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01/07/2019 07:59 AM EDT

By NOLAN D. MCCASKILL (nmccaskill@politico.com; @NolanDMcCaskill)


WHITE HOUSE REQUESTS $5.7B FOR STEEL BARRIER -- The White House is officially asking Congress for $5.7 billion to build a "steel barrier" along the border with Mexico. "A physical barrier -- wall -- creates an enduring capability that helps field personnel stop, slow down, and/or contain illegal entries," Russ Vought, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote in letters to House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) and ranking member Kay Granger (R-Texas) on Sunday. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has threatened to declare a national emergency to build his wall.

"Top congressional aides met Sunday afternoon with the Trump administration for another round of talks, as the shutdown entered its 16th day," Marianne and Quint Forgey write. Trump said the meeting was "productive" and signaled a shift from a "concrete" wall to a "Steel Barrier." "But a Democratic official familiar with the meeting said that the White House neglected to provide 'a full budget justification' at the meeting for its $5.7 billion wall request and that no progress was made," they add. "In addition to $5.7 billion for a steel barrier, the Trump administration's letter on Sunday asked for more money than the Senate bill for fiscal year 2019 allocates for other border security
measures." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=81d0331c216f84c7ba7646855aa9951d5298d8fea4e7ce35fcfb2e968c59eb1089c6ee81c49ea1793c7de94fac5450a5

Related: "As shutdown drags on, Trump officials make new offer, seek novel ways to cope with its impacts," by The Washington Post's Robert Costa, Juliet Eilperin, Damian Paletta and Nick Miroff: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=81d0331c216f84c72e9d63ce7b0109ae877f23e6abc73791f728b385bce214665ed9128592e76c8bc2c13dd31462daec

ABOLISH CONGRESS? -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Trump gives off the vibe that he would like to eliminate the legislative branch. "The impression you get from the president [is] that he would like to not only close government, build a wall, but also abolish Congress so the only voice that mattered was his own," she said on "CBS Sunday Morning." Pelosi acknowledged that she has "awesome power" as speaker -- but not enough to end the stalemate over border wall funding. House Democrats passed bills last week to fund shuttered agencies through Sept. 30 and extend DHS funding through Feb. 8.

The legislation fails to include more money for Trump's border wall and will go nowhere in the Senate. But House Democrats will attempt to pass individual appropriations bills this week to reopen government. And Pelosi suggested Democrats will take their fight to the people after Trump told congressional leaders last week that the shutdown could go on for months or years. "If the president of the United States is against governance and doesn't care whether people's needs are met or that public employees are paid or that we can have a legitimate discussion, then we have a problem, and we have to take it to the American people," she said. More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=81d0331c216f84c756e2b2520140f9ca8eaf1a8fa65093d0d97e60dc9642edd64d0dbee05d13e06f82993850f3e1a1df

DEMS PREPARE TO LAUNCH TRUMP PROBES -- The president's taxes. The president's hotel. The president's Cabinet. House Democrats will have no shortage of issues to investigate with their new oversight authority over at least the next two years. "The threat of subpoenas, investigations and oversight hearings will dominate the new House Democratic majority agenda, targeting the White House's most controversial policies and personnel, spanning immigration, the environment, trade and of course, the biggest question of them all: Russian collusion," Adam Cancryn writes. "But for House Democrats in control for the first time in nearly a decade, it's also a role full of pitfalls."

Trump is already branding Democratic oversight as "presidential harassment." "[A]nd Democrats will also have to show they can legislate, govern and investigate all at the same time in the House," Cancryn adds. "I joked for a while -- but it's not funny anymore -- I said we're going to have to build an air traffic control tower to keep track of all the subpoenas flying from here to the White House," said Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.), who chairs the Budget Committee. "So yeah, it could be brutal." More on some of the biggest targets for House Democrats so far: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=81d0331c216f84c7906627b4fc55e20d2be652c01142e2f81ec71d40095f1a5c10528ca763722fc7e2e19d41aa6870a1

Related reads: "Schiff to target potential perjury during Congress' Russia probe," from Victoria Guida: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=81d0331c216f84c70bc2548bde9f8be9d15d1f807e9a6de5e18898b0bfcbce8e63288739b5f7afe5676df2b51df59574 and "Democratic delegation to investigate migrant child's death," via Ian Kullgren: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=81d0331c216f84c7fb9f3c21f528fc22f42f47867b79b3986ffabcc6ca8e828534799d569ee390f49f77b9da849f6e7c

GOOD MORNING! Thanks for reading Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Monday, Jan. 7.

FRIDAY'S MOST CLICKED: The clip of Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) saying Democrats are "gonna go in and impeach the motherf---er" was the winner.

SENATE DEMS SLOW TO BACK COLLEAGUES -- Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is the first of roughly a half-dozen Democrats in the chamber who could mount presidential campaigns to oust Trump in 2020. But Senate Democrats aren't rushing to endorse Warren or anyone else in the Senate. "Even Sen. Ed Markey isn't ready to endorse his fellow Massachusetts Democrat, at least not yet," Burgess reports. "Warren's hard-edged brand of progressive politics has annoyed some of her colleagues at times, but the lack of support from her caucus isn't personal." Senators say there's simply no reason to get out ahead of anyone in what's expected to be a wide field of Democratic candidates.

"So even as Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Kamala Harris of California, Warren and others eye the 2020 gantlet, they might move forward with little to no support from the national politicians who know them best," he writes. "It's a sharp contrast from the 2016 race. Hillary Clinton began receiving endorsements from Democratic senators years before she formally entered the presidential campaign... By the time the primary had started, Clinton had huge support among Senate Democrats. And even as [Sen. Bernie] Sanders caught fire with Democratic primary voters, only Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) endorsed him in the Senate." More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=81d0331c216f84c748182a452f5ffdb3c0e08bde2030df77585256480fed26509aeb39c58d66f558f9dfbacfa5f1744f

BUSTOS VOWS TO STAY ON OFFENSE -- DCCC Chairwoman Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) isn't planning to just defend House Democrats' new majority. She wants to expand it. "There will not be one battleground district, not one, that we will leave unprotected or uncontested," Bustos said. "Any chance we have to pick up a seat, we will go in full force. For all of what we call our Frontline members, the brand-new members who are in these tougher districts, we will go in full force." Bustos intends to unveil the first round of members in the DCCC's Frontline program as soon as this month. And she's vowed to create a structure unlike any House Democrats have ever seen.

Bustos, however, could clash with lawmakers like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) who want progressive candidates to challenge incumbents in blue districts. For now, though, Bustos hopes to learn from AOC. The DCCC's "focus is on defeating Republicans, not defeating fellow Democrats," she said. But when it comes to Ocasio-Cortez: "Look, she's got 1.6 million Twitter followers. She's the youngest woman ever to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. I think there's a lot I can learn from her, that we can learn from her." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=81d0331c216f84c741654bc2c84b8a10143d039aa6fa36ce8f35d3ad0d3582b538588c839b41ff4bc630bf76ab1cfa97

DEMS TO INTRODUCE GUN BILL -- House Democrats will introduce a proposal requiring universal background checks for gun sales on Tuesday, the eighth anniversary of former Rep. Gabby Giffords' (D-Ariz.) shooting. Giffords will join House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) in introducing the bill, dubbed "H.R. 8" in Giffords' honor. "Giffords nearly died in the Jan. 8, 2011, shooting in Tucson, Arizona, which left six people dead and 15 wounded," Bres notes. "The Democratic proposal would require federal background checks on all gun sales, including private transactions. There will be some small exemptions to those checks, such as transfers between family members,
or temporary use of a gun for hunting." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=81d0331c216f84c77f7c7652d6c47d21ab0e8b951a76ba199ef95f09f0fbd44cde2b9f0c397a5325413690f953294be8

AOC CALLS TRUMP RACIST -- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) told Anderson Cooper on CBS' "60 Minutes" that there's "no question" the president is racist. "When you look at the words that he uses, which are historic dog whistles of white supremacy, when you look at how he reacted to the Charlottesville incident, where neo-Nazis murdered a woman, versus how he manufactures crises like immigrants seeking legal refuge on our borders, it's night and day," she said. "The president certainly didn't invent racism. But he's certainly given a voice to it and expanded it and created a platform for those things."

The White House pointed to criminal justice reform legislation Trump recently signed into law to dispute Ocasio-Cortez's assertion. "Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez's sheer ignorance on the matter can't cover the fact that President Trump supported and passed historic criminal justice reform," the deputy press secretary said, and "has repeatedly condemned racism and bigotry in all forms." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=81d0331c216f84c7328defc3d45c80ab6ca2d334f70b400d45f8fa6a01c7beb329989a46662ddd6df3598f8c4ff19a9a

REELECTION/RETIREMENT WATCH -- Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she's "getting ready to run" for reelection but also cautioned that it's too soon to commit to seeking another six-year term. "I'll make a final decision toward the end of this year," she said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "Collins' vote in favor of confirming Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court set off a small-dollar-range donating spree for the Democrat who ends up running against her," Victoria Guida writes. "A half-dozen were already considering runs, as of October." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=81d0331c216f84c706f9a8fd94af8cb894a3b7b8be0289cd33b3cd6e02c46ab8156c2cd2acc7f207c31f50295e4f4b28

Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) will not seek reelection next year. "His retirement has already sparked interest in his seat from a number of other Kansas Republicans, heralding a potentially crowded 2020 primary -- though Democrats hope they can make the race competitive after winning the governorship in 2018," James Arkin reports. Roberts represented Kansas for 16 years in the House and 22 years in the Senate. The Agriculture Committee chairman also said retirement won't embolden him to criticize the president. "I don't think you get anywhere criticizing the president," he said. "I'm not the conscience of the president."

Rep. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) has been mulling a bid for weeks. His chief of staff, Brent Robertson, said Marshall is "seriously considering" a Senate run but is unlikely to make a decision while several government agencies remain unfunded amid a partisan dispute over border wall funding. Some Republicans see Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as a top potential recruit, but the former House member hasn't publicly expressed interest in another run for office. Other potential GOP candidates include former Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.), former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, former lieutenant governor candidate Wink Hartman, state Attorney General Derek Schmidt and outgoing Gov. Jeff Colyer.
More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=81d0331c216f84c7279cdd4a9bb7fd125ed3567429751a1393f2ba5e07425641e97d8f146a01c2577aaf715a9179cd31

Related: "Matt Schlapp considering Senate bid," by the Washington Examiner's David Drucker: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=81d0331c216f84c7346f22b90f8a2d06c936a60837a727988c8f84f9bd6b729ee78722318b8427a587385c515963915d
TRANSITIONS
Morgan Butler is now digital director and Ryan Daniels is now deputy communications director for House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.). Butler was previously deputy digital director for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). Daniels was most recently a director at the Raben Group.

The House GOP Conference led by Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) has announced its senior staffers: Kara Ahern will be chief of staff; Caroline Boothe, who worked for former Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas), will be member services director; Jeremy Adler, who worked on Team Ryan, will be communications director; Ali Pardo, who worked for Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.), will be national press secretary; Chris Martin, who was at the NRCC, will be rapid response director; and Natalie Johnson, previously of the Washington Free Beacon, will be deputy press secretary.

T.W. Arrighi is now communications director for Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.). He was previously communications director for former Rep. Mimi Walters (R-Calif.).

Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) has named Amy Lewis as Sacramento-based communications director and Hannah Blatt as D.C.-based deputy communications director.

Andres Bascumbe is leaving TechCongress, where he is the program manager, to serve as a counsel to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and manage tech issues for the House Financial Services Committee.

Marneé Banks has joined the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership as chief communications officer. She was previously communications director for Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.).

Kevin Boland has joined the National Propane Gas Association as its director of communications and media relations. He previously served as communications director in Rep. Kay Granger's (R-Texas) office.
TODAY IN CONGRESS
The House and Senate are out.
TRIVIA
FRIDAY'S WINNER -- No one correctly guessed that the current representatives of the district Sam Rayburn (D-Texas) represented in the House, as well as the current representatives of the areas represented by speakers who served immediately before and after Rayburn are Reps. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas), Terri Sewell (D-Ala.), Joe Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.).

TODAY'S QUESTION -- Who was the first nominee to lose a direct Senate election and then receive an appointment to the Senate? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your best guess my way: nmccaskill@politico.com.

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