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01/02/2018 07:39 AM EDT


By Heather Caygle (hcaygle@politico.com or @heatherscope)

WELCOME BACK HUDDLE READERS - We kick off a new session of the 115th Congress this week, a three-week sprint to keep the government open and a months-long race to the midterms in November. The Senate won't be back to work until tomorrow and the House is out until next week. Still, expect some direction from congressional leaders about the upcoming agenda later this week.

Tomorrow, the Big Four - Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) - huddle with top White House officials to talk spending caps, the first step to hammering out a long-term funding bill. The meeting was initially expected to include White House Chief of Staff John Kelly but a spokesman said legislative affairs director Marc Short and budget director Mick Mulvaney would represent President Donald Trump, Kyle reports. The afternoon meeting will take place in Ryan's office.

Lawmakers left town in December with a lengthy to-do list to tackle in the coming weeks. Government funding runs out Jan. 19 as do temporary extensions of expiring federal spy powers and the flood insurance program. Congress is also trying to find a legislative fix for Dreamers - something leaders on both sides have said they want to do but remain far apart on a deal - and settle differences over Obamacare subsidies, hurricane disaster funding and looming pension shortfalls for miners and Teamsters. In addition, lawmakers have yet to finalize long-term funding for the children's health insurance program. Sarah Ferris: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=794e86002c157d94d926e54d0fabcb5464c78f64824216325435f6497c21093d47073f344a8dd15416b30e8f25a7e983

COMING ATTRACTIONS - Trump will host Ryan and McConnell at Camp David this weekend to talk about the 2018 agenda. Little usually gets done in an election year and GOP leaders are already divided over what to focus on ahead of November. "At issue: whether to appeal to traditional conservative voters by tackling welfare reform or instead push forward on the president's long-promised infrastructure plan, which could attract Democratic support and win over a broader slice of the electorate," Eliana Johnson, Annie Karni and Andrew Restuccia report.

After ending last year on a major high - signing a sweeping tax overhaul into law - some top White House aides are anxious about 2018 and dreading what could come in the new year. The White House is still working under the shadow of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation - with no signs of when it will wrap up - and fear Democrats could take back the House and Senate in the midterms. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=794e86002c157d94db5d8128db6ef30232d66dec0dd3b3649f6651af7bd1f3ce8b3b50f272fdfbce59b30719d60051a2

A NEW YEAR, THE SAME HUDDLE YOU KNOW AND LOVE. Thanks for reading Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Tuesday, Jan. 2. We're happy to be back after a little more than a week in hibernation. Your Huddle host was up a little late last night watching the Alabama Crimson Tide roll over reigning champ Clemson. Bama will face the Georgia Bulldogs in an all-SEC championship game next Monday. Roll Tide!

FRANKEN STEPS DOWN TODAY - Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) will officially step down today after announcing his resignation in early December following several sexual harassment allegations. The Senate will swear in two new senators tomorrow: Tina Smith, Minnesota lieutenant governor and the pick to replace Franken, and Democratic Sen.-elect Doug Jones from Alabama. Smith will immediately begin campaigning to serve out Franken's full term (through 2020) with the election scheduled for November, Maya Rao reports for the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

WHAT CONGRESS IS WATCHING - Overnight protests in Iran left at least nine people dead, according to state media reports via the AP. "The demonstrations, the largest to strike Iran since its disputed 2009 presidential election, have seen six days of unrest across the country and a death toll of at least 20," Nasser Karimi and Jon Gambrell report from Tehran. "Offering his first comments since they began, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday accused the 'enemies of Iran' of meddling in the country's affairs." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=794e86002c157d94b9e9bc272f500085b97d50879598de03a88cd13263144697d53812ba53b697df6e9c7fc9bdca7abc

SHE'S RUNNING? Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has taken a series of below-the-radar steps in the last year that would put her in a prime position to challenge Trump for the White House in 2020. Warren "has amassed more money in her campaign war chest than nearly any senator in modern history, groomed political connections with Democrats who've been skeptical of her in the past, and worked to bolster her bipartisan and foreign policy bona fides," Gabriel Debenedetti reports. "It's part of a conscious break from the heads-down posture that Warren purposefully maintained during the first five years of her Senate career." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=794e86002c157d94be3d81e5ea544524a789f291535e9f0f6ca6ce9dd576e8bb096cd7948c745a0f6ad4c043c942b21f

Related Gabe dispatch: "No name congressmen, mayors and wannabes gun for Trump in 2020." Read more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=794e86002c157d9415c97473b783c055dc10e2d283f1ec0cd4555c4325d2c02dac7f07d67474f8bda6fc8e39c75e6c76


CAN'T LIVE WITH YOU... Republicans are starting 2018 much like they started 2017, at odds over just what to do about Obamacare. "The reality is the GOP is so divided on Obamacare, they don't have the votes to achieve either objective - repeal or stabilization," Jennifer Haberkorn reports. "That means former President Barack Obama's signature legislative accomplishment could keep limping along, crippled by the repeal of the individual mandate in the tax law but lifted by the surprisingly strong enrollment for the coming year." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=794e86002c157d9439c2c788ad7cee1c0b5a685d436c9f6e9255e76735a60095a7809bcbfc93667fde48e6f31039deb1

TRUMP'S WISH LIST: SCOTT FOR SENATE - The president wrapped up another private lunch Sunday in South Florida with Gov. Rick Scott but the biggest question remains unanswered: Whether Scott will run for Senate or not, Matt Dixon and Marc Caputo report. No one is a bigger supporter than Trump of getting Scott to take on Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson this year. But even after private calls and meetings, plus several public encouragements from the president, Scott is still playing coy about his plans. "It's a nod to his cautious and meticulous approach to politics, as well as his awareness of Trump's Twitter trigger finger, which could disclose a secret the governor wants to keep under wraps."
More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=794e86002c157d94cd698a98fffa69e20128953379ecba0430188b56ecb6f77cfb1cb224befba63618bd36afc2e5134d

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: MIDTERM ROUNDUP - The battle for ex-Rep. Tim Murphy's seat in a conservative stretch of western Pennsylvania is the next big test of whether a Democratic wave will sweep the House, Elena Schneider reports. The March 13 special election "pits Democrat Conor Lamb, a young, telegenic Marine veteran with a political pedigree, against Rick Saccone, a Trump-supporting GOP state representative and Air Force veteran." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=794e86002c157d942b3ecfd5703f7cecf4a4ceb10d0656e47b2113f0ea11f8503920c14fda28fd3ca1d6e9225ae23a52

- The top 10 Senate races: 1. GOP Sen. Dean Heller in Nevada ... 2. Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill in Missouri ... 3. Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly from Indiana... Kevin Robillard with the full list: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=794e86002c157d9412d969fcb32bf7af09d2032ff9168fcf4a27d528108707812b49669e938a48499b1b4153b96fb455

- The top 10 House races: 1. Revenge of the suburbs: Illinois GOP Rep. Peter Roskam ... 2. The reach seats: Utah GOP Rep. Mia Love ... 3. Crowded Democratic primaries: Virginia GOP Rep. Barbara Comstock ... Elena with the full list: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=794e86002c157d9464fe95e3a955d343bdeeac47cea7f61f701b58bc5877ca4c4ff1af0c6062efa6a4a490cb2a5aca19

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The Senate gavels in for a pro forma session at 4 p.m. but won't be back for legislative business until tomorrow. The House is out until next week.

AROUND THE HILL - Things are quiet today but stay tuned tomorrow.

LAST YEAR'S TRIVIA WINNER - Bruce Mehlman was first to guess that British Prime Minister Winston Churchill addressed a joint meeting of Congress on Dec. 26, 1941, about U.S. involvement in World War II following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Churchill addressed lawmakers in the Senate chamber, a rare change of venue meant to accommodate the many absences due to holiday travel.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - The White House's annual New Year's Day reception was a nearly 150-year old tradition that resulted in thousands of people waiting in line - sometimes in frigid cold - just for a little face time with the president. Which president started the tradition and who was the president that ended it? The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your best guess my way: hcaygle@politico.com.

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