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With assists from POLITICO’s Congress team

SENATE’S TURN ON STOPGAP

The odds of a shutdown dropped to near zero Tuesday, but that doesn’t mean the drama is over. It’s the Senate’s turn.

The chamber needs unanimous consent to pass the bill before Saturday, the deadline to keep the government funded. That gives every senator leverage to demand votes on… pretty much anything.

But after a day in which former Speaker Kevin McCarthy allegedly whacked Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) and Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) challenged a committee witness to a fight — well, maybe everyone is ready to go home early for Thanksgiving.

Republicans are more likely than Democrats to request amendment votes or other concessions as a condition for speeding up the vote. But for now, Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Republican, told Huddle the outlook for the stopgap measure “looks pretty good.”

“At least the initial feedback we’re getting, which can always change, is that most of our folks are supportive of what the House has done and want to move it along,” he said.

“But again, that’s today,” he added. “You know how that goes.”

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who sometimes objects to speedy passage when it comes to spending packages, hasn’t said yet if he plans to hold up the process. He seemed to leave the door open to it Tuesday.

“I haven’t made a decision on it as far as time constraints, but we’ll look at it as it comes out. I’m opposed to continuing spending at the same level,” he said. “I think it’s a mistake to continue spending at this level so I would only vote if we’re going to reduce spending.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer spoke with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on the Senate floor on Monday for a few minutes, according to our eagle-eyed Ursula. Schumer said the two are committed to moving things ASAP.

McConnell endorsed the bill on Tuesday and said: “It’s nice to see us working together to prevent a government shutdown.”

Schumer also said he spoke to Speaker Mike Johnson as well as the White House and is giving the proposal a green light — while also calling the new speaker’s tactics “goofy.”

“The proposal before the House does two things Democrats pushed for, and I talked to him about on the phone ahead of time,” Schumer said. “One, not making the hard-right cuts that the MAGA wing demands. And second, making sure that if they’re going to do this sort of goofy ladder that defense is in the second part of the ladder, not the first.”

Bottom line: With a 336-95 vote in the House, this bill is going to pass the Senate. But how close will the chamber get to the Saturday deadline? Or is everyone ready to grab that 1:45 p.m. Thursday flight home and avoid the chances of another near-brawl?

Moving forward: The Senate’s supplemental funding bill for Ukraine, Israel, the border and Taiwan is mired in bipartisan negotiations. Schumer said it will be a “very high priority” when the Senate gets back from Thanksgiving break. McConnell, the GOP’s top Ukraine hawk, said he’s hoping to clinch things before the new government funding deadlines in January and February.

— Burgess Everett and Daniella Diaz, with an assist from Ursula Perano

GOOD EVENING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Tuesday, Nov. 14 where we are counting down for the next long recess.

93 REPUBLICANS VOTED AGAINST CR

In the end, 93 House Republicans voted against Johnson’s plan to keep the government open, a bad sign for his nascent speakership.

As Jordain, Olivia and Sarah laid out, conservatives are furious at Johnson for working with Democrats to avert a shutdown. They’re not going to try to oust him like they did with McCarthy, at least not yet. But they’re plotting other moves that will make it more difficult for Johnson to govern.

Johnson, according to Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), asked conservatives earlier Tuesday, during a vote on the House floor, to give him “a little grace,” given he had settled into the speakership just weeks before the shutdown deadline.

The Louisiana Republican has told members this is the last so-called “clean” stopgap he would bring to the floor (that is, a continuing resolution without spending cuts). He’s committed to working aggressively on cutting spending in the time he’s bought with this stopgap measure — and he’s probably not going to get any more leeway on an extension.

Bottom line: Jan. 19 and Feb. 2 are looking like hard deadlines for the two chambers to wrap up spending bills. It’s going to be a tough next two months as House Republicans negotiate funding with Senate appropriators who want to keep the same levels under the McCarthy-Biden debt limit deal reached back in May.

“I know Speaker Johnson doesn’t even want to do this,” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who was one of the eight members to boot McCarthy from the speakership, told reporters. “I think he’s lamenting that he didn’t have more time to design his playbook and to put all that in motion.”

— Daniella Diaz, with an assist from Jordain Carney

CONGRESS NEEDS A RECESS BEFORE IT COMES TO REAL BLOWS

If the atmosphere in the Capitol continues like Tuesday, they might start calling it The Octagon.

The day was tense all over. On the House side, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) accused former Speaker Kevin McCarthy of shoving him after the House Republican conference meeting.

And a few hours later, House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) called Rep. Jared Moskowitz a “liar” as well as a “smurf” during a congressional hearing after the Florida Democrat brought up a personal loan from Comer to his brother.

On the Senate side, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) stood up during a Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing and threatened to fight Teamsters President Sean O’Brien. (The two have a history of not getting along.) Chair Bernie Sanders shut it down.

Remember: Mullin previously challenged O’Brien to an MMA-style fight. Sanders told Huddle afterward: “The hearing was not about a cage fight. It was about massive wealth and income inequality.”

Where’s all this coming from? Johnson called the House “a pressure cooker,” which seems apt to your Huddle host. The chamber has had a 10-week work period — including the weeks of impasse after McCarthy was booted as speaker. Thanksgiving week would be the first recess for House members since the beginning of September.

The Senate has had a five-week work period — but that’s still a lot of, ahem, quality time. Now the countdown is on for the aroma of jet fumes.

Vibe check: This post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

— Daniella Diaz, with assist from Burgess Everett and Ursula Perano

Don’t miss the clothing swap on Nov. 30.

Lisa Murkowski does not approve of how Mitt Romney was cooking his salmon.

Janet Yellen is all of us.

QUICK LINKS

Guns, Choppers, Wild Hogs: Congress Pressed to Fund More Hunts, from Jack Fitzpatrick at Bloomberg Government

House Intel’s plans for controversial surveillance program run into privacy hawk backlash, from Jordain Carney

House Speaker Mike Johnson endorses Trump, defends ‘stolen election’ claims, from Kevin Breuninger at CNBC

Enviro congressman’s wife buys — then dumps — dozens of oil, energy and other stocks, from Alexandria Jacobson at The Raw Story

TRANSITIONS

Allison Aprahamian is now the communications director for the House Select Committee on China. She was most recently the press secretary.

Adam Bozzi is launching Anticipate Public Affairs, a strategic comms and public affairs firm. He was most recently senior adviser for the Democratic staff of the House Administration Committee and is an End Citizens United, Michael Bennet and Jack Reed alum.

Sarah Selip has relaunched the boutique conservative PR firm 917 Strategies. She was most recently comms director for Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) and is a Jody Hice alum.

TOMORROW IN CONGRESS

The House is in session.

The Senate is in session.

WEDNESDAY AROUND THE HILL

10:30 am Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) will hold a press conference on the two-year anniversary of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. (Senate Swamp)

12:30 p.m. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) will host a press conference on tenant protections and rent regulations. (House Triangle)

2:30 p.m. Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) will host a press conference on the implementation of the first bipartisan anti-digital discrimination law. (House Triangle)

MONDAY’S ANSWER: Henry Wilson was the first vice president immortalized with a bust in the US Senate, which inspired the chamber to create busts of all other vice presidents.

TODAY’S QUESTION: Which retiring congressman is the last of a quartet of Cincinnati all-boys Catholic high school alums who served in the House together at the same time? Bonus: Who are the other three?

The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your answers to [email protected].

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Follow Daniella on X at @DaniellaMicaela.