By Eli Okun

The idea of a Speaker Kevin McCarthy, again, is quite a long shot, but some loyalists are digging in. | Francis Chung/POLITICO

OK GO — The KEVIN McCARTHY speakership is dead. Long live the KEVIN McCARTHY speakership! A band of loyal supporters of the deposed House GOP leader, some of whom declare themselves O.K. (“Only Kevin”), plans to nominate him at the outset of the conference’s speaker election and keep voting for him repeatedly, Meredith Lee Hill reports. She pegs the number of potential McCarthy votes at 60 to 80 members, some of whom dislike the existing options of House Majority Leader STEVE SCALISE and Rep. JIM JORDAN (R-Ohio).

It’s quite a long shot: None of the three men have the votes to win, currently, and it isn’t even clear what McCarthy wants. He’s said he isn’t running, though he hasn’t told backers to stop. “The next speaker is almost certainly not McCarthy,” WaPo’s Theo Meyer and Leigh Ann Caldwell wrote this morning.

But his “still livid supporters are ready to hold out for some time in order to undercut the other candidates,” Meredith reports — Scalise even more than Jordan, despite the majority leader’s closer ideological positioning to McCarthy, because of what McCarthy supporters perceive as his disloyalty.

Jordan and Scalise will have a chance to pitch their colleagues late this afternoon at a candidate forum, in addition to meetings throughout the day, ahead of tomorrow morning’s secret-ballot election. As speaker, either man would be a tough foil for President JOE BIDEN, who has essentially no existing relationship with Jordan or Scalise, The Messenger’s Nicole Gaudiano and Amie Parnes note.

ISRAEL LATEST — The speaker void, of course, comes as much of Washington is focused on responding to the outbreak of war in Israel and the Palestinian territories. Acting Speaker Pro Tempore PATRICK McHENRY told Anthony Adragna that despite uncertainty about his powers, “If we need to act as a government” on Israel, “we will.” Jordan indicated to CNN’s Manu Raju that as speaker, he’d prioritize Israel aid instead of tying it to Ukraine aid.

But some things will have to wait: Nearly 400 House members today introduced a symbolic resolution standing with Israel, but it won’t be taken up until a new speaker is elected. Same for a bipartisan effort to sanction Hamas for using human shields, as The Washington Free Beacon’s Adam Kredo scooped.

The White House said today that Biden and VP KAMALA HARRIS are meeting today with national security teams to get briefed on the latest in the Middle East and speaking directly with Israeli PM BENJAMIN NETANYAHU. Biden will deliver public remarks about the situation shortly.

Notably, Biden “did not urge restraint” in a call with Netanyahu, CNN’s MJ Lee and Kevin Liptak report. Netanyahu explicitly raised the prospect of troops going into Gaza on the ground, which is looming as the next potential escalation of the war, and Biden declined to wave him off. Though U.S. officials are urging Israel’s response to be “proportionate,” they have not set any red lines, Alex Ward reports.

In the meantime, trapped Palestinian civilians are scrambling to find safety as Israeli airstrikes rain down, AP’s Issam Adwan reports. The Israeli military announced that the death toll from Hamas attacks had risen above 1,000, and there were some gruesome reports of beheaded babies. And U.N. officials warned that all sides had already committed war crimes, including Hamas’ hostage-taking and, potentially, an Israeli siege of Gaza.

RFK IS HERE TO PLAY — The super PAC affiliated with ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.’s presidential campaign, American Values 2024, raised $11 million in the past day since he announced his independent bid, Brittany Gibson reports. And it’s in talks with ELON MUSK to land his support, PAC co-founder TONY LYONS says.

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ALL POLITICS

BIG RECRUIT — Republican ALISON ESPOSITO announced she’s running for Congress to take on Rep. PAT RYAN (D-N.Y.), the N.Y. Post’s Carl Campanile and Nolan Hicks report. The Hudson Valley is swingy but leans left; Esposito, a former New York police officer who ran for lieutenant governor last year, plans to focus on immigration and the economy. Launch video

IT’S OFFICIAL — Former Rep. TOM SUOZZI (D-N.Y.) is making a play for his old seat, filing today to combat “the absurdity of [Rep.] GEORGE SANTOS remaining in the United States Congress,” he announced today.

THE TALENTED MR. SANTOS — “George Santos’ $500K Campaign Loan Was Fake — Until It Wasn’t,” by The Daily Beast’s Roger Sollenberger: “According to a person with knowledge of the events, that fake $500,000 from March did in fact find its way into the campaign’s bank account. It just happened months later, as part of the $615,000 Santos loaned himself in four installments in September and October.”

BATTLE FOR THE SENATE — Republican STEVE GARVEY announced today that he’s jumping into the California Senate race, the L.A. Times’ Seema Mehta reports. The former MLB star is a local favorite for his history with the Dodgers and Padres. Making his first-ever foray into politics, Garvey could ride his celebrity to try to consolidate the GOP vote and make it to the November ballot under California’s top-two primary system. He says he’ll focus largely on kitchen-table issues, education, crime and housing. But he faces an uphill battle as a Republican in blue California — and he declines, for example, to blame DONALD TRUMP for Jan. 6.

CASH DASH — The latest FEC filing numbers today in key Senate races: Sen. JON TESTER (D-Mont.) raised $5 million in the third quarter, The Messenger’s Matt Holt reports, a sizable haul for the vulnerable incumbent and nearly twice what Republican TIM SHEEHY raised. … Rep. ALEX MOONEY (R-W.Va.) landed $410,000 for his Senate bid — not a ton for an uphill primary battle against Gov. JIM JUSTICE.

— And in key House races: Pennsylvania Democrat ASHLEY EHASZ raised $216,000, per National Journal’s James Downs. … New York Democrat ZAK MALAMED pulled in $302,000, our New York Playbook colleagues scooped. … Nebraska Democrat TONY VARGAS reported $870,000, The Messenger’s Stephen Neukam scooped.

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers is launching a seven-figure advocacy campaign, including a D.C.-area TV ad, opposing a Virginia “clean cars” law that adopted California’s mandates for electric vehicles and emissions standards. Gov. GLENN YOUNGKIN wants to repeal the law, and it could be a significant legislative focus next year. The AFPM effort comes during the final weeks of the state legislative campaign, though it doesn’t support either party. The ad

CAPTAIN KIRK — Turning Point USA has minted a millionaire in its 29-year-old founder, CHARLIE KIRK, who enjoys a sprawling Arizona estate (and much more!) — and whose spending has irritated some other Republicans, AP’s Brian Slodysko reports. His investigation found that “top Turning Point officials collected pricey salaries, enjoyed lavish perks and steered at least $15.2 million to companies that they, their friends and associates are affiliated with.” The group has also struggled to find success in electing MAGA types in Arizona. But as Turning Point becomes more than just a youth organization, it’s setting its sights higher, including a $108 million get-out-the-vote operation in Georgia and Wisconsin, too.

“Any donor who thinks an organization needs $108 million for a three-state grassroots get-out-the-vote campaign is being taken advantage of,” warns ERICK ERICKSON. Turning Point says there’s been nothing financially untoward, and that its leaders were often underpaid for their work.

A FAMILIAR TUNE — Arizona Republican KARI LAKE officially kicks off her Senate campaign today, and despite some efforts to appeal to national Republicans, she has no intention of backing off her false claims of election fraud, AP’s Jonathan Cooper reports from Phoenix.

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THE WHITE HOUSE

HARRIS IN THE SPOTLIGHT — It’s not every day that a prominent politician gets a major magazine feature about them — let alone two simultaneously. But the VP is the subject of both a NYT Magazine cover story from Astead Herndon and an Atlantic story from Elaina Plott Calabro that both published today, both trying to understand the woman and why public perceptions about her are mired in negativity. These two interactions, in particular, rhyme with each other:

— Herndon: “[T]he question I’ve always wanted to know the answer to: Was Kamala Harris really chosen as a running mate because she had the right identity at the right time, the highest-profile diversity hire in America? … I directly placed in front of her the question others had only insinuated. ‘When someone asks, “What does Vice President Kamala Harris bring to the ticket?” what is that clear answer?’ I asked. Her team made clear it would be my final question. ‘Were you in this room of 2,000 people?’ she asked. I nodded. ‘Did you see them cheering and standing?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘That’s what I say.’ She stood up and walked out of the room.”

— Plott Calabro: “Of course Kamala Harris is ready for the presidency, to the extent that anyone can be ready. This should not be hard for her own colleagues to talk about. Not talking about it leaves the subject open for political exploitation — by opponents whose own likely candidate makes the idea of readiness absurd. And yet the topic is treated as a trip wire … I asked Harris herself: Had she and Biden discussed how to address questions about her readiness to step in as president, should circumstances ever require it? ‘No,’ she said. And that was the end of the conversation.”

2024 WATCH

SURVEY SAYS — It’s Biden 46, Trump 45 in Nevada in a new CNN/SSRS poll.

DIVIDED ATTENTION — As Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS goes all in on Iowa, South Carolina Republicans are warning his campaign not to forget about them, the N.Y. Post’s Diana Glebova reports. The Palmetto State, which has a key early primary, has seen DeSantis on only one trip in almost three months. His campaign counters that another planned visit was scrapped due to a hurricane.

CONGRESS

IMMIGRATION FILES — As many New York Democrats vocally press the Biden administration for more help to handle an influx of migrants, two top figures have remained relatively muted: Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER and House Minority Leader HAKEEM JEFFRIES, Emily Ngo reports. Their absence from the pressure campaign — instead working behind the scenes to get more resources for their home state — underscores Democrats’ political vulnerability on the issue. But it has also ticked off some of their fellow Dems and given Republicans an opening to blame Democratic leadership for the strain.

TRUMP CARDS

TRUMP INC. — As the civil business fraud trial against the Trump Organization goes into its second week, the information presented by AG TISH JAMES’ team “threatens to reveal the internal workings of Trump’s business in never-before-revealed detail,” WaPo’s Jonathan O’Connell and Shayna Jacobs report. In a pattern that will sound familiar to recent observers of American politics, James’ documents “show how accounting, banking and real estate experts repeatedly informed Trump how much his properties and businesses were really worth. But over and over again … Trump, his adult sons and top executives allegedly ignored or sidelined those experts, exchanging their figures for numbers from another source: Trump’s own intuition.”

MAN OF STEELE — Trump’s lawsuit in the U.K. against CHRISTOPHER STEELE over the infamous dossier is set to go trial over two days next week, NYT’s Mark Landler previews from London. Steele’s attorneys will try to have the case, originally filed last year, dismissed, as happened to one in the U.S. But Britain “could offer the former president more favorable legal terrain” to sue under the country’s data protection laws — a lower bar than proving defamation.

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POLICY CORNER

THE LOAN LURCH — “Biden’s second try at student loan cancellation moves forward with debate over the plan’s details,” by AP’s Collin Binkley

A HOLE IN THE OZONE PROTECTION — A new Environmental Investigation Agency report finds that American factories are now pumping out damaging emissions thanks to a loophole in the Montreal Protocol, newly damaging the ozone layer and worsening climate change, WaPo’s Maxine Joselow scoops.

JUDICIARY SQUARE

SCOTUS WATCH — The Supreme Court today rejected DON BLANKENSHIP’s effort to sue mainstream media outlets for calling him a “felon” when he in fact was imprisoned only on a misdemeanor charge over mine safety, per the AP. At the mine in question, 29 people died in a 2010 explosion. Notable: Though he agreed with the court’s decision, Justice CLARENCE THOMAS made sure to note today once again that he wants New York Times v. Sullivan, the landmark libel case that offers robust protections for the press, to be overturned.

BEYOND THE BELTWAY

DEMOCRACY WATCH IN WISCONSIN — “Former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice advises Republican leader against impeachment,” by AP’s Scott Bauer in Madison

FASCINATING STORY — “Who Runs the Best U.S. Schools? It May Be the Defense Department,” by NYT’s Sarah Mervosh at Fort Moore, Ga.: “With about 66,000 students — more than the public school enrollment in Boston or Seattle — the Pentagon’s schools for children of military members and civilian employees quietly achieve results most educators can only dream of.”

MEDIAWATCH

STAT OF THE DAY — Over the past year, Fox News has covered HUNTER BIDEN twice as much as it has DeSantis, Axios’ Sara Fischer and Alex Thompson report.

PLAYBOOKERS

FOR YOUR RADAR — The University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy’s Center for Effective Government today announced its 2023 Democracy Fellowship cohort: Soren Dayton, Nicole Bibbins Sedaca, Jennifer Pahlka, Ali Noorani and Dan Tangherlini.

TRANSITIONS — Jonathan Skladany is now a special counsel in Jenner & Block’s congressional investigations and government controversies and public policy litigation practices. He most recently was head of U.S. government affairs and senior comms officer at the IMF, and is a longtime House GOP alum. … Michelle Kirkman is joining FGS Global as a director. She most recently was comms director for Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.). …

… Monica Harris has been named executive director of the Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism. She previously was a longtime Hollywood executive and created her own law firm in Montana. … Randy DeCleene is now chief development and comms officer at The Fund for American Studies. He most recently was managing partner at kglobal.

WEEKEND WEDDING — Anne Schroeder, principal at comms firm ASM&Co and a POLITICO alum, and Joseph A. Bosco III, vice chair of NYU Langone Health Orthopedics, got married Saturday night in a black-tie ceremony at the University Club in NYC. Joseph Zuckerman officiated. Pic … SPOTTED: Carol Lee, Adrienne Elrod, Kiki Burger, Sarah Feinberg and Josh Tyrangiel, Maria Comella, Pam Stevens, Blain Rethmeier, Stephanie Kotuby, Sam Dealey, Jill Pike and Mark Allen.

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