与...的关系里克·克莱因
如果在众议院共和党人的“永不凯文”和“只凯文”势力之间有一个甜蜜点，它不太可能奖励共和党领袖凯文·麦卡锡在本届国会的最后几天帮助民主党人完成任务。
因此，麦卡锡的内部共和党众议院议长竞选活动与年终目标相冲突，包括民主党人与国会山其他共和党人共有的一些目标。这可能会以今年及以后的立法为代价，并与参议院少数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔(Mitch McConnell)产生早期和明显的冲突。
麦卡锡一直在工作，公开的和私下的，阻止一揽子开支计划这将避免政府关门，并将现状带入他希望将于明年1月开始的议长任期。
周三晚上，众议院为自己争取了一周的时间来敲定一项更大的支出协议，在九名共和党人的支持下和民主党人的一致支持下，该协议获得了延期。
麦卡锡呼吁参议院将最终支出法案交到两名即将退休的议员手中。其中包括阿拉巴马州参议员理查·谢尔比。众议院拨款委员会副主席麦康奈尔正在努力争取共和党人在这种情况下能够达成的最佳协议。
麦卡锡周三表示，当被问及他在获得218张众议院选票和下个月成为议长方面遇到的麻烦时，这是一个“不恰当的问题”。但这是上个月中期选举遗留下来的最大问题，麦卡锡所说的他希望发生的事情和他实际想要的事情之间的差异决定了这个问题最终如何得到回答。
“一切照旧”可能不会受欢迎，尤其是在一个仍是少数派但即将接管多数派的会议中。但正如任何一个未来的众议院议长都知道的那样，事情就是这样做的。
House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy attends a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 14, 2022.
玛丽·卡尔弗特/路透社
与...的概要阿维里·哈珀
佐治亚州国务卿布拉德·拉芬斯佩格呼吁州议员停止利用决选。
“佐治亚州是美国仅有的几个进行大选决选的州之一，”该州最高选举官员Raffensperger在周三的一份声明中说。“我们也是仅有的几个似乎总是进行决选的州之一。我呼吁大会关注大选决选的主题，并考虑改革。”
决胜选举的批评者强调了这些选举数百万美元的价格标签，称它们是浪费。国务卿还指出，紧迫的截止日期和最近缩短的每个选举日与随后的决选之间的四周时间是废除该制度的理由。
“没有人想在家庭度假期间处理政治问题，”Raffensperger说。
该系统招致批评的另一个原因是:它的种族主义历史。佐治亚州的决胜选举是1964年一位种族隔离主义立法者的构想，旨在稀释黑人选民的影响力，因为如果竞选场中有多名白人候选人瓜分其他选票，它们将有助于防止一名黑人候选人赢得少于50%的选票。
Raffensperger的呼吁是在两位黑人候选人之后一个多星期发出的参加了该州的参议院决选民主党现任总统拉斐尔·沃诺克击败共和党总统候选人赫谢尔·沃克赢得连任。另外一个在大选中举行决胜选举的州是路易斯安那州。
小费汉娜·德米斯
阿肯色州州长阿萨·哈钦森(Asa Hutchinson)已确认他正在考虑2024年的总统竞选，他本周表示，前总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)的第三次总统竞选将是共和党人“最糟糕的情况”。
在...期间美联社的采访哈钦森说，他计划明年初决定是否竞选白宫。
哈钦森的评论是保守派的最新例证不会自动支持下一次总统竞选共和党最杰出的成员特朗普，特别是在中期选举后，共和党人的表现不如预期。
参议院少数党领袖麦康奈尔本周分别向记者表示，他认为特朗普对该党在本选举周期的关键竞选中的失败负有责任。麦康奈尔周二表示，特朗普的错误是让自己卷入初选，并支持那些不够强大的候选人赢得大选。
麦康奈尔说:“看看亚利桑那州和新罕布什尔州以及具有挑战性的乔治亚州……我确实认为我们有机会再次认识到，我们必须有高质量的候选人才能获胜。”
“我们在2022年控制初选结果的能力非常有限，因为前总统的支持在这些初选中被证明是非常决定性的。所以，我的观点是，尽你所能处理好手中的牌，”他说。
McCarthy's campaign for speaker could complicate his holding the gavel: The Note
The TAKE withRick Klein
If there's a sweet spot between the "never Kevin" and "only Kevin" forces among House Republicans, it's not likely to reward GOP leader Kevin McCarthy for helping Democrats get things done in the finals days of the current Congress.
So it is that McCarthy's internal GOP campaign for House speaker is colliding with year-end goals, including some that Democrats share with other Republicans on Capitol Hill. That could come at the expense of legislating this year and well beyond -- and brings an early and telling clash with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
McCarthy has been working, in public and in private,to hold up a spending packagethat would avert a government shutdown and carry the status quo into what he hopes will be his speakership, starting in January.
The House on Wednesday night bought itself a week to finalize a larger spending deal, with an extension passing with the support of nine Republicans and the unanimous backing of Democrats.
McCarthy had called out the Senate for putting a final spending bill in the hands of two retiring legislators. That includes Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., the vice chairman of the chamber's Appropriations Committee, who is working with McConnell's blessing to get the best deal Republicans can under the circumstances.
McCarthy on Wednesday said it was an "inappropriate question" when asked about the trouble he is having in getting 218 House votes and becoming the speaker next month. But that's the biggest question lingering out of last month's midterm elections, and the difference between what McCarthy says he wants to happen and what he actually wants matters in how it ends up being answered.
"Business as usual" may not be popular, particularly in a conference still in the minority but about to take over the majority. But it's how things get done, as any would-be House speaker knows.
The RUNDOWN withAveri Harper
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is calling on state lawmakers to end the utilization of runoff elections.
"Georgia is one of the only states in the country with a General Election Runoff," Raffensperger, the state's top elections official, said in a statement on Wednesday. "We're also one of the only states that always seems to have a runoff. I'm calling on the General Assembly to visit the topic of the General Election Runoff and consider reforms."
Critics of runoffs have highlighted the multimillion-dollar price tag of these elections -- calling them wasteful. The secretary of state also pointed to tight deadlines and the newly abbreviated four-week period between each Election Day and the subsequent runoff as reasons to do away with the system.
"No one wants to be dealing with politics in the middle of their family holiday," Raffensperger said.
Another reason that the system has garnered criticism: its racist history. The brainchild of a segregationist legislator in 1964, the runoffs in Georgia were intended to dilute the influence of Black voters because they would help prevent a Black candidate from winning a race with less than 50% if the field included multiple white candidates who split the other votes.
Raffensperger's call comes a little more than a week after two Black candidatescompeted in the state's Senate runoff, with Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock winning his reelection effort against Republican Hershel Walker. The only other state that holds runoffs in general elections is Louisiana.
The TIP withHannah Demissie
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who has confirmed he is weighing a 2024 presidential run, said this week that a third presidential bid from former President Donald Trump would be the "worst scenario" for Republicans.
Duringan interview with the Associated Presspublished Tuesday, Hutchinson said that he plans to decide early next year whether or not to run for the White House.
Hutchinson's comments are the latest examples of conservativesnot automatically falling in line behind another presidential runby Trump, the GOP's most prominent member, especially following the midterm elections where Republicans did not perform well relative to expectations.
Senate Minority Leader McConnell separately indicated to reporters this week that he felt Trump shared the blame for the party's failure in key races this election cycle. McConnell suggested on Tuesday that Trump's mistake was involving himself in primary races and endorsing candidates who were not strong enough to win their general elections.
"Look at Arizona and New Hampshire and the challenging situation Georgia, as well … I do think we have an opportunity to relearn one more time that we have to have quality candidates to win," McConnell said.
"Our ability to control a primary outcome was quite limited in 2022 because the support of the former president proved to be very decisive in these primaries. So, my view was, do the best you can with the cards you're dealt," he said.
