It’s Thursday. OK, team. I have been writing “we don’t have a Speaker” jokes for *16 days* now and, to be frank, I am running out of material. So if Republicans could sort this out ASAP, that would be much appreciated. And if you feel like helping me with some relevant jokes or pop culture references, hit me up!

• Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) will not seek a third House Speaker vote today. Instead he will back the plan to give Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) more power as Speaker Pro Tempore. The plot thickens. 

• President Biden is giving an 8 p.m. ET address on the Israel-Gaza conflict and on Russian’s war with Ukraine.
• Ex-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell pleaded guilty this morning to election interference in Georgia.

I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Send tips, commentary, feedback and cookie recipes to cmartel@digital-stage.thehill.com. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here.  

©  GIPHY/ Schitt’s Creek 

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) will not hold a third House vote for Speaker today — and is expected to back the plan to give Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) more power to govern in interim, a source told The Hill. 

But hey, Jordan is still 12 failed votes away from former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) plight in January, so he should take that as a win.

Livestream of the House floor

Live blog of updates

The House is in a state of paralysis, so there has been growing support for McHenry to be given more power so the House can conduct business.

^ When I say ‘conduct business’: Government funding runs out in less than a month. And aid for Israel, Ukraine and border funding are all pending.

The downside with this plan: It would take pressure off Republicans to elect an actual Speaker.

Does this end the saga?: That’s unclear — the question now is how many House members would support this temporary solution. FWIW: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) hasn’t said how his caucus would vote. (From Politico’s Heather Caygle)

Some advice from a GOP strategist: Former GOP aide Brendan Buck noted that “[Republicans] probably still [going to] need Dem votes. I recommend Jordan not lean into this too much …”

It looked very unlikely that Jordan will secure 217 votes: In the first House floor vote, 20 Republicans did not vote for Jordan. In the second, that number increased to 22 GOP “no” votes. What changed: Four Republicans flipped their votes from Jordan to another candidate; two flipped their support *to* Jordan. The six Republicans who flipped

Jordan’s biggest problem: His opposition mainly comes from centrist House Republicans who are unlikely to be swayed. Jordan is known as an agitator in the House who helped co-found the hard-line House Freedom Caucus.

The Hill’s Emily Brooks writes how mainstream House Republicans are getting sick of the antics from their anti-establishment colleagues and are fighting back. That’s why it’s unlikely that Jordan can pick off enough votes to reach the threshold. Read: ‘Speaker saga sparks revolution among mainstream Republicans’

😂 Omg: Politico’s Sam Stein posted: “Politico not going with my suggested alert language: Like many Americans, Republicans appear ready to let go of their Jim membership.”

That’s how you know it’s a long day: Check out the mountain of pizzas being wheeled into Congress on Wednesday. Photo

This made me laugh: The New York Times’s Michael Gold equated the Jordan Speaker votes into a text conversation.

One lawmaker has received death threats: Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) revealed that she received death threats after switching her vote away from Jordan. Read her statement

The New York Times explains that “McHenry is acting as temporary speaker under rules adopted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that require the speaker of the House to come up with a list of people to fill the post in the event that it becomes vacant. When Mr. McCarthy was booted out by a right-wing rebellion two weeks ago, the world learned that Mr. McHenry was the first name on his list.”

^ Yes, this: Brendan Buck, a former aide to former Speakers John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), posted: “McHenry will probably never forgive McCarthy for putting him down first on that list.” 

©  GIPHY/Next Level Chef

“Trump-aligned attorney Sidney Powell pleaded guilty to six misdemeanor counts in the Georgia 2020 election interference case Thursday after reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors, the second defendant in the sweeping case to do so.”

Powell’s sentence: “She was sentenced to six years of probation, a $6,000 fine and $2,700 restitution. She will also be required to ‘testify truthfully’ in future proceedings and must turn over any documents requested by the district attorney’s office.” More on Powell’s plea, via The Hill’s Zach Schonfeld and Ella Lee

Specifics of her plea: “Powell is admitting her role in the January 2021 breach of election systems in rural Coffee County, Georgia. With the help of local GOP officials, a group of Trump supporters accessed and copied information from the county’s election systems in hopes of somehow proving that the election was rigged against Trump.” (CNN)

Read the court doc

The New York Times’s Glenn Thrush pointed out: “Powell’s cooperation (obviously) has potentially significant — potentially enormous— implications for Smith’s case in DC where she assumed to be one of six unidentified co-conspirators.”

President Biden returned to Washington after a brief visit to Israel amid ongoing violence following Hamas’s attack on Israel on Oct. 7.

The president primarily spent time in Tel Aviv, meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials.

Biden told reporters on the trip back that Israel has agreed to allow a limited opening of the Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt to allow humanitarian aid to the embattled Gaza Strip.

The Hill’s Elizabeth Crisp asked several experts to weigh in on the question: “How significant is President Biden’s trip to Israel?” (Answers trimmed for space)

• Chester A. Crocker, American diplomat and emeritus professor of Strategic Studies at Georgetown University‘s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy: “The Biden trip is significant because it is a dramatic example of engaged presidential leadership in seeking to manage dangerous risks in world affairs.”
  
  
• Carly Wayne, political science professor at Washington University in St. Louis, who specializes in conflict and Israel-Palestine relations: “Biden’s trip to Israel comes at a critical moment for Israel. The global outpouring of support Israel received following the deadly Hamas attack is beginning to wane as Palestinian casualties mount and questions swirl regarding the al-Ahli hospital explosion […] As a ground invasion looms, the Biden Administration likely calculated that a further demonstration of commitment was necessary to continue to deter these actors and forestall a broader regional conflict.”
  
  
• Dave Harden, former assistant administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance in the Obama administration: “President Biden spoke to three audiences yesterday. He embraced the Israelis and showed unwavering resolve. He demonstrated wisdom and statesmanship to his American audience. But to the Arab street, he did not blunt the risk of a regional escalation of the war.”

©  GIPHY/Law and Order

Hundreds of protesters entered the Cannon House Office Building Wednesday to demand a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza conflict. (The Hill)

The New York Times reports that roughly 300 protesters were arrested.

Who are the protesters?: The protest was organized by the Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and IfNotNow.

Photos of Capitol Police officers entering Cannon, via Axios’s Andrew Solender

Videos of the protests and arrests, via Nexstar’s Reshad Hudson

^ By the way: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has requested that U.S. Capitol Police keep the surveillance footage of the protests.

🦐 Celebrate: Today is National Seafood Bisque Day! Well, if you’re into seafood bisque.🥴

😮 It’s magnificent: Costco was selling a 157-piece (!) red Le Creuset cookware set that could outfit an entire kitchen. I always knew this existed. They told me it didn’t exist — like a unicorn … or magic — but I believed and I just knew. Though, tbh, that is a LOT of red.  Photo of the massive set, via @gannonbreslin. *Tidbit: it appears it’s already sold out 🙁 *

🦃Good news for the holiday season: Walmart and Aldi are planning to lower the prices on Thanksgiving dinner items. (The Hill)

👻 Weekend plans: Here’s a list of the five most haunted places in Washington, D.C. (Washingtonian)

The House and Senate are in. President Biden and Vice President Harris are in Washington, D.C. Harris has no public events scheduled. (all times Eastern)

• 1:15 p.m.: State Department spokesperson Matt Miller holds a press briefing. 📺 Livestream
• 8 p.m.: Biden delivers a primetime address to discuss the Israel-Gaza conflict and Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine. 📺 Livestream

To leave you with a smile, here’s a dog having an absolute banger of a day.

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