GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Wednesday, October 12, where we hail the Fat Bear Week king, 747, a.k.a. "Bear Force One." MITCH LIKES TO WIN — No surprise here: McConnell told CNN's Manu Raju that "I'm for people that get the Republican nomination, and for winning, because if we win we get to decide what the agenda is, and they don't." On his role next Congress: "I have the votes," he told Raju, asserting that he's secured enough support to oust Democrat Mike Mansfield as the the longest-serving Senate party leader ever. On Georgia: "We're going to stick with Walker," he said, signaling that the tens of millions of dollars of pending ad reservations from the Senate Leadership Fund won't be yanked as Herschel Walker stumbles over abortion and abuse allegations. CAWTHORN'S QUIET CODA — Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) once touted that he'd "built [his] staff around comms rather than legislation," but these days constituents can't even get anyone on the phone. His district offices are "no longer regularly staffed" according to a voicemail and are "no longer accepting new case work," because "our office is beginning to close for the term." The Washington Post took a look at the state of Cawthorn, once thought to be a firebrand full of potential in the House GOP, as he fizzles towards the exit after his primary defeat. Paul Schwartzman notes that Cawthorn's official website is like a time capsule and that he didn't join the North Carolina delegation in requesting federal aid in the wake of Hurricane Ian. He's mostly proxy voting. It begs the question poised in the WaPo headline: What does Madison Cawthorn do now? His fall schedule isn't empty, despite being out of a job. He has several court hearings lined up in North Carolina related to his speeding tickets and two attempts to carry guns through airport security checkpoints. AND THAT MAKES FOUR — Rep. Melanie Stansbury's (D-N.M.) congressional office voted 12-1 to form a union and were met with congratulations from their boss . Stansbury's office is the fourth to vote to unionize this year, joining staffers for Reps. Andy Levin (D-Mich.), Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). IS NOTHING SACRED? — Someone tried to tamper with the voting in the Fat Bear Week contest, according to Katmai National Park. Amber Kraft, Interpretation and Education Program Manager for the National Park Service, talked to Rolling Stone about the nefarious attack on the precious and wholesome Fat Bear Week process. Don't worry, the fake votes were easily identified and the rightful winner of the day was named. Fat Bear Week came to a close yesterday with 747, a.k.a. "Bear Force One" taking the crown. PACE(R) YOURSELF — There have long been complaints about the fees it takes to view federal court records, public records, online. On Tuesday a court decided that users who paid for federal court records between 2010 and 2018 will receive $100 million split among them in refunds under a proposed settlement to a class-action lawsuit that challenged the overcharges. Users could get to $350 apiece, followed by additional payments if funds remain. "Critics have accused the courts of treating the roughly $145 million collected annually for court files as a slush fund for technology purchases, disregarding Congress' directive that the funds be used solely to cover the costs of making records available online," writes Josh Gerstein. But the ruling does not make federal court records or docket searches on the court's Public Access to Court Electronic Records, or PACER, free. The #FreePACER movement lives to fight another day.
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