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01/05/2017 07:59 AM EDT


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

With an assist from Daniel Lippman

RUSSIAN HACKING IN THE SPOTLIGHT- Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain kicks off the first hearing today in what is expected to be an "extensive" investigation into Russian attempts to tamper with the election. McCain and Sen. Lindsey Graham have backed off calls for a select committee to investigate Russia's cyber warfare but that doesn't mean they'll go easy on the issue today. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and National Security Agency chief Adm. Mike Rogers are both on tap to testify in the public hearing. There could also be a closed-door briefing later in the day.

"Their investigation, which includes a new panel on cybersecurity headed by Graham, could end up being the only effort in a GOP-controlled Congress that directly clashes with [President-elect] Trump and his skepticism of the U.S. intelligence community," Burgess and Austin report.

The struggle is real: McCain and Graham say they have struggled to understand Trump's continued questioning of Russia's role in the hacking, which intelligence officials maintain was aimed at helping get the billionaire businessman elected. "He says he has doubts about Russia's involvement in hacking? I'd like to hear those doubts," Graham said. But, for now at least, other Republicans are hesitant to question Trump's position, making McCain and Graham the party's loudest critics on Russia. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=72893505edb94fcab8eb395a4f66cc3f36ef288a314d2aad6d38ef68c92cf8a1

Stay tuned: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will have a closed briefing on Russian cyber meddling with officials from the State and Homeland Security departments today. Trump is supposed to be briefed by intelligence officials on the issue tomorrow. And a declassified version of the U.S. intelligence report on Russia will be released Monday, NPR'S Mary Louise Kelly reports.

ISRAEL VOTE ON TAP IN THE HOUSE- Lawmakers will vote today on a resolution condemning the United Nation's censure of Israeli settlements late last month. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer said he expects "significant Democratic support" but added that shouldn't be read as Democrats trying to undermine the administration's decision to abstain from the U.N. vote. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer are both backing a similar proposal on the Senate side. "The resolution, written by [Sen. Marco] Rubio and Sen. Ben Cardin with heavy input from leadership in both parties, will express 'grave objection' to the United Nations vote in December and calls for a reversal of
the controversial action," Burgess reports. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=72893505edb94fca970e5a98f7e7433bb90c1f3661afbf6fbabbd872a2840d39

LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE- Speaking of Schumer and McConnell, the party leaders' war over the Supreme Court is off and running but the tables are turned this year, Seung Min reports. "This time, it's Republicans who are vowing to press forward with the eventual nomination - and Democrats are already threatening to block the person chosen to replace deceased Justice Antonin Scalia." Schumer said Democrats are prepared to oppose any nominee not in the "mainstream" but wouldn't define exactly what that means. "Well, you know it when you see it," he told reporters Wednesday. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=72893505edb94fca67fd18978faed6108fcb336c28624a5332dbef0b5e6da92c

TWEETSTORM DU JOUR- @realdonaldtrump: "The Democrats, lead by head clown Chuck Schumer, know how bad ObamaCare is and what a mess they are in. Instead of working to fix it, they.. do the typical political thing and BLAME. The fact is ObamaCare was a lie from the beginning. 'Keep you doctor, keep your plan!' It is...time for Republicans & Democrats to get together and come up with a healthcare plan that really works - much less expensive & FAR BETTER!"

THE WEEK'S ALMOST OVER Y'ALL. Welcome to Thursday, January 5. Thanks for reading POLITICO's Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill.

WEDNESDAY'S MOST CLICKED: Tom Williams' pics of Joe Biden on the Hill was the winner with Jen Haberkorn and Rachana Pradhan's story on Democratic efforts to save Obamacare a close second.

TODAY IN CONGRESS- The House meets at 10 a.m. for a reading of the U.S. Constitution by lawmakers. First votes start around 1:15 p.m. with last votes around 5:45 p.m. Today's agenda: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=72893505edb94fcaea44582f5bcb2ed2fb6a14c8c1c33b66cc6df9c15901382b The Senate convenes at 10 a.m. to continue debating the budget resolution (the GOP's vehicle to eventually repeal Obamacare).

AROUND THE HILL- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will meet with several cabinet nominees today including Rep. Mick Mulvaney, Trump's pick to lead the OMB, at 10:30 a.m. and retired Gen. John Kelly, Homeland Security secretary nominee, at 12 p.m. McConnell will meet with Rep. Ryan Zinke, Trump's nomination for Interior secretary, at 4:30 p.m. and Labor secretary nominee Andrew Puzder at 5 p.m.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sens. Patty Murray and Ron Wyden hold a press conference in the Senate studio (S-325) on Tom Price's nomination to lead the HHS Department at 9:30 a.m. Sen. Roy Blunt unveils tickets for inaugural ceremonies at the Capitol during a 10:30 a.m. press conference in the Senate studio.

House Speaker Paul Ryan holds his weekly press conference at 11:30 a.m. in HVC Studio A. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Pro-Choice Caucus co-chairs Diana DeGette and Louise Slaughter hold a press conference on women's health at 1:15 p.m. in HVC-215.

FIRST IN HUDDLE: WELCOME TO THE TEAM- Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn will announce his whip team for the 115th Congress later this morning, bringing on new Indiana Sen. Todd Young. Returning team members include chief deputy whip Mike Crapo and Sens. Roy Blunt, Deb Fischer, Cory Gardner, James Lankford, Shelley Moore-Capito, Rob Portman, Tim Scott and Thom Tillis.

STACKING THE DECKS- Buckle up Hill reporters. Not only is Trump's first press conference since the election scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 11, but so are a slew of confirmation hearings. On deck for that day: Confirmation hearings for secretary of state nominee Rex Tillerson; Rep. Mike Pompeo, Trump's nominee to lead the CIA; education secretary nominee Betsy DeVos; transportation secretary nominee Elaine Chao; retired Gen. John Kelly, Trump's pick to lead the Homeland Security Department; and day two of hearings for Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions.

-Quote du jour from the Houston Chronicle's James Osborne: "Asked Wednesday whether he could support Tillerson's nomination, McCain told reporters, 'Sure. There's also a realistic scenario that pigs fly.' An aide to McCain said later the McCain was joking and had not yet made a decision on how he would vote." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=72893505edb94fcac739bc0a1296f7fd57c87d56a6ec4f019e34b8984bfbe380

-Headline du jour: "Tillerson talks tough on Russia in private Capitol Hill meetings," from the Washington Post's Josh Rogin. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=72893505edb94fca761e4a41f62435ac053e5b918603713c7ea141d7c714c821

A WARY SESSION- Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin left a Wednesday meeting with Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions wary of the Alabama senator's history on race but didn't yet say whether he'd oppose Sessions' nomination, Seung Min reports. Durbin told reporters "there are 'elements' of Jeff Sessions' background that 'raise questions' about alleged racial insensitivities - signaling that the Alabama senator's past comments on race will be a major focal point of his confirmation hearing next week." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=72893505edb94fcac245bbf45ded88a8431db8b5106dfcd7ac0cbeb9e13a4c9a

Durbin also gave Sessions a book during their meeting: "White rage: The unspoken truth of our racial divide" by Carol Anderson.

OBAMACARE OVERDRIVE- The messaging war over Obamacare kicked into high gear Wednesday with competing pep rallies of sorts from Vice President-elect Mike Pence and President Obama. The outgoing president urged Democrats to hammer Republicans about their lack of a repeal plan and make the GOP own the fallout once they roll back the health care law. Obama, who has had a love-hate relationship with the Hill, seemed to relish his last caucus with Democrats and didn't want to leave, even when his staff nudged him twice to wrap up. "It was bittersweet because he's leaving and we know what replaces him. You want to hold him, like 'don't go yet,'" Rep. Gerry Connolly told Huddle. My story:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=72893505edb94fcaf3414346a49ce9c6889b0ced07bf78a83c0dc1d4fcce0a39

For Republicans, the divisions within the party about when exactly to repeal Obamacare and what to put in its place spilled over during a Senate GOP lunch with Pence, Jen Haberkorn and Burgess report. "Multiple senators stood up to express concern that the party's plans to repeal and replace the law could blow massive holes in the budget, according to a source familiar with the exchange." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=72893505edb94fcaad45585ef230f6f5293a9ab284e422a0b8a7cbea06af400d

SCHUMER BEEFS UP COMMS TEAMS- There's a famous saying on Capitol Hill: The most dangerous place in D.C. is between Chuck Schumer and a camera. And now the press-friendly Democrat is rolling out an expanded communications team to handle the deluge of communications that goes along with being Senate minority leader. Roll Call's Niels Lesniewski with more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=72893505edb94fca3a62ef81e55d2d10e5a23e57ee8a839e52d656cf2d232398

WEDDING BELLS- Andrew Bell, a North Carolina native and chief of staff for Rep. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) is engaged to fellow North Carolinian Stacey Anderson, a fourth-grade teacher in Holly Springs, N.C. They met a year and a half ago and their second date was to a Kenny Chesney concert (Andrew is a big fan). They got engaged four days before Christmas when he surprised her on the front porch of her house. She will be moving to DC after they get married this summer. Pic: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=72893505edb94fca35b7185a0751ab2b7c4f9feee25747e359cf70d2d5fe26c5

ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES- Rachel McCleery, previously at the Treasury Department, has joined the Senate Finance Committee as a chief communications adviser for Democrats. Fred Ferguson has left his job as chief of staff for Rep. Jason Chaffetz for a new role at Vista Outdoor as VP of government relations. Francesca Amodeo has left Rep. John Carney's office for a new job as communications director for Rep. Tony Cárdenas.

WEDNESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was the first to guess that Chuck Schumer, Jim Bunning and Mike Crapo were the three lawmakers to vote on President Clinton's impeachment as members of both the House and Senate. (Yesterday's question incorrectly said there were four individuals when in fact only three lawmakers made the jump from the House to the Senate in that timeframe).

Bonus points: Logan Ferree was the first to point out that Paul Sarbanes and Trent Lott voted on President Nixon's impeachment as House members on the Judiciary Committee (although Nixon resigned before the full House took a vote), and later voted, as senators, on President Bill Clinton's impeachment.

TODAY'S TRIVIA- Adam Hainsfurther brings us today's question: With NFL playoffs kicking off later this week, how many universities have produced both a Super Bowl MVP and a U.S. president? 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

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