TGIF! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Friday, September 16, where if you don't move your meetings outside today you're doing it wrong. SPENDING SCHEDULE — House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Thursday that the House could begin consideration of a short term spending bill next week, but it's clear there is still lots to iron out before then. There's growing support among Senate Republicans for including Ukraine aid in the spending package, but whether they accept the Biden administration's ask for $11.7 billion is still up in the air. Caitlin Emma reports that Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), a member of the Senate Defense spending panel, called Ukraine money the "most likely additional thing" to get tacked onto the bill to keep the government funded. "It's a lot of money, but they're fighting a big battle," Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), the top GOP appropriator in the Senate, said Thursday. Lunch money: A group of House Democrats is making a push to include universal school meal waivers in a must-pass bill required to keep the government funded and avert a government shutdown on Sept. 30. But Republicans have previously showed little interest in extending the waivers, which makes this bid a long shot. Garrett Downs has more. ALSO AHEAD: Hoyer also said on the floor Thursday that the House could take up legislation from Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) to overhaul the Electoral Count Act. GRASPING AT GRASSLEY — "Chuck Grassley, the once and possibly future chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, plays two disparate roles in the chamber: bipartisan dealmaker and partisan investigator," writes Marianne this morning . "The dueling approach was on full display last month, when Grassley became the pivotal tenth GOP co-sponsor of bipartisan legislation to reform the Electoral Count Act, a bill written to prevent future attempts to overturn elections. And weeks after that, he sent a letter to FBI officials with Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), alleging that they interfered with the senators' 2020 investigation into now-First Son Hunter Biden." WHIPPING FOR WHIPS — Contenders for the Republican Whip position are building their own whip operations to whip up support for their candidacies. Reps. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), Jim Banks (R-Ind.) and Drew Ferguson (R-Ga.) are all vying for the No. 3 House GOP position, but their strategies for getting there are starting to splinter. "A sizable crop of members remain uncommitted and likely to stay that way until after the midterms. Others have privately talked about the challenge of maintaining close relationships with multiple contenders in the race, making the whip campaigning more stressful," writes Olivia in her latest dispatch on House GOP dynamics. 'GOTTA KEEP 'EM SEPARATED' —"We're not in competition with the Justice Department," Jan. 6 select committee chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said this week. Kyle and Nicholas report that recent moves in the Justice Department's investigations into Trump world have raised questions over if or when the select committee might hand over its materials to DOJ prosecutors. "But the panel's lawmakers and aides insist they have no immediate plans to do so for three main reasons: avoiding any disruption to the upcoming Oath Keepers trial; neutralizing accusations from Trump allies that they're conducting a law enforcement investigation in disguise; and protecting their work." DAYLIGHT DIVISION — The sun might be setting on the Congressional effort to make daylight saving time permanent, Nancy reports. The Senate passed the bill — unanimously — five months ago. But in the House, there's a holdup. "The problem is we can't get a consensus. Some people wanted standard time. Some people wanted daylight saving. Some say split the difference, but there's no consensus. We can't move anything unless there is a consensus," Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), said Thursday. MARRIAGE ON HOLD — The Senate's bill to protect same-sex marriage won't be moving until after the election. The bipartisan group of senators pushing the bill say it'll be able to get more Republicans on board without the midterms looming. Burgess has more on the punt. Also: Remember when Marianne warned last week that the bill might be facing headwinds? PROTECT THE HOUSE — The Federal Election Commission is further expanding the types of security purchases lawmakers can make with their campaign account. On Thursday, the nation's chief campaign finance policing agency unanimously approved an advisory opinion for Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), granting her – and by extension, other similarly-situated lawmakers – permission to use campaign funds to "pay for the costs of reasonable cybersecurity measures to protect the Senator's home network" without it running afoul of laws that forbids the personal use of campaign funds. It's just the latest approval from the FEC in recent years allowing for campaign funds to be used for security updates at lawmakers' homes. In the past, this has focused on physical security threats, allowing lawmakers to pay for things like security cameras or gates. FIRST IN HUDDLE: BUDGET OFFENSE — House Republicans have staked out balancing the budget as a top priority if they take control of the House in November's midterms and former Trump White House Budget Director Russ Vought has been talking to House Republicans about his plan to get them there within a decade. Budget Committee hopeful Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) and Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), chair of the House GOP Task Force on Jobs and the Economy, have both signaled their plans to pursue balanced budgets in recent weeks. The group working with Vought on the budget is made up mostly of other Trump alums and the proposal would functionally revive and extend the four budgets the Trump administration proposed during his term. WINNER'S BOUNTY — Alaska Public Media's Liz Ruskin points out that Rep. Mary Peltola's (D-Alaska) campaign scored nearly $1.4 million in the 19 days after the Aug. 16 election, according to her Federal Elections Commission filings. For those tallying at home, that is close to 2.5 times as much as her whole campaign raised in the five months leading up to the primary election. STOP WITH THE STAMPS — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen doesn't collect stamps, but everyone seems to think she does. Need a gift for this cabinet secretary, try rocks or minerals, writes Andrew Duehren in an amusing a-hed for The Wall Street Journal.
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