It’s Monday. Capital Weather Gang is forecasting an absolutely beautiful week in Washington, D.C. It will be in the 70s — and maybe even hit 80 degrees later this week. Here’s what’s coming up:

• House Republicans are holding a candidate forum later today to hear from the nine (!) new candidates for Speaker. Round three. Ding, ding.
• Senate Republicans are feeling embarrassed as they worry the Speaker saga will drag them down.
• Airstrikes are intensifying in Gaza.

Filing from “dirty” D.C., as former President Trump recently called our charming capital, 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-release.thehill.com. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here.  

Do you remember when a British tabloid livestreamed a head of lettuce to see if it would last longer than then-Prime Minister Liz Truss’s tenure? The lettuce did, in fact, outlive her 44-day stint. Well, we have reached day 20 without a House Speaker, so maybe this should be our measure.

Where Republicans stand: Republicans are back to the drawing board after House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) dropped out as the nominee Friday. It was clear he would *not* earn the support of a number of House moderates.

What now?: Nine Republicans are in the race for the Speakership, but it’s unclear if any of them can rally enough support to reach the 217-vote threshold. House Republicans are holding a candidate forum at 6:30 p.m. for the candidates to make their pitches. Then House Republicans will have an internal election with a secret ballot to gauge support for each Speaker candidate.

The format of tonight’s forum: “2 minute intro speeches per candidate, an hour and a half of q & a and 1 minute closing speeches,” according to Axios’s Juliegrace Brufke. Now this is a debate that would get great ratings!

Who is most likely to emerge as a front-runner: House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), who is the third-highest ranking Republican in the chamber. What to know about Emmer

‘Tom Emmer scrambles to fix his Trump problem’: “The majority whip is battling a whisper campaign questioning his past support for the ex-president.” (Politico)

Oh man: NBC News’s Jonathan Allen noted that “four percent of the House Republican Conference woke up this morning, looked in the mirror and saw the next speaker of the House staring back.”

Here’s a list of how each of the nine Speaker candidates voted in overturning the 2020 election results. Tidbit: Only two of these nine candidates did not vote to overturn either Arizona or Pennsylvania’s election results.

This is remarkably bad timing: Government funding expires Nov. 17. President Biden also requested roughly $100 billion in emergency aid to Ukraine, Israel, allies in the Indo-Pacific and for border security.

And Senate Republicans are feeling embarrassed: They worry it could tarnish their image. More on the Senate GOP frustration over their House colleagues, via The Hill’s Alexander Bolton

Republicans are worried about another massive spending bill: Republicans had hoped to pass each of the dozen government spending bills individually instead of passing one ~ginormous~ package, explains The Hill’s Aris Folley. Well, this Speaker fight is keeping lawmakers from passing those à la carte bills and raises the odds of another big omnibus package. (The Hill)

The Hill’s Mychael Schnell has a helpful read on what to expect on Capitol Hill this week.

Live blog of the Speaker saga

Okaaaay, Rayburn: @MattGlassman312 posted photos of a remodeled cafeteria on Capitol Hill.

Ouch: CNN’s Jake Tapper told Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee: “I hope you don’t take this personally, but do you guys have any idea how clownish you look?” Turner responded by comparing Congress to high school. Lol. Watch the back-and-forth

©  AP

“Hamas fighters and Israeli forces engaged in limited clashes inside Gaza on Sunday as the Israeli military ramped up airstrikes on the Palestinian enclave ahead of what its spokesperson described as the ‘next stage’ of its war on the militant group.”

Some context: “The episode appeared to be one of the first skirmishes between the two sides on the ground inside the strip since war broke out after Hamas’ deadly October 7 attack on Israel which killed more than 1,400 people. The clashes came as the [Israeli Defense Forces] prepares for a potential ground operation in Gaza, amassing huge numbers of troops at the border and pounding the densely populated enclave with near-constant airstrikes in the last two weeks.” (CNN)

In the past day: Israel has hit more than 320 targets, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The death toll in Gaza: More than 5,000 people have died in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Earlier today: Israel struck Gaza targets shortly after allowing a shipment of aid into the territory. (The Hill)

‘This Israeli-Hamas War Has Smashed Comforting Assumptions’: “Some paradigms taken for granted about Israel and the Palestinians, both in Gaza and the West Bank, have been broken. So has the idea that Washington can ignore the Middle East.” The New York Times

‘A ground offensive by Israel into Gaza now seems inevitable. The big question is what comes next’: CNBC

‘Hamas Fails to Make Case That Israel Struck Hospital’: The New York Times

‘Biden fears wider war in Middle East’: Axios

Billionaire Elon Musk offered Wikipedia $1 billion to change its name to “Dickipedia” for at least one year.

See for yourself if you don’t believe me

Musk’s critique: Musk has criticized the nonprofit that hosts Wikipedia for asking for money.

The back-to-back plea deals of two of former President Trump’s co-defendants in the Georgia case, Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro, could spell danger for the former president.

Were the plea deals surprising?: Not really. “Legal experts said they weren’t surprised by the deals, arguing they would increase the legal jeopardy facing other defendants and raise the pressure for them to also consider taking plea deals.” 

The Hill’s Zach Schonfeld explains what this means for Trump.

• ‘Haley rises, closes in on DeSantis in new 2024 poll’: (The Hill)
• Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said she won’t rule out the possibility of running for president in 2024. (The Hill)
• ‘Tim Scott’s big spending gamble’: “Sen. Tim Scott‘s presidential campaign racked up a burn rate of more than 260% in the third quarter of 2023, leaving him at risk of going into debt by the Iowa caucuses in January.” (Axios)

🥧 Celebrate: Today is National Boston Cream Pie Day.

🍂 Don’t read this if you spent your weekend raking leaves: *I’ll wait to let those readers scroll past.* OK, everyone else: The New York Times has an interesting article explaining why you don’t have to rake leaves, according to scientists. (The New York Times)

😬 Brutal: Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) posted a selfie sitting next to Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) on a flight to Westchester, N.Y. “Thankfully, we are not in the exit row,” Lawler wrote, referencing Bowman recently pulling the fire alarm in a House office building. Photo

⛰️ Oh, cool. Baltimore grew a mountain: A wall of clouds over Baltimore last week looks just like a nearby mountain range. (Fox 5 DC)

🐄 Did you say a … Chick-fil-A … cookbook?!: Chick-fil-A is releasing a cookbook with a few of its recipes and ideas for how to use its leftovers for other meals. (Southern Living)

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

• 1 p.m.: White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre briefs reporters. 📺 Livestream
• 2:15 p.m.: Biden speaks at an event on the economy. 📺 Livestream
• 3 p.m.: Former President Trump campaigns in Derry, N.H. 📺 Livestream

Because you made it this far, here are two pandas with big sibling energy.