HOUSE SAYS: NOT MY KEVIN — Before he left the Capitol Tuesday night, Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said he won't drop out of the race for speaker. But McCarthy's math problem persists and overnight talks have done nothing to clarify to whom Republicans will give the speaker's gavel or when they'll do it. McCarthy and allies are talking about a path towards winning the speakership with fewer than 218 votes, which would require the GOP Leader to convince some colleagues to either flip or vote "present." The number of voting members determines the majority and McCarthy is holding out hope that he can win with a lower threshold. "I think we'll find our way to get there," McCarthy told reporters around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday night. But there is broad skepticism from GOP members who spoke to POLITICO late Tuesday night that this is a feasible path. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who is backing Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) for the top job, called the plan to get members to vote present "absurd." TRUMP STUMPS FOR McCARTHY — This morning former president Donald Trump offered a full-throated endorsement of McCarthy on his social media platform Truth Social: "now time for all of our GREAT Republican House Members to VOTE FOR KEVIN, CLOSE THE DEAL, TAKE THE VICTORY, & WATCH CRAZY NANCY PELOSI FLY BACK HOME TO A VERY BROKEN CALIFORNIA," he wrote. "Kevin McCarthy will do a good job, and maybe even a GREAT JOB - JUST WATCH!" said Trump. LET'S TRY THIS AGAIN — The House convenes at noon today and doesn't have too many options except to keep voting on who should be speaker. The chamber cannot move forward to adopt House rules, organize committees or take up any legislation until a speaker is in place. Many lawmakers who talked to POLITICO late into the night said that Tuesday's inconclusive session riled up members past a boiling point and that everyone needed a cooling off period. "I didn't think we were going to get any more productive by continuing on the day," McCarthy told reporters. It isn't yet clear how, or if, today will be different. Both sides are heading into Wednesday's uncertainty convinced that their opposition is being selfish, as Olivia noted last night. McCarthy allies view the 20 naysayers as holding the conference, and the House, hostage by blocking the ascension of the majority GOP candidate. But the "Never Kevin" crew lays selfishness on McCarthy for refusing to bow out when he doesn't have the votes. PROGRESS ELUSIVE — McCarthy opponents, including Reps. Gaetz, Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry (R-Pa.), met for several hours Tuesday night with McCarthy backers to try and find a path forward. Reps. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.), French Hill (R-Ark.) and Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) shuffled in and out of GOP whip-elect Tom Emmer's office. The group didn't emerge with major progress, stressing what an uphill battle McCarthy faces to win over his critics. On Fox News last night after those meetings, Roy wouldn't say whether he would find Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) a more palatable consensus candidate, instead telling Laura Ingraham "There's a number of names that have been floating about but we can't actually get to that as long as Kevin says he's going to keep running indefinitely." As chatter about alternative candidates intensifies, McCarthy allies are quick to assert that there are maybe 80 or so members who are digging in as the "Only Kevin" camp. (But McCarthy allies also said heading into this week that he had the votes.) Don't believe anyone who says they know how this fight for the speaker's gavel ends. Squatter's rights: Gaetz sent a letter to the Architect of the Capitol raising alarm that McCarthy has been using the Speaker's Office when no one has been elected speaker yet. "How long will he remain there before he is considered a squatter?" asks Gaetz. Read a step-back on where things stand from Olivia, Jordain and Sarah: House GOP back in familiar pattern — fury at the Freedom Caucus RELATED: Kevin McCarthy wasn't 'the one' 7 years ago. He wasn't on Tuesday, either. By Paul Kane at The Washington Post, All but two McCarthy defectors in House are election deniers, by Amy Gardner at The Washington Post, The '23 20: The Republicans who bucked McCarthy's speaker bid from Anthony Adragna and Nancy Vu GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Wednesday, Jan. 4, where we warned you that this might be excruciating. SPLIT SCREEN SADNESS — For Republicans, at least. The view of the speaker race drama from the Senate was a mix of entertainment and troubled concern. Burgess has the dispatch from the upper chamber.
- "I'm very glad I'm not back in the House," said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.). "The unsteadiness I see over there [in the House] concerns me. We get the majority, and then we start a circular firing squad," she said.
- "I think it'll be noisy for a couple of days and then they'll figure it out and we'll get moving as a country," said Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), who also called the speaker mess "good drama."
- "McCarthy's election to speaker may be the easiest thing he does all year. Then trying to legislate in the majority, obviously that's going to be very hard," said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas).
- "I voted against [Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell] as a protest vote more than anything else but I accept he's the leader and I want to work with him. So this idea that 85 percent are going to be told what to do by five percent is not a good formula. And I think Kevin's already given away too much," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told Marianne on Tuesday.
TOLD YA SO... Many Senate Republicans are feeling validated about their choice to not do a short term stopgap spending bill that would expire in just a few weeks, given the chaos situation in the House. "I've been told you shouldn't vote for the $1.7 trillion spending bill because the House is Republican, they'll make it better," Graham said Tuesday. "I don't think that theory is holding up too well." NO SPEAKER, NO… NOTHING — The House can't do much of anything until there is a speaker. And we mean anything. Right now every member of the House isn't even really a member yet, since swearing-in happens after the speaker is elected. Members-elect cannot file legislation and committees can't organize or take action. Your Huddle host talked to some incoming staff for freshmen members last night who said they are unable to gain access to their official emails and other key workplace tools until their bosses are sworn in. Former Rep. Billy Long (R-Mo.) pointed out that members-elect don't even have the authority to take on constituent services and interface with federal agencies on their constituents' behalf. What's the mood of folks waiting to be sworn in? There's frustration but most are taking it in stride, including newcomer Rep.-elect Kevin Mullin (D-Calif.), who was flanked by exhausted kiddos dressed in matching outfits on the House floor yesterday for a family swearing-in photo that never happened. GOOD VIEWS — Did you notice that during the speaker vote drama on Tuesday that there were great shots of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) deep in conversation with Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.)? And a strategic zoom in on Rep. Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) huddle with incoming Democratic leaders? Those long solo shots of Rep.-elect George Santos (R-N.Y.) sitting alone at the back of the chamber? That effort to capture the most interesting and dynamic interactions happening during the five-plus hour set of roll call votes was courtesy of C-SPAN, which for the time being controls the cameras in the House chamber until a speaker is elected. In the interim, C-SPAN's cameras will be guided by the network's eye for news, free of chamber rules. Your Huddle host is cheering them on. C-SPAN will likely request that the speaker, whoever they are, allow C-SPAN to operate the cameras. But many speakers before have denied that request. Then cameras will return to the wide angle shots and muted sound to avoid embarrassing (or interesting) "hot mic" scenarios. | 
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