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01/27/2016 08:13 AM EDT


By Lauren French (@laurennfrench & lfrench@politico.com)

With an assist from Burgess Everett.

THERE IS ANOTHER BIG RACE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE - AND IT MIGHT JUST DECIDE WHO CONTROLS THE SENATE. Burgess Everett went to Concord to interview Maggie Hassan, the New Hampshire governor who is challenging GOP Sen. Kelly Ayotte. He reports, "The move by Hassan, perhaps the Democratic Party's best Senate recruit of 2016, has produced the rare spectacle of a popular sitting governor taking on a well-liked incumbent senator. The clash might decide which party controls the Senate next year, but it will definitely deprive the Democratic or Republican party of one of its top female officeholders after Nov. 8. In a 30-minute interview last week in her governor's suite here, her first with a national
outlet since she announced her campaign in October, the former business attorney and state legislator broke with her party by backing more scrutiny of Middle Eastern refugees in her state and cast Ayotte as a tool of the right wing. But Hassan also hewed relentlessly to talking points and political bromides about a Washington that's "rigged" against the people." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=067f65155059b521fb0d4bc1a9ea549b0fe8166a09b0d08592a9a65a5fdacad9

DCCC PREDICTS DOWN-TICKET MISERY FOR GOP WITH TRUMP. From your Huddle author, "Donald Trump has caused Republican leaders to shudder at the impact the bombastic New Yorker could have on down-ticket races. Democrats, however, see only potential for election wins. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee will release a memo Wednesday detailing its predictions for how the nomination of either Trump or Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz could impact the 2016 contest for House seats - arguing that Republican candidates could be empowered to take controversial and more conservative stances on social and economic issues because of Trump or Cruz." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=067f65155059b5214e140adad0fdc579021a765f06a2e979c465693758c2995a

BUT SERIOUSLY, WHO RUNS THE WORLD? Emily Heil with the Washington Post, "Something was a little different in the Senate on Tuesday morning. And Sen. Lisa Murkowski noticed it. The Alaska Republican was one of only a few lawmakers in the Capitol building following the weekend blizzard, and it was her job to handle the formalities of delaying Senate business until her colleagues could get back to work. After finishing a bit of parliamentary business, she described what she saw in the ornate chamber... Murkowski noted that she and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who was wielding the Senate gavel, hadn't planned the all-women session. It was, she said, just a coincidence."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=067f65155059b5218847f3896a6dee42860fee26b9e5a9d60bc5d8c35ca28cc6

HAPPY WEDNESDAY. And a hearty welcome back to work for everyone in the federal government. Take it slow. Schedule coffees. I promise you'll make it through the day. Please send tips to lfrench@politico.com and follow along on Twitter @laurennfrench. Burgess will be taking over for tomorrow and Friday so send him a note at beverett@politico.com.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The Senate will meet at 11 a.m. to debate the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2016. Senators will break from 12:30 to 2:15 p.m. for the weekly conference lunches and return at 5:30 p.m. to vote on the nomination of John M. Vazquez. House Democrats leave Capitol Hill this afternoon to attend their policy retreat in Baltimore. The House is not in session.

AROUND THE HILL - Reps. Reid Ribble (R-Wisconsin) and Seth Moulton (D-Massachusetts) will hold a press call at 11 a.m. to announce legislation on Iran. Call (202) 280-8450 for dial in info. -- Rep. Adam Schiff (D-California) and Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) and Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut) will hold an 11 a.m. press conference on legislation on the gun industry's liability shield. The event is in SVC-215.

JUDGE TO FATTAH: GET IT TOGETHER. Maryclaire Dale for the AP reports, "A federal judge warned U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah to rethink his priorities Tuesday after the congressman said he was more concerned about raising money for his re-election than his upcoming racketeering trial. Fattah's defense team asked to be released from the case because the four lawyers weren't being paid. The complex fraud trial is set for trial on May 2. Fattah, an 11-term Democrat, is accused of accepting bribes and misusing nonprofit funds and government grants. 'You need to take this matter seriously and think long and hard about your priorities,' U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle III told Fattah."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=067f65155059b521c14b3cd7e3ac5887389b1b877adf2594300080247ab0b4b0

OBAMA AND SANDERS TO MEET BEFORE IOWA. Justin Sink with Bloomberg, "President Barack Obama will meet with Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on Wednesday at the White House, less than a week before the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses. The Oval Office meeting will be informal and has no a set agenda, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in a statement Tuesday. Sanders and the president discussed the possibility of meeting in December during a congressional holiday party, Earnest said." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=067f65155059b521a36c1d711a7e7595cb6f3b08dbb77be249693f43e2a5d32d

RAPID RESPONSE. As Republicans push a unity campaign to roll back President Barack Obama's nuclear deal with Iran, Senate Democrats that supported the bill will launch a round of speeches regarding the pact. Look for Democratic senators Chris Coons, Bob Casey, Tim Kaine, Chris Murphy, Jeanne Shaheen and Amy Klobuchar to take the floor around 4 p.m.

MAKING MOVES. Stephen Miller, formerly a communications director for Sen. Jeff Sessions, is leaving the Hill to be a senior policy adviser to Donald Trump.

SASSE TAKES TWITTER ATTACKS ON TRUMP TO IOWA. Nick Gass has the story, "Sen. Ben Sasse is heading to Iowa to campaign against Donald Trump over the next two days, with plans to appear at events for Senate colleagues Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, and 'possibly other constitutional candidates,' according to a statement from the Nebraska Republican's office." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=067f65155059b5214c06aee84158b6cbd60ceb7aeb7d7dabd92ff26eba4304e5

POLITICO MAGAZINE'S "What Works" series. A Surprising Number of America's Mayors Support $15 Minimum Wage by Ben Wofford and Manuela Tobias: "The robust support for increasing the minimum wage followed a clear trend: a high level of concern among mayors for the economic prospects of their poorest citizens." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=067f65155059b521c178c575b79ab6bafd31d6c8ca0cfa1ec6dccf490a180b9f

TUESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Joshua Sizemore with Sen. Steve Daines was the first to say the largest snowflake ever recorded fell in Montana and it was 14-15 inches wide.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Josh has today's question. Going off the theme of big things in Montana. The Nation's T-Rex is one of the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurs skeletons ever discovered. Excavated in Montana, it was recently put on loan to the Smithsonian institute and will be on display in 2019. What was its original name before it got renamed 'The Nation's T-Rex'. Email me at lfrench@politico.com

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