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01/09/2017 08:01 AM EDT


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

With assists from Seung Min Kim, Andrew Restuccia and Daniel Lippman

McCONNELL'S TOUGH TALK: TIME TO 'GROW UP'- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has no plans to slow down the rapid confirmation process for President-elect Trump's Cabinet, despite pleas from Democrats and "great" concerns from an independent government watchdog about "unresolved ethics issues" for some nominees. "What this is about, the Democrats are really frustrated that they lost the election," McConnell said on CBS' Face the Nation Sunday. "We need to sort of grow up here and get past that," he added.

Wacky Wednesday: For those keeping track, the Senate is scheduled to hold five confirmation hearings Wednesday, along with a vote-a-rama on the budget resolution that could go late into the night. Trump is also set to have his first press conference in months that day. Seung Min: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a3cd25be7fab0d9bfad22233d27f0a6105ad024c5b79a4ba1c888429acaf793e

Ethics watchdog: 'Great concern' about confirmation schedule- "This schedule has created undue pressure on OGE's staff and agency ethics officials to rush through these important reviews," Office of Government Ethics Director Walter Shaub wrote to Senate leaders Friday. "More significantly, it has left some of the nominees with potentially unknown or unresolved ethics issues shortly before their scheduled hearings." Burgess with more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a3cd25be7fab0d9b886b9312b4c3512457dfb9571e35be68dc3fc52c960c14fb

Schumer bites back: "No administration, Republican or Democrat, has tried to do what these Republicans are trying to do with their nominees," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement after McConnell's CBS interview. "Rather than ensuring that nominees are thoroughly vetted and will remove themselves from conflicts of interests, Senate Republicans are trying to ram them through as quickly as possible."

Flashback: McConnell wrote to then-Majority Leader Harry Reid in 2009 asking that the FBI background check and ethics review be finished for every Obama Cabinet nominee before scheduling a confirmation hearing. Read it: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a3cd25be7fab0d9b541e5d0e658cfc72f80b1b77a45c8c0802cbc16cb2e1555a

COUNT 'EM- Nine of Trump's Cabinet nominees will come before Senate committees for vetting this week. If the current schedule holds, "the hearings will kick off Tuesday with Trump's homeland security pick, John Kelly, as well as his choice for attorney general, [Jeff] Sessions. Sessions' hearing is set to continue Wednesday, along with hearings for Rex Tillerson, Trump's secretary of state pick; Betsy DeVos, Trump's education secretary designee; Elaine Chao, Trump's transportation secretary nominee; and Rep. Mike Pompeo, Trump's choice to lead the CIA. On Thursday, Trump's Pentagon chief James Mattis, housing secretary pick Ben Carson and commerce pick Wilbur Ross are slated to trudge to
the Hill," Kyle reports.

Also worth watching this week: The director of national intelligence along with leaders from the CIA, NSA and FBI will testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee Tuesday on Russian cyber warfare. Their appearance follows the Friday release of a declassified report from top intelligence officials that found Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered an "influence campaign" focused on discrediting Hillary Clinton during the election. President Obama will also deliver his farewell address Tuesday. Kyle previews the busy week ahead: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a3cd25be7fab0d9b516143fade001b51a958d8f3da009c468e166f41b4aa5f7a

Tillerson's views on Russia will be in the spotlight when he heads to the Hill Wednesday as some Republicans say they still have questions about the ExxonMobil CEO's cozy ties to the country. "Mr. Tillerson has got to convince me and I think other members of the body, that he sees Russia as a disruptive force, that he sees Putin as undermining democracy all over the world, not just in our backyard," Sen. Lindsey Graham said on NBC's Meet the Press Sunday. "He has to realize that the Russians did it when it came to the hacking and that new sanctions are justified." The Wall Street Journal's Paul Sonne and Byron Tau: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a3cd25be7fab0d9b00d10c30460fe11cfbccd23c69e39ade7381ed01cdac0ebd

OBAMACARE REPEAL 'SOON'- With growing GOP resistance to repealing Obamacare without a replacement waiting in the wings, McConnell pledged Sunday that Republicans will "soon" craft a plan to "rapidly" follow the health care law's rollback. "You have to both repeal and replace, and I think there ought not to be a great gap between the first step and the second," he said on CBS. But the GOP leader wouldn't answer directly when asked if people currently covered by Obamacare would lose their insurance. Seung Min: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a3cd25be7fab0d9bfad22233d27f0a6105ad024c5b79a4ba1c888429acaf793e

Tweet du jour: @RandPaul: I just spoke to @realDonaldTrump and he fully supports my plan to replace Obamacare the same day we repeal it. The time to act is now.

Keeping count: "At least a half-dozen GOP senators have now expressed public or private concerns about the party's current trajectory," Burgess reports. "I think the president-elect's position is the right position," [Sen. Bob] Corker told reporters on Friday morning. "During the campaign he said that repeal and replace should take place simultaneously. That to me is the prudent course of action." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a3cd25be7fab0d9b780c805182daf267e09af36d8ab3de979792533c9df39c0d

Where Trump stands: Two top aides to the president-elect said on Sunday he's still considering his options. "I will tell you that it would be ideal if we could do it all in one big action," Reince Priebus, Trump's White House chief of staff, said on CNN's State of the Union. "But look. It may take time to get all the elements of the replace in place." Kevin with more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a3cd25be7fab0d9ba8cc9764c7faf3662ae2b20aab8ae7fc67f825f25e622930

New this morning: McConnell's op-ed on Obamacare, via Fox News: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a3cd25be7fab0d9b9f447036414fcf150418bd763f1a10e1f26d8fd0baf38bc3

STRAP ON YOUR COMFY SHOES, IT'S GONNA BE A WILD WEEK. Welcome to Monday, Jan. 9. Thanks for reading POLITICO's Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill.

TUNE IN: Alabama faces Clemson tonight in a rematch for the national championship. Kickoff at 8 p.m. And if you're lucky enough to be invited to Bres' tailgate party, he's making loaded potato skins and chicken wing dip.

FRIDAY'S MOST CLICKED: Rachael and Bres' story about the GOP plan to build a border wall was the most popular.

TODAY IN CONGRESS- The House convenes at 12 p.m. with votes at 6:30 p.m. Today's House agenda: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a3cd25be7fab0d9be7845a7d700d57a7582fe18b82a5766555b438557f99cf01 The Senate meets at 2 p.m. with a roll call vote related to the budget resolution at 5:30 p.m.

** A message from Americans for Tax Reform: Obamacare imposed more than $1,000,000,000,000 in higher taxes on America's small businesses and families over a decade. Now, Congress is moving forward to repeal Obamacare. True repeal means repealing the full trillion dollars in higher taxes that directly or indirectly hurt middle class families. Repeal ALL Obamacare Taxes Now **

AROUND THE HILL- Sens. Ben Cardin and Amy Klobuchar and Reps. Elijah Cummings and Eric Swalwell hold a press conference on legislation that would create an independent commission to investigate Russian election tampering. The press avail starts at 3 p.m. in HVC Studio A.

THE PRESSURE IS ON- The Judicial Crisis Network "will plow at least $10 million into advertisements urging a number of moderate Senate Democrats to support Trump's choice" for the Supreme Court, with a focus on senators up for reelection in states Trump won, Burgess reports this morning. The conservative group spent $7 million to keep the seat vacant under President Obama. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a3cd25be7fab0d9bf0eb004d02f94dd20c62c7bc32763d549b898c8ffa302bf1

THINK YOU'VE GOT WHAT IT TAKES? Cabinet nominees go through hours of grueling preparation ahead of their confirmation hearings known as "murder boards." In a room on the sixth floor of the Trump team's D.C. headquarters, transition staffers school nominees on everything from senators' pet issues - like ethanol for Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley - to the price of milk. Nancy Cook and Andrew Restuccia take a behind-the-scenes look into the weeks of prep, including which high-profile nominee spent Sunday under the glare of the mock hearing room lights: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a3cd25be7fab0d9b612489bf9fa9458fc427f90077de0cd80d610c687e930e51

By the numbers: Trump's Cabinet nominees have conducted more than 300 meetings with 87 members of the Senate. All together, they've answered 2,604 questions during 70 hours of mock hearings, according to the transition team.

Bookmark: Seung Min has a handy cheat sheet for the week's confirmation hearings.

HIT THE BOOKS- Sessions' two-day confirmation hearing is one of the first out of the gate this week, kicking off on Tuesday. The New York Times takes a deep-dive into the life and beliefs of the man who, for years relegated to the Republican fringe, is now on track to become the country's next attorney general. "In short, he is a uniquely Trump nominee to lead the Justice Department," write Sharon LaFraniere and Matt Apuzzo. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a3cd25be7fab0d9bee5583a47a64f6f69f8b7a47c1fac159c001fc1daa267fe6

You can count me out: Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown said he plans to vote against Sessions' nomination, making him the first Democratic senator to explicitly come out against the AG nominee, Seung Min reports. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a3cd25be7fab0d9b1842d0fba896da48a785a0e8c94a014d72ec60db9e70e3a7

SECOND TIME'S THE CHARM- Democratic Rep. Lacy Clay is planning to rehang a student painting Tuesday taken down by GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter last week for it's depiction of race relations in Ferguson. Clay circulated a note to fellow Congressional Black Caucus members Friday afternoon asking them to join him for the rehanging ceremony.

"The U.S. Capitol features several pieces from American history that CBC members may find objectionable- art and figures reflecting segregationist, traitors, and slave owners," Yvette Cravins, Clay's chief of staff, said in an email sent to CBC offices and obtained by Huddle. "Rep. Clay has always respected the right of expression and freedom of speech." Rachael and yours truly with more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a3cd25be7fab0d9b31d9c34151a8b36e04156c7a17b454f55366bad513fe36e4

YOU CAN CALL ME ON MY CELL PHONE- Want to talk to the president-elect? Well if you happen to be a lawmaker with Trump's cell phone number, just try giving him a ring. "I called him on his cellphone, he answered it, we talked," Sen Bob Corker told reporters during a Christian Science Monitor breakfast Friday. "And by the way, my phone says, 'No caller ID,' so I'm not saying that has anything to do with me. Nobody has any idea who's calling when I'm calling." The Huffington Post's Jessica Schulberg: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a3cd25be7fab0d9b1f85dc0451d55634ac8e8bc6beb598a8fedbe32213fc5e45

ROOKIE MISTAKE- Freshman Rep. Charlie Crist missed a key vote in the House last week condemning a U.N. resolution on Israeli settlements. House Republicans' campaign arm sent an email Friday criticizing Crist for missing the vote, accompanied by a picture of the notoriously tanned former Florida governor on the beach. Crist, asked about speculation he was fundraising, told the Tampa Bay Times he missed the vote because he got caught up talking to people in the hallway. "I'm sorry. It happens. Now I know better," Crist told Alex Leary. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a3cd25be7fab0d9bb0f5a50f991b651c28c26869a64fce680a3de88dc7ffe7c3

SPOTTED: Speaker Ryan at DCA about 3:20 p.m. Sunday with security detail, "taking pics with people coming up to him, in a very good mood!"

WARREN MAKES IT OFFICIAL- Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren will run for a second term in 2018, she told supporters in a Friday email. The Boston Globe's Victoria McGrane and Matt Viser: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a3cd25be7fab0d9b0e4e4d4e62c97ad6c9861d9d3d1bedeaac1e17a47090407c

JOHNSON TO RETIRE IN 2018- Texas Rep. Sam Johnson, the oldest Republican in Congress at 86, won't run for reelection in 2018. "As a fighter pilot during the Vietnam War, Johnson was shot down in 1966 and spent seven years as a POW in the infamous 'Hanoi Hilton,' which also held current Arizona Sen. John McCain. ...Johnson also flew missions in Korea, and was an instructor at the Air Force's 'Top Gun' Fighter Weapons School." The Houston Chronicle's Kevin Diaz: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a3cd25be7fab0d9b410f2a280c3d1cbf06abf5566a0bcf87afc605ef68bf186c

MOVIN' ON UP- Courtney Temple is being promoted to legislative director for Sen. Tom Tillis. Temple has been working as Tillis' legislative assistant with a focus on immigration policy since 2015. Temple replaces Katy Talento, who was recently appointed to the White House Domestic Policy Council for the Trump administration, where she will oversee healthcare policy.

ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES- Brian Reisinger, who served as communications director for Sen. Ron Johnson's successful reelection campaign, is launching his own strategic communications firm called Hilltop Strategies focused on both Wisconsin and national clients. Reisinger is a former reporter and alum of Sen. Lamar Alexander's press shop.

Bill Sweeney, current chief of staff for Sen. Debbie Stabenow, is moving to staff director for her on the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. Matt VanKuiken, Stabenow's current legislative director, has been promoted to chief of staff.

FRIDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER- Eli Schechner was the first to guess that Louisa Adams was the first lady not born in the United States and John Crittenden was President John Quincy Adams' Supreme Court nominee who was never considered by the Senate.

TODAY'S TRIVIA- Eli with today's question: Who was the last independent elected to the Senate who was formerly a Republican? The first person to correctly guess the answer to today's question gets a mention 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: Congress is moving forward to repeal Obamacare. True repeal means repealing more than $1,000,000,000,000 in new or higher taxes on America's small businesses and families.

Obamacare's nearly 20 new or higher taxes directly or indirectly hurt middle class families, raise the cost of healthcare, and reduce access to care.

The law imposed taxes on Health Savings Accounts and Flexible Spending Accounts, an income tax hike on high-cost medical bills, a new tax on health insurance, a tax on medical devices, a tax on innovative medicines, a tax on employer provided care, and even a tax for failing to buy government-mandated insurance.

Many members of Congress campaigned on lower taxes and reducing the federal governments involvement in healthcare. They can fulfill both promises by repealing all of Obamacare's $1,000,000,000,000 in higher taxes.

Repeal ALL Obamacare Taxes Now **

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