Lame duck looks stuffed

A play-by-play preview of the day's congressional news

Oct 06, 2022 View in browser   By Katherine Tully-McManus With an assist from Burgess Everett LAME DUCK LUNCH MENU — Heading into the midterms, the legislative back burner is packed with things that Democrats hope to get back to in the lame duck session once some steam is let out from the midterm political pressure cooker. The idea being that once control of each chamber is settled by voters, winners and losers might be more willing to take politically contentious votes. Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) predicted lame duck days filled with "what everyone wanted to do during the Christmas holidays: watch C-SPAN." NEED IT BY NEW YEAR'S  Funding the government: Government funding will run dry in mid-December. Congress needs to put together and pass a massive omnibus spending package before the Dec. 16 deadline. That will take up a lot of Capitol Hill oxygen, but not all of it. Speaking of life-sustaining substances, we're watching to see if a massive must-pass water resources bill gets tacked onto the omnibus. NDAA: The Senate punted action on the National Defense Authorization Act that was slated for consideration during the scrapped October session. There is a deal to start debate on on Oct. 11, with just a handful of Senators present. But debate over amendments and final passage won't happen until after the election. PROBABLE (BUT NO PROMISES)  Hurricane help: Florida is going to need a boatload of federal aid to recover from Hurricane Ian. While Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) wants the Senate to return from recess to vote on a standalone supplemental appropriation for his state – a tough sell while funding needs are still being evaluated. That leaves it to the lame duck. The funding could get tacked onto the omnibus, but that won't satisfy Scott, who wants to vote on emergency aid separately. ECA: Both chambers want to modernize the 19th-century Electoral Count Act, designed as a safeguard against future attempts to challenge fairly decided elections. But Republicans aren't interested in the House version of the measure and GOP leaders say they'll only consider passing the Senate version. Marriage equality: The House already has passed its own same-sex marriage bill. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is planning to bring up a bipartisan same-sex marriage deal after shelving the bill ahead of recess instead of risking a Republican filibuster. Chief sponsor Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) said "I remain really confident that this will pass when it comes up." She and other backers are betting GOP support grows once the midterms are over. Tax extenders: There will be taxes on the table. Democrats want to revive the Child Tax Credit enhancement. Republicans want to revive a tax benefit for businesses that allowed them to immediately write off their research expenses. Those are just two items on a larger slate of tax breaks that could be in play in the lame duck, plus further incentives for retirement savings. UNLIKELY (BUT WE'VE BEEN SURPRISED BEFORE) Outbreak of cash: It is fair to expect another Democratic push for long-stalled Covid and monkeypox aid money. But after President Joe Biden declared the coronavirus pandemic over on primetime TV, that is another tough sell. WILDCARDS Permitting: Sen. Joe Manchin's (D-W.Va) energy permitting proposals didn't survive the pre-recess scramble to fund the government. But Manchin still thinks there is a deal to be struck with Republicans (he shook hands with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) before the break). But whatever deal he makes with Republicans is sure to rile up progressive Democrats over in the House. Debt limit: The topic that makes everyone start sweating. Raising the nation's borrowing limit is sure to be another headache, maybe the biggest for the GOP in 2023. As is typical, the deadline to address the debt limit is not clear. The deadline could be late next year, but the big ticket year-end spending deal combined with Biden's student loan forgiveness plan could accelerate the cliff. And this is just a sampling. Burgess, Sarah and Caitlin have the full menu of lame duck agenda items: The lame-duck grinch that might steal Congress' Christmas   JOIN NEXT WEDNESDAY FOR A TALK ON U.S.-CHINA AND XI JINPING'S NEW ERA:  President Xi Jinping will consolidate control of the ruling Chinese Communist Party later this month by engineering a third term as China's paramount leader, solidifying his rule until at least 2027. Join POLITICO Live for a virtual conversation hosted by Phelim Kine, author of POLITICO's China Watcher newsletter, to unpack what it means for U.S.-China relations. REGISTER HERE.     GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Thursday, October 6, where it's okay if you're not thinking about the lame duck yet. We've got you. WALKER SENSES DANGER? — Georgia Republican Senate candidate Hershel Walker did not take to the airwaves or Twitter on Wednesday night when The Daily Beast revealed that the woman who he urged to have an abortion is also the mother of one of his children. "He didn't accept responsibility for the kid we did have together, and now he isn't accepting responsibility for the one that we didn't have. That says so much about how he views the role of women in childbirth, versus his own. And now he wants to take that choice away from other women and couples entirely," she told The Daily Beast. Walker claimed to not know who the anonymous woman in Monday night's report of the abortion, the signed check from him and get-well-soon card. But new reporting reveals that she is the mother of one of his kids, who he did not acknowledge until they came to light during the campaign. "He seemed pretty pro-choice to me. He was pro-choice, obviously," she said. About that lawsuit… Walker had pledged to sue The Daily Beast over the original story about his support of the woman's abortion. But that suit has not yet materialized. Not waiting for perfection: Walker's Christian backers are undeterred, reports Natalie Allison from Georgia . Like most of the Republican Party, evangelical Christian leaders in Georgia are banding together to support Walker in the wake of the latest revelations about his personal life. Walker has stood by his hard-line, "no exceptions" position on abortion. "The dilemma is, do you wait for a candidate who is perfect?" Georgia pastor Pastor Anthony George told Natalie on Wednesday. RELATED: Christian Walker, Warrior for the Right, Now Battles His Father, from Clyde McGrady and Kellen Browning at The New York Times UNRELATED: There's a bear named Walker in today's Fat Bear Week matchup, who looks like he's been in some bruising battles of his own. MANCHIN HITS OHIO — Manchin is expected to attend a fundraiser with Ohio Senate candidate Rep. Tim Ryan (D) sometime this month, according to a person familiar with the event. Manchin has touted Ryan's prospects as Democrats' best pick-up opportunity. #TBT to week when Manchin told Burgess: "Tim [Ryan]'s a good friend. I just like Tim. We work together, his demographics and my demographics are the same. So we understand those people. He would be great for Ohio." And as for helping his campaign, Manchin said he told Ryan: "I'll be for you or against you, whatever helps you." Sounds like they settled on Manchin being an asset. PROXY VOTING x JET FUMES — A predictable collab. But Chris Cioffi with CQ Roll Call delivered the data. "On so-called fly-out days, an average of 62 House members vote by proxy, while an average of 57 members vote by proxy on fly-in days, according to a CQ Roll Call analysis of data collected by the Brookings Institution, looking at every vote so far in the 117th Congress. By comparison, an average of 41 members vote by proxy on days that are neither fly-in or fly-out days," writes Cioffi. STEVENS GETS DIVORCED — A year after Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) married software engineer Rob Gulley in a small, outdoor ceremony, the couple are divorcing. Detroit News reports that the couple came to the decision at the end of the summer.   STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today.     QUICK LINKS  In key battlegrounds, GOP onslaught of crime ads tightens Senate races, from Adam Edelman, Natasha Korecki and Henry J. Gomez at NBC News Why Vicente Gonzalez may not be safe in his solidly Democratic district, from Matthew Choi at The Texas Tribune A cop in a MAGA hat and an Oath Keeper: Inside one of Jan. 6's strangest moments, from Ryan J. Reilly at NBC News Biden's Student-Loan Forgiveness Test: Processing Millions of Applications, from Andrew Restuccia and Gabriel T. Rubin at The Wall Street Journal TRANSITIONS  Sarah Sinovic is now director of public affairs and communications for ROCKWOOL North America. She was most recently communications director and digital strategist for Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.). Alyssa Roberts is now the communications director at White House Council on Environmental Quality. She was previously communications director for Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) and her departure set off a series of promotions in the senator's office. Anthony Rivera-Rodriguez, previously press secretary, is now the communications director and Michael Judsonis is transitioning to deputy press secretary from press assistant. Eduardo Carrizosa is now deputy press secretary for Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.). He most recently was press secretary and digital director for Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.). TODAY IN CONGRESS The House and Senate are out. AROUND THE HILL Quiet, aside from all the buzz. TRIVIA WEDNESDAY'S WINNER: John M. Palatiello correctly answered that Nathanael Greene of Rhode Island was the first person depicted in a statue in the National Statuary Hall Collection. TODAY'S QUESTION from John: What Major League Baseball player was MVP in one World Series, collected a record 13 hits with a .406 average in another World Series, won five consecutive Gold Gloves, made seven All-Star Teams, and following his career in baseball, narrowly missed winning a seat in Congress, garnering 48.3% and losing by just 3,978 votes? 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   Follow us

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