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01/11/2017 08:09 AM EDT


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

With an assist from Daniel Lippman

WHIRLWIND DAY IN WASHINGTON- Fasten your seatbelt Huddle readers, today is sure to be a crazy ride. Later this morning, President-elect Donald Trump is set to have his first press conference since July where the incoming commander-in-chief is sure to be pressed about reports of so-far unverified compromising personal and financial details on Trump reportedly gathered by Russian intelligence. Trump and President Obama were presented with details of the report during classified briefings on Russian election hacking last week, CNN first reported.

On Capitol Hill, lawmakers are planning to continue confirmation hearings for a trio of Trump Cabinet nominees, including secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson, who has close ties to Russia. And congressional leaders --who have so far been quiet on the matter-- on down to the rank-and-file, will surely be asked repeatedly about the bombshell allegations.

Trump dismissed the report, tweeting in all caps that it was "fake news" and a "political witch hunt." His allies also dumped on the news in a coordinated pushback, mostly on Twitter, Tuesday night. More from Eli Stokols, Shane Goldmacher, Josh Dawsey and Michael Crowley: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fc4b5d95b9ba73f8d03a46af2cf6cbd32532cbe402d105e688e3c0b4919dd950 "The BuzzFeed memo is total, complete garbage," incoming White House chief of staff Reince Priebus said on Morning Joe earlier today.

Crickets from Capitol Hill leaders: So far congressional leaders haven't made a peep about the allegations against Trump but other members of Congress were willing to broach the topic during a Senate Intel hearing Tuesday, Austin reports. Sen. Ron Wyden asked FBI Director James Comey if the bureau was investigating potential ties between the Russian government and Trump's campaign. Comey said he couldn't answer "one way or another."

"Wyden urged the FBI director to provide an unclassified answer to his question before Inauguration Day, saying the American people 'have a right to know.' ...'If it doesn't happen before January 20th,' Wyden said, 'I'm not sure it's going to happen.'" Austin: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fc4b5d95b9ba73f8acf12900419569454e2fd91235099d2bd497d1e57ab5de5d Separately, Sen. John McCain gave a set of the memos to Comey in December but the FBI already had copies of most of the reports, according to CNN.

TILLERSON FACES SENATE GRILLING- Rex Tillerson, Trump's nominee to be secretary of State, was already set to face tough questions about his chummy relationship with Russia today, but his confirmation hearing is sure to be amplified by the latest Trump news. "The explosive but yet unconfirmed allegations will make this an even more important hearing today," Democratic Sen. Chris Coons, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on Morning Joe today. "I think anyone will be concerned if the documents turn out to be verified but they are unverified and in fact seem to contain some falsehoods that have been pointed out already," Sen. Jeff Flake, a Republican member of the
committee, said on the show. "Obviously, in the hearing these questions are going to come up."

Keep your eyes on Sen. Marco Rubio, "the lone GOP Tillerson skeptic on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that will examine Tillerson," Burgess reports. "If Democrats on the panel all vote against Tillerson, Rubio may find himself as the deciding voice on whether Tillerson clears the committee or goes to the full Senate floor vote with an 'unfavorable' recommendation." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fc4b5d95b9ba73f897fe5da6abafe7dc35236c53ddd45d7b66e5d02e96281589

Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn will introduce the former ExxonMobil CEO at today's confirmation hearing. "Their first interaction, he recalled, was when he was Texas attorney general and the state sued Exxon. The case was resolved in a settlement," Todd Gillman reports for the Dallas Morning News. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fc4b5d95b9ba73f8a9169d73950e810494bd40b27dd0821fe0650340f4efa89f

** A message from Americans for Tax Reform: Obamacare imposes more than one trillion dollars ($1,000,000,000,000) in higher taxes on middle class families including taxes on Health Savings Accounts, taxes on families with high medical bills, taxes on medical innovation, and taxes on health insurance. True repeal of Obamacare means repealing ALL Obamacare taxes. **

ROUND TWO: SESSIONS AG NOMINATION- Sen. Jeff Sessions emerged from a more than 10-hour grilling yesterday mostly unscathed, Seung Min and Josh Gerstein report. Democrats failed to land significant blows on the attorney general nominee, who came to the confirmation hearing "prepared to rebut accusations of racism, address criticisms of his policy positions and discuss controversial views and even tweets from President-elect Donald Trump."

The hearing, which turned into a love fest at times, drags into day two with a slew of witnesses-including prominent black lawmakers opposed to his nomination-set to testify for and against the Alabama Republican. Seung Min and Josh with a full rundown of the highlights and lowlights from day one: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fc4b5d95b9ba73f8d2872aaef4f8e03f392db4431d80ff9e226589f026314289

Cotton slams Booker's "presidential aspirations"- Sen. Tom Cotton, who in the past has been floated as a future presidential contender, slammed Sen. Cory Booker for testifying against Sessions, saying the New Jersey Democrat is just doing it to boost his presidential aspirations. "I'm very disappointed that Senator Booker has chosen to start his 2020 presidential campaign by testifying against Senator Sessions," Cotton wrote in a Facebook post, calling it a "disgraceful breach of custom." Elana reports: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fc4b5d95b9ba73f85921a2132d97a5fde3cceb2149eb61c16f6c068ee1156d0b

Cheat sheet: Wondering what policy areas Sessions broke with Trump? Torture, banning Muslims from entering the U.S. and Russia's role in the election hacking. Matthew Nussbaum: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fc4b5d95b9ba73f8970c9589bd48018d7596dc148864018380a89ea98b3511a5

HIGH FIVE FOR WEDNESDAY, JAN. 11. Thanks for reading POLITICO's Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill. Guys, we made it halfway through the week. Everybody celebrate with a mid-afternoon donut run.

TUESDAY'S MOST CLICKED: CNN's story about former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice endorsing Jeff Sessions was the winner.

TODAY IN CONGRESS- The Senate convenes at 12 p.m. with a budget vote-a-rama kicking off at 6 p.m. The House meets at 10 a.m. with first votes at 1:15 p.m. and last votes at 5 p.m. Today's House agenda: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fc4b5d95b9ba73f89dfb94967eed7267dfa37def01cad9e90089f5d42ae8e769

AROUND THE HILL- Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairwoman Michelle Lujan Grisham and Reps. Joaquín Castro, Tony Cárdenas, Linda Sánchez, Raul Ruiz and Adriano Espaillat hold a 10 a.m. press conference in HVC Studio A on Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Cheri Bustos and other Democrats hold a press conference on outsourcing and manufacturing at 11 a.m. in HVC Studio A. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer holds his weekly pen and pad at 12:15 p.m. in H-144.

OFF THE HILL- President-elect Donald Trump holds his first press conference since July in Trump tower starting at 11 a.m.

TONIGHT: AN OLD FASHIONED VOTE-A-RAMA- The Senate is gearing up to kick off a vote-a-rama at 6 p.m. tonight related to the budget resolution (the GOP framework that kickstarts the process to eventually repeal Obamacare), likely to go late into the night. The Senate is expected to vote on final passage Thursday, teeing up a House vote on the budget resolution Friday.

The big question is what do lawmakers do next on Obamacare? Trump told the New York Times Tuesday he wants to repeal and replace the law simultaneously but "appeared to be unclear both about the timing of already scheduled votes in Congress and about the difficulty of his demand," Maggie Haberman and Robert Pear report. On Capitol Hill, where the action will happen, things are not nearly as certain. "McConnell on Tuesday vowed that the law must be scrapped and replaced because 'the status quo is a disaster' but was vague on what that means other than passing a budget this week that will allow Republicans to use a fast-track procedure to repeal the bill by a simple majority," Burgess
reports. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fc4b5d95b9ba73f87a358acf2390f071a0babd01f11771ecc0d1b2fbfe20db0b

AND THEN THERE WERE THREE- In addition to Tillerson's hearing and day two for Sessions, senators will also question Transportation nominee Elaine Chao today. CIA nominee Rep. Mike Pompeo's confirmation hearing has been moved to Thursday, Intelligence Committee leaders announced Tuesday. For those counting, that brings the number of hearings today to three, down from the original six planned. Senate leaders have also postponed Wilbur Ross' Commerce secretary confirmation hearing, which was set for tomorrow, to Jan. 18 so he can complete the required ethics paperwork.

Puzder facing past abuse allegations: Labor secretary nominee Andrew Puzder, whose confirmation hearing may be delayed until February, is being forced to relitigate past abuse allegations stemming from his ex-wife. Puzder's ex-wife "appeared in disguise on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' as a victim of domestic violence, after having accused him multiple times of physically assaulting her in the 1980s, according to two friends of hers and a spokesman for the former couple," Marianne Levine reports. His former spouse has since retracted the claims but "women's groups are using the charges as ammunition in their fight to oppose his nomination." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fc4b5d95b9ba73f87e46c1a6f6f0d9aa28fd73db3a091430809cd6f579348bdd

BIPARTISAN BONHOMIE- Private talks between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer "are making it increasingly likely that President-elect Donald Trump will have a bloc of his Cabinet selections confirmed on Inauguration Day," Burgess reports. "Democrats aren't giving back their procedural leverage just yet, with several of Trump's nominees still lacking finalized ethics disclosures ahead of confirmation hearings this week. But they said they were open to quick votes on some nominees if McConnell and the Trump transition keep making progress." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fc4b5d95b9ba73f8a1c26b3b8662d56be3ff905149ade1081485cb690071f966

AND WITH THAT, THERE'S 435- Oregon Rep. Kurt Schrader was sworn-in Tuesday, bringing the House back up to its full 435 members. The reason for the delay? Schrader was out of the country honeymooning last week during the official swearing-in ceremony. Roll Call's Alex Gangitano: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fc4b5d95b9ba73f84de36b70f8eff4119e901320420dab199a248d0dfca5bf16

ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES- Noelle Verhelst is now a legislative assistant for Rep. Lloyd Smucker, coming from former Rep. Joe Heck's office. Katherina Dimenstein, a counsel for Sen. Joni Ernst's team, is returning to the office of newly elected House Ways and Means member David Schweikert as his legislative director.

TUESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER- Kirtan Mehta was the first to correctly guess that Warren Harding was the first president to use a car in the inaugural parade in 1921.

TODAY'S TRIVIA- Andrew Brennan with today's question (it's a toughie): Two former secretaries of Defense have replaced men who would later become president, one when he took over an elected position and one when appointed to an executive post. Who are they, which future presidents did they replace and in what roles?

The first person to correctly answer gets a shout-out in tomorrow's Huddle. Send suggestions for trivia questions my way: hcaygle@politico.com

GET HUDDLE emailed to your phone each morning.

** A message from Americans for Tax Reform: Obamacare includes nearly 20 new or higher taxes that hit middle class families, raise the cost of healthcare, and reduce access to care.

The law imposes a tax on employer provided care, a tax on innovative medicines and other treatments, a tax for failing to buy government-mandated insurance, a new tax on health insurance, a tax on medical devices, taxes on Health Savings Accounts and Flexible Spending Accounts and even a tax hike on Americans facing high medical bills. In total, these taxes exceed one trillion dollars ($1,000,000,000,000) over a decade.

The Obamacare repeal process is moving forward. Many members of Congress campaigned on lower taxes and reducing the federal government's involvement in healthcare. They can fulfill both campaign promises by repealing all of Obamacare's $1,000,000,000,000 in higher taxes.

True repeal of Obamacare means repealing ALL Obamacare taxes.**

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