MAKING HOUSE CALLS— It’s official, Republicans will control the House next year. Last night, more than a week after Election Day, the call of Rep. Mike Garcia’s win in California over Democratic challenger Christy Smith pushed Republicans to the 2018 seat threshold needed to hold the House. Seven House races remain uncalled: one in Alaska, one in Colorado and five in California. Democrats lead in four of them.

TODAY IS THE DAY —  Speculation about Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) future is at an all-time high. But she’ll put it to bed today, her spokesperson Drew Hammill confirmed late last night.

Your Huddle host expects Democrats to be extremely and uncharacteristically prompt to their weekly meeting of the party’s whip team at 9 a.m. That is one venue where she could break the news to her trusted allies in managing the caucus — though, of course, no one knows but Pelosi herself.

Pelosi, of course, made a promise years ago that this term as speaker would be her last atop the Democratic caucus. But a lot has happened since 2018 and some in the caucus think she is still the best positioned to lead House Democrats. President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) have also publicly encouraged her to stay.

Timing is everything: Pelosi held off on making her moves known until the House was officially in Republican hands. After today there is just one day the House is in session before Democratic Caucus leadership elections on Nov. 30. Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who is in charge of those caucus-wide elections and is eyeing the top Democratic leadership spot, has made clear that elections will not be rescheduled.

RELATED: Schiff passes on Dem leadership bid as Pelosi's future stays murky, scoop from Sarah and Nicholas

GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Thursday, November 17, where divided government is about to be all the rage.

IN THIS HOUSE WE…— Well, they’re still deciding. House Republicans spent much of Wednesday making moves on proposed changes to conference rules, working through about half of the proposals to change how the conference operates and distributes power.

The conference adopted a proposal that kills the Freedom Caucus’s request to restore any member’s ability to make a motion to vacate the chair, which would force a recall vote on the Speaker. Instead, they adopted an amendment from Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) that would allow the motion to vacate the chair – only if a majority of the Republican conference agrees. It would also bar Democrats from making the motion unilaterally.

Republicans also voted to expand the powerful Steering Committee, which decides committee assignments. The addition of more regional representatives could dilute the power of GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) and his allies – plumb committee assignments are typically a key bargaining chip leaders use to reward allies and incentivize skeptics.

Another dozen or so amendments to conference rules will be on the table after the Thanksgiving recess, including a proposal to ban earmarks, which were back this Congress for the first time in years.

Adjusting to the majority: Olivia reported that a proposal from Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) on NRCC leadership was adopted by voice vote, but she still called for a roll call vote – potentially not realizing it had already been adopted. Boebert – whose reelection race has not yet been called – said she wasn’t used to being agreed with, to laughs in the room.

Olivia and Jordain unpack the rumination over conference rules, and what it means for McCarthy’s bid for speaker.

RELATED: GOP leadership races: Trump can’t even get a win there, from Paul Kane at The Washington Post

MORE READS ON THE GOP MAJORITY: What Divided Government Means for Washington, from Tarini Parti, Natalie Andrews and Lindsay Wise at The Wall Street Journal; Republicans Barely Won the House. Now Can They Run It?, from Carl Hulse at The New York Times.

CHOOSE YOUR FIGHTER: PATTY MURRAY EDITION— What’s new with the Washington Democrat? Plenty.

1. PATTY PRO TEM: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday that he intends to nominate Murray as president pro tempore. The  move would put her third-in-line for the presidency after the vice president and speaker of the House. Democrats plan to hold their leadership elections on Dec. 8. Current pro tem Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) is retiring and the majority-party senator in the next Congress with the most tenure, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), has passed on the role. 
2. POWER OF THE PURSE PATTY: Murray on Wednesday formally announced her plans to pursue the top job on the Senate Appropriations Committee. That would mean giving up the gavel of Senate HELP. If Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) takes the ranking member spot, it will mark the first time that the so-called four corners – the chairs and ranking members on the House and Senate appropriations committees – would be all women. Reps. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.) and Kay Granger (Texas) lead the House Appropriations panel. 
3. POWER SHARING PATTY: Murray will not seek the job as the No. 3 caucus leader — potentially opening up a top leadership spot for another Democrat, according to her office. Murray rose to assistant Democratic leader at the end of 2016, the last time the caucus leadership reshuffled. But with the appropriations gavel and pro tem position, she is stepping aside. Burgess and Marianne have more on what’s next for that position. 

DIVISIONS OVER DEFENSE— McCarthy told reporters on Tuesday that Congress should hold off on the annual defense policy bill and instead wait until the new year -- when Republicans will be in power in the House.

“I’ve watched what the Democrats have done in many of these, especially in the NDAA and the wokeism that they want to bring in there,” McCarthy said. “I actually believe the NDAA should hold up until the first of the year, and let’s get it right.”

That move would kill a 61-year streak of Congress passing the NDAA every year. And many of McCarthy’s fellow Republicans aren’t in agreement. Talks are moving ahead to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the bill.

House Armed Services Chair Adam Smith (D-Wash.) pushed back at McCarthy’s plan at POLITICO’s Defense Summit, where he warned that delay would undercut national security.

“If you kick it off four, five, six months, you are really damaging the United States military. So I hope Kevin McCarthy understands that,” Smith said. “You are damaging the United States military every day past October 1st that you don’t get it done, and certainly more so every day past January [1st].”

REVOLVING DOOR— Ah, the long tradition of members cashing out for cushy lobbying gigs is still flourishing. Hailey Fuchs reports that Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), Ron Kind (D-Wis.) and Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) are all lining up their post-Congress employment.

Former members are prohibited from directly lobbying their former colleagues during a “cooling-off period” that lasts one year for House members and two years for senators. But they can still hit the ground running using all the other influence and connections they’ve accrued.

Yum…The Congressional Black Caucus was greeted with a tasty treat when members arrived at Wednesday’s weekly meeting: pies, courtesy of Rep. Tory Carter (D-La.). A spokesperson said it was to celebrate the end of the year and to welcome his CBC colleagues to the 118th Congress. The pies are from Hubig’s, a famous New Orleans bakery that recently reopened. “To the delight of our community, Hubig's recently reopened and is back with their timeless treat! I hope you enjoy this unique taste of New Orleans,” read a note included with the pies. We’ve got photos of the pie delivery and details on the pies.

More merch: We’ve seen succulents and pies but there’s more swag circulating, especially for those making leadership bids. Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.) is also hawking a local treat: candles from Batavia’s own Hearth and Hammer. They are personalized with her name and district to remind colleagues that she’s running for Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. Sources tell Sarah: yeah, they smell pretty great.

QUICK LINKS 

Investigating the investigators: Dem strategists to launch counterpunch to House GOP, from Heidi Przybyla and Jordain

With Golden’s victory, Republicans are shut out of House seats in New England, from Stephanie Lai at The New York Times

Military Acknowledges More Sexual Abuse in J.R.O.T.C. Programs, from Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs and Mike Baker at The New York Times

TRANSITIONS 

Beth Jafari, longtime aide to Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) will join Kelley Drye & Warren LLP, the firm will announce today.

Millie Bhatia is now a policy adviser for the White House’s Covid-19 response team. She previously was a health policy adviser for Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.).

TODAY IN CONGRESS

The House convenes at noon for legislative business

The Senate convenes at 10 a.m. to resume consideration of same-sex marriage legislation. No votes are scheduled at this time.

AROUND THE HILL

9:30 a.m. Oversight and Reform ranking member James Comer (R-Ky.) and Judiciary ranking member Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) hold a press conference on investigations into Biden family businesses (Studio A).

WEDNESDAY’S WINNER:Bruce Mehlman correctly answered that in 1911, Oscar Underwood of Alabama became the first majority leader elected by the party caucus in the House’s history.

TODAY’S QUESTION from previous winner Jason Morganti: Of all House speakers, who was the oldest when they assumed the gavel ? The Youngest?

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

GET HUDDLE emailed to your phone each morning.

Follow Katherine on Twitter @ktullymcmanus