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Congress finalizes new leadership

Mitch McConnell expected to remain Senate majority leader as Nancy Pelosi eyes House Speaker role; Mike Emanuel reports from Capitol Hill.

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On the roster: Some pretty rank politics - I’ll Tell You What: Never refuse a breath mint - Broward County Florida finishes recount - McConnell blocks bill to protect Mueller - ‘I practiced skewering a lot’

SOME PRETTY RANK POLITICS
It’s a snow day here in Washington, so how about some nuggets as we contemplate life among America’s worst winter drivers?

- Maine’s experiment with ranked-choice voting took a big step forward today as Democrat Jared Golden defeated Rep. Bruce Poliquin to become the new congressman from the 2nd District of Maine. Neither candidate had 50 percent of the vote, so ballots cast for minor party candidates were allocated between Golden and Poliquin based on voters’ stated preference on their ballots. It’s significant for Democrats who notched their 39th gain in the House, but it’s more important in terms of what this could mean for future elections. Now that we have court rulings on the state and federal level upholding the method, it is likely that other states will follow suit. Proponents argue it is a useful reform since it encourages candidates to broaden their message beyond their base and discourages negative campaigning.

- The campaign team for Illinois Gov.-elect J.B. Pritzker gave a Politico reporter great access with the understanding that the story wouldn’t run until after the election. If you can get past the operatives’ gushy self-congratulations you get to some truly disturbing details. Pritzker, the billionaire heir to the Hyatt hotels fortune, dumped $171.5 million into his cake walk win over direly unpopular Republican incumbent Gov. Bruce Rauner. We don’t put as much stock as some in the power of money and politics. Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton could tell you more about that. But the shamelessness and even braggadocio with which Pritzker sought to buy the governorship could be a harbinger of things to come. But we suppose having to serve as governor of Illinois is condign punishment for the offense…

- Speaking of jobs no sane person would want, who’d like to be the next Prime Minister of Britain? Theresa May has been doomed since her party took a beating in a snap election she unwisely called in the summer of 2017. Her fellow Conservative members of Parliament had hoped that before she left she could at least finish the unhappy work of finalizing a deal with the European Union for the UK’s departure. What she came up with looks like a total flop and prompted the departure of more key members of her cabinet. Whatever May does is likely to be unpopular since the reality of Brexit looks a little like what its proponents advertised. But the idea that Conservatives could start over with a new prime minister at this point sounds pretty farfetched. Voters are growing tired of the tedious fight.

- How about that Mia Love? The Utah Republican congresswoman trailed by a wide enough margin on election night that most race watchers, including President Trump, wrote her off. But as election workers sift through absentee ballots, Love’s been on the rise. She’s down to a scant 873 vote deficit to Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams and there are lots more ballots to count from heavily Republican Utah County. Expect an update Friday, but this could be a real squeaker.

- We have noticed considerable consternation over the fact that the Trump Justice Department is arguing in court that the president has the power to ban any and all reporters he wishes from the White House. But don’t forget that the current arrangement is a reciprocal one for news outlets and administrations. Since 1914, the White House Correspondents Association has hashed out deals on access and accountability with executive officials. This benefits reporters since they are afforded a way in and some predictability in terms of planning coverage. This also benefits presidents since rather than having swarms of reporters chasing them from all angles when they or their families go places, the association allows news outlets to collaborate to make sure someone is minding the store. It’s not unimaginable that Trump would end that 104-year tradition. It would be short-sighted, damaging to his presidency, spiteful and unwise, but not unimaginable.

- Campaigning in New Hampshire, John Kasich explained that he’s open to an independent run for president. “All options are on the table,” he told WMUR. Such a decision by Kasich would be fantastic news for Democrats. But assuming Kasich could find a way on the ballot in all 50 states, it might actually cut against them. Assuming Kasich’s base would be similar to his supporters in the 2016 GOP primaries, he might be a safe haven for disenchanted suburban Republicans who might otherwise felt forced to hold their nose and vote for a Democrat.  

- There are a lot of policy fights ahead for Democrats in Congress. While it might not be politically helpful for the party as a whole, individual members have promises to keep to core supporters back home. That means we’ll be hearing about gun control, global warming and other hot button issues even though Democrats are not in a position to advance policies on them. And as Nancy Pelosi intensifies her fight to return as Speaker of the House, she will surely be pressed to promise votes on liberal priorities that will put new swing-district Democrats in difficult spots.

- There has been much discussion about the NYT story on the ongoing meltdown at Facebook, including hiring a Republican opposition research firm to smear critics of the wounded tech giant. Overlooked was the role that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer played in trying to rehabilitate the company. What we didn’t know before was the degree to which Schumer went to bat for Facebook and the fact that Schumer’s daughter, Alison, works for the firm.

THE RULEBOOK: WELL DUH
“Although it seems obvious to common sense that the people of [Great Britain] should be but one nation, yet we find that they were for ages divided into three, and that those three were almost constantly embroiled in quarrels and wars with one another.” – John Jay, Federalist No. 5

TIME OUT: IN DEFENSE OF PUNS 
Paris Review: “Prior to the fourth century, however, no one knew exactly which forbidden fruit Eve and Adam ate. Genesis records only that the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was off limits; it does not specify what edible flower that tree produced. Apples appeared in 382 because that’s when Pope Damasus I asked Saint Jerome to translate the Old Latin Bible into the simpler Latin Vulgate, which became the definitive edition of the text for the next thousand years. In the Vulgate, the adjectival form of evil, malus, is malum, which also happens to be the word for 'apple.' The similarity between malum ('evil') and malum ('apple') prompted Saint Jerome to pick that word to describe what Eve and Adam ate, thereby ushering sin into the world. The truth is, though, the apple is innocent, and this unjustly maligned fruit’s association with original sin comes down to nothing more than a pun.”

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SCOREBOARD
Trump job performance 
Average approval: 42.6 percent
Average disapproval: 53.2 percent
Net Score: -10.6 points
Change from one week ago: up 0.4 points 
[Average includes: Monmouth University: 44% approve - 49% disapprove; Gallup: 38% approve - 56% disapprove; NBC News: 46% approve - 52% disapprove; CNN: 41% approve - 57% disapprove; ABC News: 44% approve - 52% disapprove.]

I’LL TELL YOU WHAT: NEVER REFUSE A BREATH MINT
This week, Dana Perino has just taken a cross country red eye and is punchy and Chris Stirewalt discusses the new Congress and a possible challenger for Speaker of the House. Plus, Dana answers mailbag questions and Chris answers trivia. LISTEN AND SUBSCRIBE HERE

BROWARD COUNTY FLORIDA FINISHES RECOUNT
Sun Sentinel: “Palm Beach County was the only one in the state unable to complete the machine recount in any of the three statewide races by the Thursday deadline. Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher said Saturday’s vote tallies will stand in Palm Beach County as her office was unable to complete the recount because of malfunctioning vote-counting machines. ‘It was a heroic effort and we just completed uploading our Saturday results, as was required by law,’ Bucher announced Thursday as the 3 p.m. deadline passed. ‘If we had three or four more hours, we might have made the time,’ Bucher said. ‘We got stuck with some mechanical issues.’ A manual recount of 5,900 over-votes and under-votes was set to begin at 4 p.m. Broward completed its recount at 2:45 p.m. and sent those results to the state. Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican seeking to unseat incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, picked by 779 votes in Broward. Nelson still led the county results but was trailing statewide. After performing a check after the vote-counting machines broke down on Tuesday night, Bucher and her staff noticed the machines were not counting some ballot batches. ‘Several boxes per precinct’ were lost, she said. Miami-Dade County finished counting on Wednesday morning.”

Judge rules against continuing Florida recount - Florida Today: “A judge has denied a request to extend the deadline in Florida's nationally watched election recount, even though it's unlikely one of the state's largest counties will be finished by the 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time deadline. The refusal to extend clears the way for a hand recount of thousands of questionable ballots in key races for U.S. Senate and agriculture commissioner because of very narrow margins. It's unlikely a third race being recounted – the gubernatorial contest where Republican Ron DeSantis is leading Democrat Andrew Gillum – will make it to a hand recount. Palm Beach County officials, who have had to contend with a late start and overheated machines, have said meeting the deadline would be ‘impossible’ to complete the machine recount of roughly 584,000 ballots. In a six-page order filed this afternoon, U.S. District Chief Judge Mark Walker said he could not offer relief because of ‘a complete dearth of evidence’ concerning the progress or expected completion of the recounts in Palm Beach County.”

Florida Department of State to investigate altered voter forms - ABC News: “As vote counting and recounting continues in Florida, the state's election authority said Wednesday that it had requested a federal investigation into altered voter forms. The forms, which by-mail voters use to correct problems with signatures accompanying their ballots, appeared to have instructed voters to return them late. The Florida Department of State asked U.S. attorneys in three Florida districts to investigate, writing in a letter that creating such an altered form would be a crime. Florida is the site of an ongoing vote recount in three statewide races, for U.S. senator, governor and state agriculture commissioner. Four counties -- Broward, Citrus, Okaloosa and Santa Rosa -- received forms from mail-in voters that appeared to have been altered. The altered forms instructed voters to return them ‘no later than 5 p.m. on Thursday, November 8.’ The forms are due ‘no later than 5 p.m. the day before the election’ -- as written on the original form.”

Judge rules some absentee ballots must be counted in Georgia gubernatorial election - Fox News: “A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the results of Georgia's gubernatorial race cannot be certified until certain absentee ballots have been counted. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Steve Jones came hours after Republican Brian Kemp claimed to have an ‘insurmountable lead’ over Democrat Stacey Abrams, who is seeking to become the first black woman elected governor in the U.S. Jones ruled that each county's certified vote tally must include absentee ballots on which the voter's date of birth is missing or incorrect, an order that stems from a request in a lawsuit filed by the Abrams campaign over the weekend. However, Jones declined Democratic requests to extend the period during which evidence could be submitted to prove the eligibility of voters who cast provisional ballots. He also declined to order that provisional ballots cast by voters who went to a precinct in the wrong county be counted. Kemp currently has 50.27 percent of the vote, compared to 48.79 percent for Abrams. Abrams' campaign believes she needs a net gain of 17,759 votes to pull Kemp below the 50 percent threshold and force a Dec. 4 runoff.”

MacArthur concedes to Andy Kim in NJ-03 - Asbury Park Press: “Eight days after the vote, political newcomer Andy Kim was declared the winner of the tight race for a seat representing New Jersey's 3rd Congressional District, defeating two-term term Republican U.S. Rep. Tom MacArthur, according to the Associated Press. MacArthur called to congratulate Kim on his victory Wednesday evening, according to a statement put out by his office. Kim declared victory Nov. 7, but MacArthur didn't initially concede, saying there were still at least 7,000 votes left to count. ‘Tonight, I called Congressman-Elect Andy Kim to congratulate him on his victory. Enough provisional ballots have been counted to make the outcome clear,’ MacArthur said in a prepared statement. ‘My staff and I will work with him to ensure a smooth transition in every way. It has been an honor to represent the people of Ocean and Burlington counties over the last four years, and I am proud to have done so with honesty and integrity.’”

MCCONNELL BLOCKS BILL TO PROTECT MUELLER
The Hill: “Legislation protecting special counsel Robert Mueller from being fired was blocked in the Senate on Wednesday. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) asked for consent to bring the legislation, which has stalled after being passed in the Judiciary Committee in April, to the Senate floor for a vote. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) blocked his request. Under the Senate's rules, a senator can come to the Senate floor and ask for consent to get a vote or pass a bill. Any one senator can block their request. McConnell didn't explain his move from the floor but it came hours after he told reporters that he believed that Mueller should be able to finish his investigation and that he didn't believe the special counsel was in danger of being fired. ‘There's been no indication ... that Mueller investigation will not be allowed to finish and it should be allowed to finish. We know how the president feels about the Mueller investigation but he's never said he wants to shut it down,’ McConnell told reporters during a press conference. Flake, speaking after McConnell's objection, knocked President Trump's rhetoric on the Mueller probe…”

Mueller requests delay in Gates sentencing - The Hill: “Former Trump campaign adviser Richard Gates is still cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into possible collusion between the president's 2016 campaign and Russia, according to a Wednesday court filing that asks for Gates's sentencing to be delayed. Gates in February pleaded guilty to two charges, conspiracy against the United States and making false statements to FBI agents as part of a deal with Mueller, and then was key witness in the criminal case against his former boss, ex-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Manafort was convicted of on eight counts of bank and tax fraud in August and then struck a plea deal with Mueller last month to avert a second federal trial in D.C. The joint filing by Mueller's office and Gates's lawyer suggests that Gates is aiding in the investigation on issues beyond just Manafort, according to Reuters.”

THE JUDGE’S RULING: WILL THE REAL AG PLEASE STAND UP?
This week Fox News Senior Judicial Analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano writes: “In bypassing [Rod Rosenstein] for [Matthew Whitaker], Trump has added to the woes he will face when the Democrats take control of the House in early January. That's because of lingering and now public doubts about Whitaker's professional qualifications for office and clear statutory language that makes him legally ineligible to be acting attorney general. … The main purpose of the deputy is to be ready to fill in for the principal when that office becomes vacant. … Should the president wish to bypass the deputy attorney general, he may do so, but he may only designate a person who already occupies a DOJ position that is presidentially appointed and Senate-confirmed. Whitaker, Sessions' former chief of staff, was not in a presidentially appointed or Senate-confirmed job at the time Trump named him acting attorney general.” More here.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Mira Ricardel, deputy national security adviser, leaves White House role - NYT

Michael Avenatti arrested for allegations of domestic violence - WaPo

AUDIBLE: ROOTS BASED
“A lot of people work for years, generations even, in the traditional components of conservatism, and we got to go back to our roots going forward.” – Outgoing Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., discussing his concerns for the future of the Republican Party.

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‘I PRACTICED SKEWERING A LOT’
UPI: “An Idaho man visited an Illinois library and broke a Guinness World Record for eating 241 corn kernels with a toothpick in three minutes. David Rush, who previously set a record at the Oak Brook Public Library last year when he balanced a pool cue on his forehead for 1 hour, 3 minutes and 14 seconds, returned to the library to attempt the corn kernel record. Rush's third attempt successfully broke the record when he skewered and ate 241 corn kernels in three minutes, breaking the previous record of 236. ‘It's a ridiculous talent to have,’ Rush told the Chicago Tribune. ‘I practiced skewering a lot to prepare along with the size of the plate, spreading out the corn and best toothpicks to use.’ Rush said he has broken a total 83 Guinness World Records, including about 40 that remain unbroken. He said his record attempts are aimed at promoting STEM education.”

AND NOW, A WORD FROM CHARLES…
“I believe that the pursuit of truth and right ideas through honest debate and rigorous argument is a noble undertaking.” – Charles Krauthammer (1950-2018) writing in the Washington Post on June 8, 2018. 

Chris Stirewalt is the politics editor for Fox News. Brianna McClelland contributed to this report. Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up here.