GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Thursday, October 20. If you're in a recess funk, tune into yesterday's Prime Minister's Questions in the British Parliament. It was somehow both more raucous and more restrained than what we're used to. DCCC HOLLERIN' BACK AT O'HALLERAN — One of the most endangered House Democrats is getting a boost from the caucus' campaign arm. Rep. Tom O'Halleran, already a perennial front-liner, was dealt a rough hand in redistricting, making his district even more of an uphill battle. Some thought the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee might not invest in the race, but they opened their coffers this week with a $680,000 buy in the Phoenix market. The broadcast spot attacks O'Halleran's GOP opponent, Eli Crane, as too radical. It's a 30-second spot that uses footage of the Jan. 6 insurrection and warns that Crane promotes conspiracy theories espoused by white supremacists and supports abortion bans. It closes with a nod to O'Halleran's "independent voice." This is the first outside funded ad backing O'Halleran in the race; he's been on his own for TV ads until the DCCC stepped in. His fellow Arizona Democrat Rep. Ruben Gallego praised the move and O'Halleran's engagement with the Navajo Nation. But some have raised concerns that, with Democrats cash strapped in the final stretch, other races would be wiser investments. Sarah and Ally have more on the campaign cash calculus at play . The House GOP campaign arm has spent heavily in the district, but Crane hasn't locked it up yet. POLITICO's election forecast ranks the race as leaning Republican . Another Dem Hollerin': Tim Ryan asks why Democrats 'don't smell blood' and help him in Ohio , from Annie Linskey at The Washington Post GRASPING AT GHOSTS — Lawmakers aren't letting up on the issue of so-called "ghost guns" that can be 3D printed from guides sold online and are able to evade some common security features. Biden's promises: Today Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), along with 25 colleagues, are sending a letter to Biden calling for the reversal of a Trump-era rule that moved the regulation of ghost guns and their data from from the State Department to the Commerce Department. The Democrats who signed the letter want jurisdiction back at State, where they can be regulated in key categories including the U.S. munitions list and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. "The online distribution of these ghost gun blueprints only increases the risk of these weapons proliferating and poses a serious threat to public safety and national security. President Biden should fulfill his campaign promise and reverse the Trump administration's weakening of these gun safety regulations," said Markey in a statement. Regulation consternation: In a separate letter sent Wednesday, 14 Democratic senators led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) urged the Justice Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to issue enforcement guidance for the recently finalized rule on ghost guns. They raised concern about a potential loophole where parts of a ghost gun, which could easily be made whole, might be regulated more loosely. "The Ghost Gun Rule was promulgated to stop the proliferation of ghost guns, mitigate the threat these firearms pose to our communities, and help law enforcement — at every level — do their jobs… It is now incumbent upon the Department and ATF to see that it is enforced — and enforced strongly," the senators wrote. TEXT LIKE NO ONE IS WATCHING — Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) was busy fighting for her political life ahead of a runoff election on Jan. 5, 2021, but that didn't stop her GOP colleagues from trying to get her involved in the planned scheme to reject the electoral college results on Jan. 6. That's just one revelation from a trove of 59 pages of text messages from Loeffler's iPhone obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution from an anonymous source. Loeffler sometimes just didn't respond to texts about making plans. (Relatable.) She also didn't appear to respond to a scathing set of texts from Tricia Raffensperger, six days after the 2020 elections, where she lays blame on Loeffler for threats against her husband Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and the rest of her family. Greg Bluestein, Tamar Hallerman and David Wickert dive into the texts , which reveal Loeffler's private consideration of her own election fate and how to cast doubt over the election results. COTTON VS. COUNCIL — Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) won't stand by as the District of Columbia tries to govern itself. The D.C. Council voted unanimously to send a bill to Mayor Muriel Bowser that would allow noncitizens, including undocumented residents, to vote in local elections. Cotton took note, and is pledging to try to stop the move. "Washington D.C. just moved to let illegal aliens vote. I'll be introducing a resolution to block this," he wrote on Twitter . "Let's get every Democrat on the record on whether illegal immigrants should vote."
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