With assists from POLITICO’s Congress team

INTO THE WHIRLWIND

Speaker Mike Johnson, who suddenly went from No. 7 in the House Republican leadership to No. 2 in the presidential line of succession, is learning in real time what it means to be the speaker of the House.

“He realizes that there’s a lot of work ahead of us,” said Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-N.Y.), a centrist frontliner whom Johnson called Thursday morning.

The new speaker has major challenges ahead, including a government shutdown deadline that’s now just three weeks away, but here’s what we’ve been able to learn from his first full day on the job:

He isn’t getting a honeymoon: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) wasted no time before plopping a political hot potato right in Johnson’s lap, signaling Thursday she will be introducing a measure to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) for her support for a recent pro-Palestinian protest on the Capitol campus.

Meanwhile, Democrats are threatening a countermove that would censure Greene, while Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-N.Y.) said he is separately planning to call up a resolution next week to expel embattled Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.). In the middle of it all is Johnson, who will need to balance the right’s desire to punish a left-wing member, the prospect for Democratic retribution and the possibility that his own slim majority could get slimmer.

He can expect some grace from the right: As we wrote in yesterday’s Huddle, Johnson won’t necessarily face the same pressures from conservatives that predecessor Kevin McCarthy did as he seeks a way forward on government funding. Most hard-right members said they are willing to give Johnson room to maneuver on a continuing resolution given (1) the short timeline and (2) his own history as a conservative hard-liner.

He might have more trouble, however, navigating the White House’s $106 billion supplemental funding request for Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan and the border. While many Republicans want to keep those issues combined, conservatives are quickly hardening their stance around keeping Ukraine out of the package.

He’s still finding his footing as a top leader: Johnson is still low on the learning curve for the more public-facing aspects of the speakership. His first on-camera moment in the international spotlight, a Thursday morning confab with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, involved one word and a lot of nodding.

“I made a joke last night at the dinner that it might be too late for me to address the Congress,” Albanese joked. “Unfortunately,” Johnson responded, remaining silent as reporters and photographers were escorted from the room.

Later, Johnson was waylaid in the Will Rogers hallway by reporters seeking reaction to the mass shooting in Maine on Wednesday night. He stopped, but had to be coaxed in front of cameras and kept one hand clutched around a portfolio and the other in his pocket as he delivered brief remarks focused on the need for prayer.

He’s plotting a careful media strategy. In the not-quite two days since he was elected speaker nominee, Johnson has spoken in broad platitudes and brushed off pointed questions in his brief appearances before reporters. On Tuesday night, he responded to a question about the Supreme Court brief he authored in support of reviewing the 2020 presidential election with, “We’re not doing policy tonight,” and gave a similar response the next day.

He also took no questions during his two appearances before cameras Thursday, saving his first in-depth interview as speaker for the friendly confines of Sean Hannity’s prime-time Fox News Channel program tonight at 9 p.m.

He’s trying to balance a busy schedule with a cranky conference: Lawmakers are now in Washington for the seventh straight week — an unusually long stretch, even without the stress of an internecine speaker battle — but they have little time to rest given the looming Nov. 17 appropriations deadline.

Johnson and fellow House leaders canceled a planned two-week recess to continue work on spending bills shortly after he took the oath Wednesday. He did offer members a short breather, giving them a long weekend at home, with votes not starting until Wednesday.

Some members joked he could still do more: “I think a big party with a lot of beer would unite [us],” said Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.).

— Daniella Diaz, with assist from Anthony Adragna

GOOD EVENING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Thursday, Oct. 26, where your Huddle host is among those very excited to have some a few days of downtime.

EXCLUSIVE: DEM GROUP REGROUPS AFTER SPEAKER FIGHT

Indivisible, the Democratic grassroots organization, says it is going to make sure the 18 Biden-district Republicans don’t forget the chaos of the past three weeks.

The organization is out with a strategy memo, shared first with Huddle, laying out how they think the twisting path to a Johnson speakership will haunt vulnerable Republicans. There is the obvious: Indivisible, like much of the rest of the Democratic apparatus, is racing to define the little known, socially conservative speaker, saying his ascension will “make it harder for suburban Republicans to distance themselves from deeply unpopular anti-choice extremism.”

It isn’t just the destination that will hurt battleground GOP incumbents, the group argues, but the journey: The three-week ordeal that began with McCarthy’s ouster was “a very public failure to deliver” for these Republicans that, in the group’s words, will “undercut their brand on every level.” They failed to display their “independence and bipartisanship” or their ability to cut deals and influence Congress in a meaningful way.

“Republicans that ran saying they were independent and they’d stand up to their party, and that they were smart negotiators who could work with both sides, have proven very clearly they’re neither,” the memo concludes.

— Zach Montellaro

EXCLUSIVE: BIPARTISAN GROUP TARGETS TURKEY

A bipartisan group of more than 40 lawmakers, led by Reps. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) and Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.), sent a letter Thursday to Secretary of State Antony Blinken demanding the department hold the Turkish government accountable for supporting the operations of Hamas.

The signers “urge the United States government to employ the full spectrum of its diplomatic and national security tools to sever any political, logistical, and financial links between Turkey and Hamas that enable Hamas to commit atrocious acts of terrorism against Israel,” the letter reads. “Accordingly, we urge you to demand that Turkey act against Hamas immediately and without equivocation.”

This comes after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called Hamas a “liberation group, mujahideen waging a battle to protect its lands and people” in remarks Wednesday to members of his ruling party in Ankara.

The Hellenic Caucus, Armenian Caucus, Israel Allies Caucus and Congressional Hellenic Israel Alliance Caucus condemned Erdogan’s refusal to “call Hamas a terrorist organization,” adding “Hamas is a terrorist group committed to murdering Jews and destroying Israel and any suggestion otherwise is appalling.”

— Daniella Diaz

Cory Booker is looking for love, with Chuck Grassley’s help.

Sen. Bill Cassidy is hosting the third annual Hart Halloween on Monday, where Hill denizens and their kids can trick-or-treat starting at 4 p.m., with a photo op with senators at 5:15 p.m. List of participating offices

Sen. John Cornyn wished Speaker Mike Johnson luck in dealing with “this bunch of wild Indians over in the House” during a call with Texas reporters today.

QUICK LINKS

‘Pure anger’: McHenry vents after acting speaker run, from Eleanor Mueller

GOP Women Skipped Speaker’s Race as Male Colleagues Jumped In, from Kate Ackley

‘Who’s Mike Johnson?’: Diplomats scratch their heads at new speaker, from Matt Berg, Dan Bloom, Shawn Pogatchnik and Esther Webber

Newly united House GOP faces abortion policy divide, from Alice Miranda Ollstein and Meredith Lee Hill

TRANSITIONS

The Senate Intelligence Committee is promoting William Wu to staff director and Maria Mahler-Haug to deputy staff director. Wu previously served as deputy staff director, and Mahler-Haug as professional staff member and designee to Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.).

TOMORROW IN CONGRESS

The House is out.

The Senate is out.

FRIDAY AROUND THE HILL

Let’s all get some much-deserved rest.

WEDNESDAY’S ANSWER: Jon Deuser correctly answered that Wayne Morse was the Oregonian who changed parties twice during his mid-century Senate service.

TODAY’S QUESTION from former Huddle host KTM: This House lawmaker was the fifth-ever to be expelled from the chamber following a 10-count federal conviction in 2002. Bonus: This person also made their mark during a speaker vote for what reason?

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.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this newsletter misidentified the party of Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-N.Y.).