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First Read Flash: What’s the deal?

There's a likely Senate deal to end the fiscal standoff-- at least in principle. But can Boehner hold his caucus together or will Cruz, who "secretly" met with House conservatives at Tortilla Coast, have broader sway?
/ Source: MSNBC TV

There's a likely Senate deal to end the fiscal standoff-- at least in principle. But can Boehner hold his caucus together or will Cruz, who "secretly" met with House conservatives at Tortilla Coast, have broader sway?

New York Times: “Senate leaders neared the completion Monday night of a bipartisan deal to raise the debt ceiling and end the government shutdown while the rest of the world braced for the possibility of an American default that could set off a global financial disaster. Negotiators talked into the evening as senators from both parties coalesced around a plan that would lift the debt limit through Feb. 7, pass a resolution to finance the government through Jan. 15 and conclude formal discussions on a long-term tax and spending plan no later than Dec. 13, according to one Senate aide briefed on the plan.”

NBC’s Michael O’Brien & Carrie Dann: “The compromise at this point would not involve a repeal of the medical device tax – something Republicans had been pushing for — but it would give federal agencies more flexibility to implement budget cuts resulting from sequestration. Republican senators are expected to meet behind closed doors Tuesday morning to discuss the details of the developing agreement.  That meeting was originally scheduled for Monday night but was delayed because as many as nine GOP senators would not be able to attend, aides said.”

Politico: “Speaker John Boehner, who has wrestled with an unruly pack of conservatives for months, will soon be faced with an uncomfortable choice: Pass an emerging bipartisan Senate deal to lift the debt ceiling and fund the government, or don’t — and risk massive political and economic consequences. As the contours of a bipartisan Senate deal became clear, Boehner’s leadership team, allies and rank-and-file lawmakers spent Monday saying that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell are gearing up to send the House a crummy deal.”

Politico also notes that “Ted Cruz is waiting to decide whether to hold up a potential deal in the Senate that would reopen the government and avert a breach of the debt ceiling. With the debt limit deadline looming Thursday and quick Senate action needed to beat it, Cruz would not divulge whether he’d allow a quick vote on an emerging deal to reopen government and raise the debt ceiling….’We need to see what the details are,’ Cruz said when asked whether he’d move to delay a vote past Thursday. Cruz deflected more than half a dozen questions from reporters using the wait-and-see line.”

And Roll Call reports that “Cruz met with roughly 15 to 20 House Republicans for around two hours late Monday night at the Capitol Hill watering hole Tortilla Coast. The group appeared to be talking strategy about how they should respond to a tentative Senate deal to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling without addressing Obamacare in a substantive way, according to sources who witnessed the gathering.”

“At this point, it’s both an understatement and a statement of the obvious to say the government-shutdown showdown hasn’t been good for the Republican Party,” writes the Wall Street Journal‘s Gerald Seib. “But there’s an exception to every rule—and in this case, three. That is, three nationally prominent Republicans have improved their standing while their party’s has slid backward”–New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan.

Washington Post: “The National Security Agency is harvesting hundreds of millions of contact lists from personal e-mail and instant messaging accounts around the world, many of them belonging to Americans, according to senior intelligence officials and top-secret documents provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

Charlie Cook writes that “Increasingly we are seeing more members, in both chambers and both parties, leadership as well as rank and file, who seem to have little sense of customs, traditions, and responsibilities of the institutions that they have been given the honor or privilege to serve. We are seeing more and more behavior and tactics that truly bring disgrace on the institution. Much of the same can be said about this White House as well….There is nothing new about divided government; it has been the rule more than the exception for much of modern history. But how it is handled has changed—we aren’t seeing adult behavior from any of the three corners of this House-Senate-White House triumvirate.”

NEW JERSEY: PolitickerNJ: “One day before the special election for New Jersey’s U.S. Senate seat, Democrat Newark Mayor Cory Booker leads Republican former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan 54 – 40 percent among likely voters, according to a Quinnipiac University poll completed last night and released today. This is virtually unchanged from a 53 – 41 percent Booker lead in an Oct. 9 survey by the independent Quinnipiac University.”

VIRGINIA: Richmond Times-Dispatch: “Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will formally endorse Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic candidate for governor, on Saturday in Falls Church. Clinton will attend a ‘Women for Terry’ event at The State Theatre. Among others attending the event will be Dorothy McAuliffe; Del. Charniele L. Herring, D-Alexandria, chairman of the Democratic Party of Virginia; and Leni Gonzalez, a member of Latinos Con Terry.”

Washington Post; “McAuliffe did not publicly disclose his investment with a Rhode Island man who preyed on dying people in forms filed with the state four years ago. A financial disclosure statement that McAuliffe submitted in 2009, during his failed bid for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, makes no mention of what was then an active investment with Joseph A. Caramadre, who has pleaded guilty to scamming terminally ill people.”

WISCONSIN: AP: “The son of a slain Sikh temple president plans to challenge U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan in next year’s congressional election, in a Wisconsin district where support for the 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee has been strong but slipping. Amar Kaleka, 35, told The Associated Press he’ll file paperwork Wednesday to form an exploratory congressional committee. He plans to formally announce his candidacy as a Democrat next month.”