question gets a mention in tomorrow's Huddle. Send suggestions for trivia questions my way: hcaygle@politico.com

GET HUDDLE emailed to your phone each morning.

** A message from the Stop The HIT Coalition: The Health Insurance Tax (HIT) drives up health care costs for small businesses, seniors, state Medicaid programs and middle-income Americans. The HIT is estimated to cost hardworking American families an additional $5,000 over a decade. And since the cost and consequences of the HIT increase over time, America's small businesses and hardworking families are facing a bigger HIT every year. This translates to real jobs for businesses and real wages for families. That's why the Stop The HIT Coalition - representing the nation's small business owners and their employees - is working hard to repeal the HIT before it causes even more damage.
Congress, please stop the HIT. Once and for all. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d1fa10e0f09b32d9c7a20c986039762ee2aacd324406bf85a9059649368a7571 **

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