Presented by

With assists from POLITICO’s Congress team

TUBERVILLE ON CUSP OF DEFEAT ON HIS PENTAGON HOLDS

With precious little time left in the year, Democrats are gearing up to finally break through Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-Ala.) months-long blockade of military promotions.

Their goal to act before the holidays is purposeful, since the group of Pentagon picks he’s been holding up will have to be reconsidered in committee next year unless the Senate acts. And a growing number of Republicans sound like they’re ready to cough up the nine votes needed to allow the stalled military promotions to move forward without a permanent rules change.

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), who sits on the Armed Services Committee, told us that he predicts enough Republicans would support the rules change in December to get it to the needed 60 votes.

“I think when we actually get the opportunity to vote on this, I think we’re gonna have more people vote on it than we expect,” Kelly said.

Your refresher: It’s been nearly a year since the Alabama conservative began his hold on military promotions. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has not yet said exactly when he plans to call a vote on essentially bundling most military nominees to get them through the Senate – a maneuver crafted to circumvent Tuberville that would expire at the end of the current two-year session of Congress.

“Every day that goes by, this problem gets worse,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) told reporters Tuesday. “It would be nice if more than 400 of our military leaders could get their promotions and assignments to their next duty stations before Christmas. We’re aiming for that. But this all rests with rounding up enough Republican votes to shut Tuberville down.”

So which Republicans might flip? Tuberville spoke with his GOP colleagues during weekly Senate lunches Tuesday. As they left the room, several of them told reporters that it’s time to find a solution to Tuberville’s one-man protest of a Biden administration policy that allows service members to travel for abortion access.

“I can just simply say that in private conversations, many of my colleagues are very, very frustrated,” Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) said Tuesday.

When asked when Republicans would like to see a change, she responded: “There is no hard and fast deadline.”

Some Republicans won’t say yet where they stand on the vote.

“I’ve been opposed to Sen. Tuberville’s hold since the beginning and I am taking a look at the proposed change, the standing order,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told reporters Tuesday.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) also said he is open to voting on the resolution.

Who else to watch: Several other Senate Republicans have expressed frustration over Tuberville’s hold and are seen by Democrats as potential ‘yes’ votes. In addition to Ernst, Collins and Tillis, that group includes Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).

— Daniella Diaz and Joe Gould

GOOD EVENING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Monday, Nov. 28, where the Capitol is the most festive it’s been in a decade with no looming shutdown threat – for now!

SANTOS EXPULSION WATCH: WHERE’S GUEST?

Reps. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) and Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) moved forward earlier Tuesday with their own proposal to expel embattled Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) from Congress. Which leaves the House watching for Ethics Committee Chair Michael Guest (R-Miss.) to beat them with his own privileged resolution on the matter.

Welcome back to, as Olivia dubbed it in Monday’s Huddle, the resolutionary war. House Republicans have already indicated that they won’t support a measure to expel Santos introduced by Democrats – but if Guest moves forward with his resolution, our reporting suggests that there would be enough votes to boot the indicted New Yorker.

House GOP leaders don’t plan to whip their members on the Santos expulsion vote, according to two people who spoke to Olivia about Tuesday’s Republican leadership meeting on condition of anonymity.

Remember: If all Democrats vote to boot Santos, then about 80 House Republicans would need to come on board to secure the two-thirds threshold needed for expulsion. Nearly 70 GOP members said ahead of Congress’ return that they plan to or strongly lean towards voting to oust him, according to POLITICO’s whip count.

— Daniella Diaz and Olivia Beavers

D.C.’S HOTTEST LEADERSHIP ELECTION IS … DPCC

When House Democrats come together for their weekly meeting on Wednesday, there’s a leadership election on the schedule: a new co-chair of the DPCC, the caucus’ messaging arm.

Reps. Lori Trahan (D-Mass.) and Jason Crow (D-Colo.) are vying for the slot vacated by Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), who stepped down from the position earlier this year weeks before launching his longshot bid for president.

In their bids to lock up colleagues’ votes, Trahan passed around Sweet Lydia’s S’mores — a tasty treat from her home base of Lowell, Mass. – while Crow sent copies of Democracy Awakening by Heather Cox Richardson. (Yep, the same book that President Joe Biden was recently spotted picking up while on vacation.)

Crow also passed a card around Tuesday with his pitch touting his working class and national security background as well as his credentials as a former frontliner and Donald Trump impeachment manager.

“Speaking with my colleagues over the past two months has been incredibly rewarding,” Trahan said in a statement to Huddle. “Win or lose, I’m more confident than ever that House Democrats are prepared to defeat extremism and retake the majority next November.”

— Nicholas Wu

The gingerbread Capitol is back! (And it smells really good.)

Congressional interns are organizing in support of a ceasefire.

Is Christmas ruined?

QUICK LINKS

House GOP chaos might just give Senate GOP a fundraising edge, from Ursula Perano, Ally Mutnick, and Sally Goldenberg

Millions of U.S. apples were almost left to rot. Now, they’ll go to hungry families, from Alan Jinich at NPR

Clay Higgins compares move to expel George Santos from Congress to ‘crucifixion’, from Mark Ballard at The Times-Picayune

How Patrick McHenry’s convictions held the House when there ‘was nothing to guide us’, from Reese Gorman at The Washington Examiner

TRANSITIONS

Christopher Hadad has been promoted to be legislative director for Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.). He most recently was his economic policy adviser.

Dylan Sodaro is now chief of staff and Matt Rauschenbach is now press secretary for Rep. Gabe Amo (D-R.I.). Sodaro most recently was deputy chief of staff and legislative director for Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) and Rauschenbach most recently was comms director for Amo’s congressional campaign.

Carolina Ferrerosa Young is now chief economic adviser to Vice President Kamala Harris. She most recently was economic policy adviser for Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).

Tanushri Shankar is now chief of staff for Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. She most recently was deputy chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and is an Everytown for Gun Safety alum.

TOMORROW IN CONGRESS

The House is in session.

The Senate is in session.

WEDNESDAY AROUND THE HILL

11:30 a.m. Rep. Terri Sewell, Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Steven Horsford and CBC members will hold a press conference to push for Rosa Parks Federal Holiday. (House Triangle)

1 p.m. Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman and Ranking Member Raúl Grijalva will hold a press conference to unveil the EXPLORE Act. (House Triangle)

2 p.m. The House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia members will hold roundtable with family members of individuals being held hostage by Hamas. (2200 RHOB)

2 p.m. Sens. Rick Scott, Mike Lee, Ron Johnson, Mike Braun and Roger Marshall, as well as Reps. Scott Perry, Chip Roy, Bob Good and Andy Biggs will host a press conference on border security in the supplemental and appropriations bills. (Senate Radio-TV Gallery)

3:30 p.m. Select Committee on the Communist Party of China Chair Mike Gallagher will hold a White Paper Movement anniversary commemoration. (House Triangle)

MONDAY’S ANSWER: Carlton Huffman correctly answered that the text in yesterday’s Huddle Trivia is attributable to Bobby Kennedy’s “On the Mindless Menace of Violence” speech following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

TODAY’S QUESTION from Carlton: In the aftermath of Dr. King’s assassination Robert Kennedy spoke eloquently about the path forward for civil rights and kept the peace in Indianapolis the night of April 4, 1968. What civil rights icon, pupil of Dr. King’s in non-violent protest, and future Presidential Medal of Freedom winner worked on RFK’s 82 day quest for the White House?

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 evening.

Follow Daniella on X at @DaniellaMicaela.