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01/05/2016 08:10 AM EDT


By Rachael Bade (rbade@politico.com or @RachaelMBade)

THE POWER OF THE PURSE - "Obama's gun reforms rely on funding from Congress," Laura Koran for CNN, on where Republicans could take their stand on the president's new gun regulations: "The gun reform executive actions President Barack Obama will outline to the public in an address on Tuesday will not require congressional approval and will largely clarify existing statutes, but he is relying on funding from lawmakers to enact his plans. In particular, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms will be releasing updated guidance to gun sellers that will discourage them from exploiting loopholes that currently allow some private sellers to bypass required background checks...

"Many of the administration's proposals rely heavily on their ability to secure additional funding from Congress next fiscal year's spending bill, which they hope to put toward investments in mental health care, and for hiring more ATF agents to enforce the law. This will require the administration to seek congressional input even as they bypass the traditional legislative process to address this controversial issue." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=86e097f6b2f597474f4f124d9c3bd1fd6b2d677540aecf4db0972517b512d19d

GOP WARNING SHOTS - "Republican eyes DOJ budget to block Obama gun orders," per Tim Devaney at The Hill: "A powerful House Republican is threatening to block President Obama's executive order on guns by defunding the Department of Justice (DOJ). In a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas), chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the Justice Department, warned against enforcing the new gun restrictions... 'I have formally notified Attorney General Lynch that I will aggressively protect our Second Amendment rights using Congress' power of the purse,' he added. 'I notified the attorney general that if the Department of Justice attempted to
create new restrictions on our Constitutional rights that I would use every tool at my disposal to immediately restrict their access to federal funding.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=86e097f6b2f5974790c7d2ebce622fcdd09f3247637bb80c4368dde551c04ad9

--ICYMI: "Obama to Announce Expansion of Background Checks for Gun Purchases," Colleen Mccain Nelson and Gary Fields for WSJ: "President Barack Obama is expected to announce executive moves on Tuesday to expand background checks for gun buyers and tighten rules for people who purchase some of the most dangerous weapons, bypassing Congress on a hot-button issue." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=86e097f6b2f5974709dd0d5a814d4317f833a785bce0a8f53f0bfa017637fefb

--Under the radar policy change: "Doctors can report some mentally ill patients to FBI under new gun control rule," David Pittman for Pro eHealth: "[T]he Obama administration on Monday finalized a rule that enables health care providers to report the names of mentally ill patients to an FBI firearms background check system." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=86e097f6b2f59747009450e5b88d78fe02350e301b502caf4533d42d3da6d2f8

GIMME THE JAVA. IT'S JAN. 5, 2016. Thanks for reading Huddle, where we're already three coffee cups in and counting. Send Congress news, rants, comments and coffee invitations here: rbade@politico.com, or Tweet: @RachaelMBade.

TODAY IN CONGRESS: The House returns at 6:30 p.m. (Welcome back); Senate out until next week.

AROUND THE HILL: House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer has a pen-and-pad at 12:30 p.m., but that's about it.

OFF THE HILL: Speaker Paul Ryan's leadership team starts Day Two of a private leadership retreat in Annapolis, Md., where the Elected Leadership Committee is ironing out plans for the year before next week's GOP retreat next week and the SOTU, per Jake.

POLITICO DEEP DIVE - "Obama's vanishing administration. Why are so many crucial jobs empty?" Two words: Senate confirmations (or, rather, not). "As Obama now takes his final lap in the White House, a POLITICO analysis of Cabinet-level agencies found that dozens of crucial jobs in his administration are either totally empty or run by an acting deputy.... More than a quarter of the administration's most senior jobs, more than 100 overall, are missing permanent occupants... [T]he Obama vacancies are seen by experts as outside the norm, thanks in large part to a gridlocked congressional confirmation process that was blocking jobs from being filled even before the lame-duck phase began."

"New data compiled by the Congressional Research Service and obtained by POLITICO found that the Senate in 2015 confirmed the lowest number of civilian nominations - including judges and diplomatic ambassadors - for the first session of a Congress in nearly 30 years. The sheer number of vacancies is having a real-world effect on Obama, whose government is on high alert for terrorist attacks and still plans to wage domestic policy fights right up until the lights go out in January 2017. On the international stage, observers say Obama's officials without confirmation don't carry the same level of gravitas when meeting with their diplomatic counterparts. In domestic policy disputes,
Senate-confirmed staff carries more weight than the equivalent department leaders with "acting" or deputy titles." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=86e097f6b2f59747e146ce1802ad80fc7d1060fc3672a62db102c60e52b3953c

SIREN: OBAMA STARTS FAMILY DEPORTATION RAIDS. Bet that's one headline you never thought you'd read. And yet.... "The Obama administration confirmed Monday that it began a new wave of arrests of Central American immigrant families over the weekend, moving forward with deportations of mothers and children despite an outcry from immigrant rights groups and potential political fallout for Democrats. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said in a statement that 121 people were taken into custody in Georgia, Texas and North Carolina in recent days and will soon face deportation." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=86e097f6b2f59747c33a87e806d8654a127145c952ffeeb5fa4004b95b44f35f

"BIPARTISAN CRIMINAL JUSTICE OVERHAUL IS HAUNTED BY WILLIE HORTON." N.Y. Times' Carl Hulse on why perhaps the only bipartisan 2016 policy item still faces challenges on the Hill: "Lawmakers are reluctant to campaign on a platform of letting felons out of prison, particularly with control of Congress at stake in November. Top lawmakers acknowledge the idea of pushing legislation that would lead to the early release of thousands of nonviolent offenders strikes fear in politicians who vividly remember the ad featuring Mr. Horton that helped sink Michael Dukakis in the 1988 presidential campaign. The ad, paid for by supporters of the elder George Bush, shredded the Massachusetts governor for
the prison furlough program that granted Mr. Horton a weekend pass on which he escaped and committed a brutal home invasion and rape that sent him back to prison... [I]it still resonates in Washington." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=86e097f6b2f5974704c6f44b96d08f4f632f0d61170fd1e70a70b8a5f6ab8838

CHAFFETZ EYES ANOTHER PROMOTION: GOVERNOR. Scott Wong for The Hill: "House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), who launched a long-shot bid for Speaker last fall, told The Hill Monday he could make another run for leadership down the road. 'My focus is on the House. I'm invested in the House, and that's where my attention is,' Chaffetz said in a brief phone interview. 'Would I maybe run for leadership positions in the future? Maybe.' A run for the Utah governor's mansion in 2020 may be a more likely scenario. Chaffetz told the Deseret News over the weekend that he's not really interested in fellow Utah Republican Orrin Hatch's Senate seat but is eyeing a possible bid for
governor." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=86e097f6b2f5974713d2f5736c135c1eadc2f9ff2c59a16dcf3f8ef9989821e8

CONGRESSMAN NERD ALERT: "That time a congressman quoted 'Lord of The Rings' in his retirement announcement," per Amber Phillips with The Fix: "If you want your retirement announcement to make headlines, just do like Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.): Quote something slightly nerdy and totally unrelated to politics to make a point about politics... 'Lord of the Rings' star wizard, Gandalf: 'It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succor of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till,' he said. 'What weather they shall have [is not ours to rule].'"
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=86e097f6b2f59747d5fb6eb8116faf70afc998df9189a27356bd828adbfdb7a4

BEYOND THE BELTWAY: Amanda Duvall, Benghazi Chairman Trey Gowdy's personal office spokeswoman of the past three years, is leaving Hill politics - and Washington altogether - for Nashville. Her email: "It's been an honor - and so much fun - to work in the House of Representatives for six-plus years... Today is my last day with the Gowdy office because I am moving with my husband to Nashville, TN, to pursue a new adventure." Amanda Gonzalez will be his intern spox.

... AND BACK TO MCCAIN LAND. The Arizona Republic's Dan Nowicki tweeted last night that Rachael Dean "has returned to McCainWorld to succeed @brianrogers99 as @SenJohnMcCain's communications director." Dean in August 2014 left McCain's press team for Javelin, a public relations firm with started by Donald Rumsfeld alumns. And Rogers left McCain's office in December for America Rising, the c4 aimed squarely at Hillary Clinton opposition research. (H/t Burgess)

MONDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER. Chris Armstrong, a congressional investigator himself for Senate Finance, was the first to answer that Congress first established that part of its duties included investigating the executive branch in 1791, when it launched a probe of Maj. Gen. Arthur St. Clair's casualty losses against the Miami Indians in Ohio. St. Clair had taken more than 1,000 troops to square off with Native Americans who vastly outnumbered him, losing all but a couple dozen men. Congress wanted to know who ordered it and why, and President George Washington told his Cabinet members to turn over the first batch of records to Congress.

TODAY'S TRIVIA: A fun one from our winner Chris! The Teapot Dome scandal marks the last time Congress detained someone pursuant to an investigation, after the Senate issued an arrest warrant for David Stewart of Standard Oil. Instead of "Congress jail," where was Mr. Stewart held? Email rbade@politico.com.

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