| | | | |  | | By Daniella Diaz, Caitlin Emma and Olivia Beavers | | | With assists from POLITICO’s Congress team
|  Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) said he was growing increasingly frustrated with election denials, which he cited as the reason as why he “decided it's time for me to leave this place.” | AP | TICK TOCK: The government will shut down in 16 days if Congress can’t pass a funding patch. VOTES TONIGHT: The House will consider measures censuring Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and to expel Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) from Congress. Our team is queued up to file real-time updates on all three. WHAT TWO HUGE RETIREMENTS MEAN FOR THE HOUSE GOP Two influential Republicans, Reps. Kay Granger of Texas and Ken Buck of Colorado, announced within only a few hours that they won’t seek reelection next year. It’s another sign that the House GOP chaos is alienating more mainstream members, contributing to dragging the conference further to the right. Buck, in an interview with Olivia today, explicitly said he “was strongly leaning towards not running again during the speakership fight.” She shadowed him in his district back in August, when he told her that he did plan to run for reelection. He said he was growing increasingly frustrated with election denials, which he cited as the reason why he “decided it's time for me to leave this place.” (Note here: Buck did vote for Speaker Mike Johnson, who played a leading role in the House 2020 election denial efforts. Buck had an explanation for that we’ll get into below.) Another member, Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.) actually announced her retirement during the speakership race, saying she wanted to spend more time with family. Both Buck and Granger were front and center during the fight to oust ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Buck because he was one of eight Republicans who voted with Democrats to boot the Californian, and Granger because she was the appropriations chair and joined others, including Buck, to shut down Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan’s bid for the gavel. Buck’s congressional district went to Trump by 19 points in 2020, so it’s highly possible another conservative could take that seat. Same on Granger’s, which went to Trump by 18 points. More on Granger: It’s no secret that certain senior appropriators have been frustrated with conservatives seeking deeper spending cuts that would never pass the Democratic-controlled Senate, though Granger has publicly tried to stay above the noise. However, in a shocking twist last month, the 80-year-old Texas Republican stood fast against Jordan’s bid for the speakership, in what many viewed as a rebuke of his past embrace of shutdown tactics. And more on Buck: Often seen as a conference wildcard, Buck often clashed with members of his own party. He was one of two House Freedom Caucus members who voted to certify the 2020 election and he initially opposed a vote to launch an impeachment inquiry in President Joe Biden. He warned doing so would be a “distraction,” though he later indicated he was OK with continuing the investigation at the center of the inquiry. He voted to oust Kevin McCarthy as speaker and, like Granger, didn’t support replacing him with Jim Jordan, his fellow HFCer. While Buck did vote for Johnson, he said he differentiates how Jordan and Johnson handled election denials. “[Johnson’s] main effort was to take a case to court, and that's always appropriate to challenge an election result in a court. And he got a result from the court,” Buck said. “If you look at the Jan. 6 report, Jordan was involved in more than just a court case or voting to decertify.” Asked whether he has another job or a TV gig lined up when he retires, the answer was an immediate no. Of course, he’s still got plenty of time. “I don't have a deal. Nothing. Nada. I'm gonna go talk to think tanks. I'm gonna go talk to law firms. I'm gonna especially talk to places in Colorado. I'd love to get back to my family. But no, I don't have a deal with anybody. And I'm not that close to having to deal with anybody.” On the other side: Two House Democrats also announced they are retiring this week – Rep. Earl Blumenauer, who has represented Oregon in the House for nearly 30 years, and Rep. John Sarbanes, who will not run for a 10th term in the House after 18 years serving in the chamber. — Daniella Diaz, Olivia Beavers and Caitlin Emma with an assist from Sarah Ferris
| | | | A message from Electronic Payments Coalition: Don’t Buy What Mega-Retailers Are Selling About Durbin 2.0: Superstores like Walmart, Target, and Home Depot are pushing for legislation that's essentially corporate welfare at the expense of consumers. They're seeking new government mandates on credit card routing, which may appear harmless but would jeopardize YOUR data security and fraud protection, rewards for everyday purchases, and the convenience of using credit cards. Congress: reject the Durbin credit card interchange bill. Click HERE to get the facts. | | | GOOD EVENING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Wednesday, Nov. 1 where we hope you swapped out your Halloween props for Thanksgiving decor. SUCCEEDING GRANGER Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) told us this afternoon that he is indeed planning to run for chair of the Appropriations Committee next year, now that Granger won’t seek reelection. "I'll make an official announcement at the appropriate time, but that would be my intention,” Cole said. Another senior appropriator, Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), has also quietly entered the race. In a statement this afternoon he said he will be “considering, and most certainly praying, about how I could use my talents and experience to advance our party’s message and goals.” Old-guard dynamic: Cole, who has led the Labor-HHS-Education and Transportation subcommittees, is widely seen as the obvious choice for Granger’s gavel. He’s popular. He’s already the committee’s vice chair. He’s head of the Rules Committee. And he was a cheerleader for every one of the GOP conference’s speaker picks over the last few weeks, while brushing off suggestions that he jump into the race. Some more conservative Republicans have cautioned that Cole might not end up winning the secret-ballot election for the powerful appropriations gavel. It might be new era for McCarthy loyalists under Speaker Johnson, they say. And the cigar-loving senior appropriator said he expects challengers. “I know other people are appropriately considering it,” Cole said. “So no, there's no such thing as a shoo-in.” To those who might see him as part of the “old leadership” hierarchy they’ve begun to dismantle, Cole said: “People are free to draw their conclusions however they see fit. I’m proud of my record in the House and happy to discuss it with anyone.” — Jennifer Scholtes and Caitlin Emma, with an assist from Sarah Ferris
| | | | GROWING IN THE GOLDEN STATE: POLITICO California is growing, reinforcing our role as the indispensable insider source for reporting on politics, policy and power. From the corridors of power in Sacramento and Los Angeles to the players and innovation hubs in Silicon Valley, we're your go-to for navigating the political landscape across the state. Exclusive scoops, essential daily newsletters, unmatched policy reporting and insights — POLITICO California is your key to unlocking Golden State politics. LEARN MORE. | | | | | SENATE SPENDING PACKAGE REACHES FINISH LINE Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray and ranking Republican Sen. Susan Collins secured a major spending win this evening after two months of hard-fought haggling behind closed doors. What happened: The Senate passed its nearly $280 billion spending package bundling together three bipartisan bills that would fund the USDA, the FDA, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Transportation Department and more. The package, which cleared its first legislative hurdle in September, has been continuously delayed by partisan squabbles over amendments. The effort to pass the fiscal 2024 measures through the Senate without House buy-in is a departure from previous years. More recently, leading appropriators in the upper chamber have huddled privately to negotiate a larger government funding plan that can also pass the House, rather than burning floor time on spending bills that were only negotiated in the Senate. But laying down a marker in the broader spending standoff with House Republicans has been a huge priority for Murray and Collins, who are eager to show progress during a time of historic dysfunction. The Senate’s top two appropriators have said they want to pass the remaining nine spending bills in similar funding bundles. But first, they must pivot to a stopgap spending bill, or a continuing resolution, that thwarts a shutdown in just 16 days. Critically, they’ll need something that can also clear the GOP House, where a small faction of members can make or break any spending legislation. Johnson’s January bid: While some senators have mulled a stopgap through mid-December, Johnson told their conference at a meeting today that he wants to fund the government through Jan. 15, shielding members from the typical holiday funding crunch. Some complications there: That January date would technically set in motion a 1 percent funding cut next year, due to the terms of the Biden-McCarthy debt deal. But the reductions wouldn’t take effect until April 30, and only if the government is operating under some kind of partial or short-term CR. A year-long stopgap would technically stave off the April cuts, since it’s a full-year funding bill, but that option hasn’t been seriously discussed. Such a proposal would prove extremely divisive within the House Republican conference. Johnson also said he’s open to more Ukraine aid, although he argues it must remain separate from funding for Israel and will likely require border provisions to make the money more palatable to conservatives. House Republicans plan to take up their standalone $14.3 billion Israel aid bill on Thursday, while hoping to pass the Legislative Branch, Interior-Environment and Transportation-HUD spending bills before the end of the week. The Legislative Branch bill appears to be in jeopardy, however, due to whipping issues over the ever-controversial increase in member pay that the House Rules Committee sought to block last month. — Caitlin Emma and Daniella Diaz, with assist from Jennifer Scholtes and Sarah Ferris
| | | | A message from Electronic Payments Coalition:   | | | JOHNSON AND JORDAN’S BIBI COVID STORY We at POLITICO have been listening to some old audio of Johnson now that he’s risen to the speakership. There’s one instance we found interesting, concerning Jordan, a previous candidate for the gavel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Covid. Jordan joined Johnson on his podcast in July 2022 and recalled a trip they took to Israel for a meeting with Netanyahu just a month before the Covid-19 pandemic slammed the East Coast, in February 2020. Johnson said enough time had gone by that “we could probably share the story.” “He is coughing like crazy,” Jordan recalled, as the two men laughed. Johnson begins imitating Netanyahu, fake coughing and then says in a deeper voice, “Sorry fellas!” “The poor prime minister, who obviously had a cold and then he starts telling us how serious this Covid stuff is. You and I, we didn’t know yet. The whole world didn’t know yet. But Israel, like always, they're ahead of the game on so many things when it comes to knowing, the intel, know what's coming, they have to be in that neck of the woods. But he was telling us, ‘This is gonna get serious.’” “We shook hands, we shook hands with him,” Johnson interjected while laughing. “After the fact, you and I laughed about it, like a few months later when we're into the whole thing. And then it’s like, remember Netanyahu telling us?” Jordan said laughing. “We could have been killed, but we'd have a great story,” Johnson said, still laughing. “That was epic.” — Daniella Diaz and Kyle Cheney
| | | | A message from Electronic Payments Coalition: Don’t Buy What Mega-Retailers Are Selling About Durbin 2.0:
FACT: Local Economies Will Suffer If Durbin 2.0 Passes
A recent Airlines For America study examining cobranded airline cards, which are held by approximately 30 million Americans, generate $23 billion in domestic economic activity due to the 15 million trips Americans make using loyalty points. If passed, Durbin 2.0 jeopardizes $23.4 billion in economic growth and 183,000 jobs nationwide.
Congress: reject the Durbin credit card interchange bill. Click HERE to get the facts. | | | | | Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) referred to folks at the Congressional Budget Office as “little gnomes.” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) posts on X this year’s Capitol Christmas tree is from West Virginia. Nicholas caught some back-and-forth between Reps. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) and Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) that was, ahem, quite the exchange.
| | | | PLAYBOOK IS GOING GLOBAL! We’re excited to introduce Global Playbook, POLITICO’s premier newsletter that brings you inside the most important conversations at the most influential events in the world. From the buzzy echoes emanating from the snowy peaks at the WEF in Davos to the discussions and personalities at Milken Global in Beverly Hills, to the heart of diplomacy at UNGA in New York City – author Suzanne Lynch brings it all to your fingertips. Experience the elite. Witness the influential. And never miss a global beat. BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION. SUBSCRIBE NOW. | | | | | QUICK LINKS Marjorie Taylor Greene is pushing censure of Rashida Tlaib. It crosses a line, from the Detroit Free Press Editorial Board Capitol Police knew security precaution lapsed ahead of Paul Pelosi attack, from Chris Marquette at Roll Call TRANSITIONS Johnson in a press release Wednesday announced senior staff hires for his leadership team. "Hayden Haynes will serve as Chief of Staff. Garrett Fultz will serve as Deputy Chief of Staff. Raj Shah will serve as Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications. Chris Bien will serve as Director of Floor Operations. Courtney Butcher will serve as Director of Member Services. Ashley Callen will serve as General Counsel. Hannah Fraher will serve as Director of House Operations. Dan Ziegler will serve as Director of Policy." Abbie Sorrendino is now a principal at Public Strategies Washington. She most recently was chief of staff for Rep. Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.) and is a Chuck Schumer alum. TOMORROW IN CONGRESS The House convenes at noon. The Senate convenes at 10 a.m. THURSDAY AROUND THE HILL 9:45 a.m. Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) will host a press conference on climate and clean energy cuts. (House Triangle) 1 p.m. Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) will host a press conference on critical workers ahead of immigration and border bills. (House Triangle)
| | TUESDAY’S ANSWER: Graydon Daubert correctly answered that Victor L. Berger, often credited as a father of “Sewer Socialism,” was twice denied a seat in the House of Representatives after winning elections by Congress, but later served for three terms after his conviction under the Espionage Act was overturned by the Supreme Court. TODAY’S QUESTION from Graydon: Who was the first Republican woman to sit on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your answers to huddletrivia@politico.com. GET HUDDLE emailed to your phone each evening. Follow Daniella on X at @DaniellaMicaela. | | | | Follow us | | | | |
