| | | | |  | | By Katherine Tully-McManus | Presented by Sallie Mae® | | 
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) arrives for a vote at the U.S. Capitol July 20, 2022. (Francis Chung/E&E News/POLITICO) | PLACING BETS ON BIDEN v MCCARTHY — Have we seen a more sour relationship between a sitting president and possible House speaker in recent memory? Biden has spoken on the phone with House Minority Leader McCarthy (R-Calif.) just once during his presidency, according to a person familiar with their discussions. But the White House says that the Office of Legislative Affairs has engaged with the GOP leader. That's not strong scaffolding to build a governing partnership, if Republicans take the House in the midterms. No good ol' boys: Biden was known as a dealmaker during his time in the Senate, but that legacy doesn't mean much to House Republicans, most of whom weren't around to see it. Jordain and Sarah broke down the conference to find that, at most, 40 percent of next year's House GOP will have served in Congress before 2017. The rest are products of the Trump era. Era of (not so) good feelings: Republicans lament what they see as a lack of outreach and interest from Biden and his administration in the last two years. But the White House says entreaties and invitations have been made behind the scenes and Republicans haven't been willing to engage. Among GOP leadership and the Republican rank and file, most describe having little to no contact with the White House. In public, Biden has framed House Republicans and their fealty to former President Donald Trump as a dire threat to Democracy. Republicans have used the Biden administration as their political punching bag, as minority parties always do. If Biden leans into his relationship with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), it could leave House Republicans in the pickle that some House Dems have been frustrated by this Congress: having to swallow deals cut in the Senate. But they might not swallow them at all. Most House Republicans have opposed the big bipartisan deals that were largely crafted to clear the 50-50 Senate, including a semiconductor competition funding boost, the infrastructure bill and gun safety reforms. Elephant in the room: The reality is, many House Republicans openly question if Biden is a legitimate president, casting doubt on the 2020 elections and parroting false claims of fraud. That's a particularly sticky starting point for divided governing. Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) said he's waiting to see "which Joe Biden shows up after Election Day. Is it going to be fighting Joe or is it going to be let's work together Joe?," he said. Jordain and Sarah talked to nearly a dozen House Republicans about relations with the White House: Biden, House GOP brace to collaborate after 2 years of noxious feuding
| | | | A WOMEN RULE CONVERSATION ON LEADING FROM THE GROUND UP: Join POLITICO's Women Rule on Sept. 15 for conversations focused on creating and leading sustainable, healthy and inclusive communities. The program will feature a Member Exchange panel followed by a keynote discussion exploring the most pressing issues facing women in their communities and women in leadership roles who are best positioned to solve these problems. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Thursday, September 8, where feuds aren't hard to find. SAVE THE DATE — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is blocking out time to take up legislation to protect same-sex marriage "in the coming weeks." Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) are spearheading the effort and working to lock in 10 GOP votes necessary to pass their bill to codify same-sex marriage. The pair met Wednesday with Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) to discuss the path forward. Part of the bid for GOP support is an amendment to clarify that the bill wouldn't affect religious liberty or conscience protections. Marianne has much more on the path forward.
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Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the Democratic nominee for the state's U.S. Senate seat, speaks after being introduced by his wife, Gisele Barreto Fetterman, during a rally in Erie, Pa., on Friday, Aug. 12, 2022. | Gene J. Puskar/AP Photo | HOW FETTERMAN IS FEELING — Debateable. "We're absolutely going to debate Dr. Oz, and that was really always our intent to do that," Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman told POLITICO's Holly Otterbein in an exclusive interview yesterday . He said to this point there haven't been debates because he's been "addressing some of the lingering issues of the stroke, the auditory processing, and we're going to be able to work that out." And how Dems are feeling about Fetterman? They don't see the need for him to rush into a debate with Oz and are downplaying questions about Fetterman's health as he recovers from a stroke. Republicans are hammering the Democratic nominee, suggesting that his condition makes him unfit for service. Dems see the attacks as Oz on his back foot. "Oz is behind. He's trying to do everything he can do to throw shit at the wall to see if it sticks," said Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), a former chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Burgess has much more on the view of Fetterman vs. Oz from sitting senators: Dems defend Fetterman's low profile amid GOP health attacks: 'Why should he help Oz?' | | A message from Sallie Mae®: Now, more than ever, students and families need help making informed decisions about planning and paying for college. Sallie Mae offers free tools to all students and families so they can confidently calculate college costs, evaluate financial aid offers, and discover and apply for scholarships. In fact, our scholarship search tool helped more than 24,000 students cover $67 million in college costs in 2020. That's why Sallie Mae makes sense. | | | | | | Yeah, we're still doing this. Extended stay… Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) was in India for an eight-day economic delegation when he started exhibiting mild Covid symptoms. After testing positive, Ossoff is now isolating in India and missing votes and committee action this week. "Senator Ossoff expects to be back in Washington for Senate business next week," per his office. Meanwhile stateside…Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) have also tested positive and did not vote Wednesday. That leaves Dems down three votes in the evenly divided Senate. CHUY FOR MAYOR? — Rep. Jesús "Chuy" García (D-Ill.) is considering a bid for Mayor of Chicago, Block Club Chicago reported on Wednesday , and could pose a serious challenge for incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot. He's well known in Chicago, having served as alderman, in the State Senate, on the Cook County Board of Commissioners and as a longtime community organizer, all before heading to Congress. In 2015 he ran against and forced then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel into a runoff, where Garcia won 44.5 percent of the vote in a losing effort. ALASKA AT-LARGE — Special election winner Mary Peltola (D-Alaska) will be sworn in on September 13 to serve the rest of the late Rep. Don Young's (R-Alaska) term. She'll move into his iconic and spacious Rayburn office, but it won't have his 49 years of accumulated Alaska ephemera (and animal heads). Nobody, including the Architect of the Capitol, wants to see a mid-session office shuffle after the death of a sitting member. That is why Peltola inherits Young's coveted office space that he earned through seniority.
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don't miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY. | | | | | JACK REED HAS A DREAM — It's to squeeze NDAA debate into the Senate's already-packed September floor schedule. The annual National Defense Authorization Act was cleared by the House Armed Services Committee, which Reed chairs, back in June. The House passed its version in July. "We are pressing very hard. I'm personally engaged with Leader [Chuck] Schumer and others to try to get it to the floor before we recess for the elections. September, I hope," the Armed Services Committee chair said at the annual Defense News conference. But he's realistic about competing priorities for floor time: "There are other issues we have to pursue," he said. Connor O'Brien had more on this for Pros. COVERGIRL — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is on the October cover of GQ, talking about abortion, men, her sexual assault and questions of her safety. AOC's Fight for the Future, by Wesley Lowery
| | | Wasn't born yesterday… Okay, but this baby was. A woman gave birth, with the help of Capitol Police, in the front seat of an SUV right outside Hart yesterday. Best wishes to mom and baby. QUICK LINKS West Virginians divided over natural gas pipeline despite Manchin's support, from Laura Benshoff at NPR U.S. House members raise doubts about Manchin environmental permitting deal, from Jacob Fischler at States Newsroom Another US congressional delegation in Taiwan amid tensions, from The Associated Press TRANSITIONS Marta Dehmlow Hernandez is now senior director of comms at the Aerospace Industries Association. She most recently was comms director for the Senate Armed Services GOP. Andrew Becht is now scheduling director for Rep. Charlie Crist's (D-Fla.) gubernatorial campaign. He previously was director of operations for Crist's congressional office. Sen. Chris Coons' (D-Del.) office has added Joel Kabot as speechwriter and César Vargas-Torrico as press assistant. Kabot previously was an editor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore and is an alum of The Hill. Vargas-Torrico most recently was a staff assistant and legislative correspondent for Rep. Norma Torres (D-Calif.).
| | | | A message from Sallie Mae®:   | | | TODAY IN CONGRESS The House is out. The Senate convenes at 10 a.m. to resume consideration of Andre B. Mathis' nomination to be a U.S. Circuit judge for the 6th Circuit, with a confirmation vote slated at 11:30 a.m. Then the Senate will continue consideration of Salvador Mendoza Jr.'s nomination to be U.S. Circuit judge for the 9th Circuit, with a cloture vote at around 1:45 p.m. AROUND THE HILL 9 a.m. The Senate Judiciary Committee takes up nine nominations and two bills, including one which would temporarily allow news organizations to band together and negotiate with Facebook, Google and other entities without breaking antitrust laws. (Hart 216)
| | | WEDNESDAY'S WINNER: Laura Dove correctly answered that Margaret Chase Smith of Maine was the first woman to be elected to both houses of Congress. TODAY'S QUESTION from Laura: In 1965, Senator Howard Baker introduced two future Senators who were working as entry level Senate staff. These two, later elected to represent neighboring states, became close friends and key allies in the Senate. Who are they and which states did they represent? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your answers to ktm@politico.com. GET HUDDLE emailed to your phone each morning. Follow Katherine on Twitter @ktullymcmanus
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