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With assists from Jordain Carney, Burgess Everett and Nicholas Wu

McEACHIN DEAD AT 61— Rep. Donald McEachin has died, his office announced Monday night. The Virginia Democrat was just reelected to his fourth term in the House after many years serving in both the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates. McEachin had been battling the after effects of colorectal cancer treatment since his diagnosis in 2013. McEachin’s replacement will be determined by a special election in the heavily Democratic district, at a date selected by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. More from his hometown paper, The Richmond Times Dispatch (including old school photos of McEachin with fellow Virginia Democrats Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine.)

A ‘GOOD NUMBER’ — There’s a number on the table for the must-pass year-end spending bill, but there are doubts percolating on Capitol Hill that Congress can get a deal done by the Dec. 16 deadline.

“I’ve offered a good number,” Senate Appropriations Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said Monday, referring to a topline for the massive omnibus spending package. Leahy spent the week of Thanksgiving in Washington working on the spending package.

Leahy and his GOP counterpart, Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), met Monday night for further discussions. But it’s possible that the pair won’t get down to brass tacks until after the Georgia runoff election next week – Shelby said that is when “serious negotiations” would begin.

Senate Republicans are expected to talk about year-end spending at today’s caucus lunch.

Toplines, timing: Senate GOP Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) said Monday that he sees the chances of finishing an omnibus by the end of the year as 50-50.

Shelby isn’t counting out a festive Christmas at the Capitol.

“We might be here at Christmas, you know, there’s a lot of things at stake,” he told reporters. “I have been here on Christmas Eve, you guys have, too.” (Your Huddle host did not need a reminder.)

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) doesn’t see how lawmakers can meet the Dec. 16 deadline at this point, but predicted the need for a week-long continuing resolution to push the deadline to Dec. 22 or 23. So not Christmas Eve, but pretty close.

“There's a lot of reasons we should get a bill and I think we will,” he told POLITICO on Monday.

Thune warned against a longer CR that would hold current funding levels into the new year.

“It's going to take a while obviously for them to get organized and usually when it comes to these things, my past experience is it's very hard, usually it gets pushed into the middle of the year and then pretty soon you're at the end of the fiscal year and you're still operating on a CR,” Thune said Monday. “So I think one way or the other it's probably in everybody's best interest to try to resolve this for a year—whether that's an omni spending bill or a full-year CR."

Shelby downplayed his personal feelings on a year-ending CR, but both he and Leahy have made clear that they won’t want to end their long careers as Senate appropriators without finishing the job and getting an omnibus locked up by year’s end.

Different McCarthy math: But some Republicans in the Senate see another reason to not kick the can into next year: distrust of the new House GOP majority.

“Nobody wants to hand Kevin McCarthy a grenade with the pin already pulled. And say ‘okay here's your start. This is the first test of your troops,’” one senior GOP Senator told POLITICO.

GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Tuesday, November 29, where your host’s holiday plans are really up to appropriators right now.

PLAYING BY THE RULES — House Democrats are set to vote this week on a proposal to appoint the head of the DCCC after their under-the-radar panel overseeing rules changes voted Monday to recommend it, Nicholas and Sarah report. The Committee on Caucus Procedures had mulled over a dozen different ideas to change Democrats’ rules in a marathon Monday afternoon session running over four hours. But in the end, the panel only voted to recommend a handful of the proposals for the rest of the caucus to vote on later this week. Democrats can still vote on proposals the panel didn’t recommend, too.

Reps. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) and Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.) had sponsored the DCCC proposal, which the full caucus is expected to take up before Thursday.

Committee caps: Another proposal, which would have instituted a form of term limits for committee heads, was not reported favorably out of the committee. The proposal, sponsored by Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.), would have put any chair or ranking member who wanted to serve for more than six years up for a secret ballot retention vote.

The panel also voted to recommend three other potential changes:

• Changes to the DPCC structure to give House Dems’ messaging arm a chair, sponsored by Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.).
• The creation of a battleground leadership representative to reflect frontliners’ views, sponsored by Rep. Susie Lee (D-Nev.).
• Requirements to consider legislation with widespread support from the caucus, sponsored by Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.).

My House, my rules… While Democrats and Republicans are both taking up proposals to change their internal caucus and conference rules, they’re also turning their attention to the broader rules of the chamber for next year. The House Rules Committee holds a “member day” hearing this afternoon, where they will hear proposals from colleagues on next year’s House rules.

SPEAKING OF RULES… Senate Democrats are also wrangling about their internal caucus Rules this week, which is pitting Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) against each other once again.

Whitehouse is proposing that any Democratic senator who holds a leadership position shouldn’t also be able to chair a top-tier committee. It’s a reprisal of a 2020 fight when Durbin and Whitehouse were both vying for the gavel of the powerful Judiciary Committee and Whitehouse proposed a similar change. Durbin, as Majority Whip and Judiciary Chair, is perturbed.

“He did this two years ago to me. Now he’s put Amy [Klobuchar] and Debbie [Stabenow] in the boat with me,” Durbin said of Whitehouse, who could be in line for the Budget Committee chairmanship. “He does very well for himself. And yet he continues this campaign.”

The proposal is aimed at addressing a longtime complaint of more junior Senate Democrats, that power has been consolidated at the top and it’s time to deepen the bench.

Burgess and Andrew have more on the rules proposal that is dividing the caucus.

THE MARGIN MATTERS — “The Dec. 6 runoff between [Sen. Raphael] Warnock [(D-Ga.)] and GOP opponent Herschel Walker is an unusually consequential individual Senate race — determining whether the chamber would remain evenly divided, making Joe Manchin once again Democrats’ deciding vote and Republican control just a heartbeat away,” writes Burgess.

RIDING THE RAILS — Congress is set to weigh in this week to try and avert what could be an economically devastating freight rail strike. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Monday night that the House will vote to impose a compromise labor agreement between the Biden administration and the freight companies — that four of the 12 rail labor unions (including the largest) rejected.

“This week, the House will take up a bill adopting the tentative agreement — with no poison pills or changes to the negotiated terms — and send it to the Senate,” Pelosi said in a Monday night statement.

Biden asked earlier in the day for Congress to intervene. The move would mean that paid sick leave for the 115,000 workers involved in negotiations won’t be included in the deal.

Tanya Snyder from POLITICO’s transportation team lays it all out.

TYING THE KNOT — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has tee’d up the bipartisan same-sex marriage protections bill for final passage today. But not before the chamber votes on three GOP amendments to the legislation. Proposals from Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and James Lankford (R-Okla.) are slated for votes ahead of final passage. Lee’s needs 60 votes to be adopted, while the other two just need a simple majority. More, including the text of the amendments, from Anthony and Nancy at Congress Minutes.

MAINE LOBSTERS IN HOT WATER — Maine’s Senate delegation is seeing red over the recent decision by Whole Foods to not source lobsters from the Gulf of Maine due to two groups downgrading the fishery’s sustainability ratings. Our friends at Morning Agriculture dove into this.

Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) called the move by Whole Foods “a tragic mistake” on Monday night. He criticized the data used by the outside groups, saying they are “stirring this up without regard to the facts, the data, the science or the impact on real people.”

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) called it “totally unfair and a major problem.”

“Purportedly it's to help protect the right whale, which is an endangered species. But the fact remains that there's never been a documented case of a right whale being killed because of lobster gear. And the last entanglement was in 2004 and there have been a lot of gear changes since then,” she told Huddle.

The rumors are true…Yes, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) is sporting a beard. He told Burgess it is “no-shave November,” but he was clean shaven in the leadup to Thanksgiving, so we have our doubts. More importantly, he says his wife Ann thinks his beard is “cute.” And that’s what really matters.

What’s in a name?… The coffee cart in Cannon is now operating under a new name. Goodbye, Rako. Hello, Cannon Coffee Cart. Zero points for creativity. But Jordain, Huddle’s coffee correspondent, stands by their offerings as the only specialty coffee option in the complex. She flagged the new name.

Deck the halls… The Capitol Christmas Tree Lighting is at 5 p.m. on the West Front Lawn.

The stuff of ModCom dreams …The Library of Congress is launching a new bipartisan dinner series, starting tonight. “The Congressional Crossroads Dinner Series focuses on building relationships and opportunities for collaboration among Members of Congress,” says the Library. Tonight’s event features Amanda Ripley and will focus on how conflict can be more productive. For those keeping track at home, events like this tick the box of the Modernization Committee’s recommendation to create bipartisan group events to build strong ties across the aisle between members.

A Pelosi picture… We knew a Pelosi documentary was coming. Now we know more. HBO Docs teased #PelosiInTheHouseHBO, a film created by filmmaker (and the speaker’s daughter) Alexanda Pelosi. It will air Dec. 13.

QUICK LINKS 

High-profile Republicans gain followers in first weeks of Musk’s reign, from Gerrit De Vynck, Jeremy B. Merrill and Luis Melgar at The Washington Post

State Department says Salvadorans' attempts to 'directly influence' a U.S. congressional election are 'unacceptable', from Carmen Sesin at NBC News

TRANSITIONS 

Liz Amster will be joining Rep. Jake Auchincloss' (D-Mass.) office as chief of staff. She was previously chief to Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.).

Patrick Large is joining American Defense International. He most recently was chief of staff for Rep. Steven Palazzo (R-Miss.), and is a Charles Boustany and John Sullivan alum.

Dorothy DeWitt is now chief counsel for finance for Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.). She most recently was director of the CFTC’s Division of Market Oversight.

Sean O’Brien is now eastern Washington director for Washington Policy Center. He previously was executive director of the Congressional Western Caucus, and is a Dan Newhouse alum.

Alexander Ortiz is now chief of staff for Rep. Mary Peltola (D-Alaska). He is the former chief of staff for the late Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska).

Stephen Boyd has joined Horizons Global Solutions. He most recently served as chief of staff to Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) and is a DOJ and Martha Roby alum.

TODAY IN CONGRESS

The House convenes at 2 p.m. for legislative business.

The Senate convenes at noon, with votes scheduled at 3:45 p.m. on amendments to the Respect for Marriage Act.

AROUND THE HILL

2 p.m. Senate Democratic and GOP leaders hold separate press conferences following closed door caucus lunches (Ohio Clock Corridor).

2:30 p.m. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) holds a pen-and-pad (H-107).

MONDAY’S WINNER: Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) correctly answered that his colleague Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.) is the only veterinarian currently serving in Congress. Schrader attended the University of Illinois veterinary school, which is in Davis’ district.

TODAY’S QUESTION from Rep. Davis (feat. a classic dad brag): As the father of twins, one of whom worked for Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) this past summer, how many twins are either currently in Congress or coming in and who are they?

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 Katherine on Twitter @ktullymcmanus