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02/19/2019 08:00 AM EDT

By MELANIE ZANONA (mzanona@politico.com; @MZanona)


EMERGENCY DECLARATION UNDER FIRE -- The challenges to President Donald Trump's emergency wall declaration are already piling up in both Congress and the courts. Here's a look at the multi-pronged approach that opponents of Trump's controversial move are pursuing.

IN CONGRESS:

House Democrats are preparing to vote on a "disapproval resolution" to terminate the emergency declaration when they return from their weeklong recess. The measure is expected to easily pass the lower chamber, which would then force a vote in the Senate. Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairman Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) is introducing a disapproval measure that has already picked up 60 co-sponsors. But a Democratic aide cautioned that leadership is still deciding exactly when - and which version - to vote on. More from Sarah: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=307d529edf4a3368a38dbce5e3ca3cd9a7165166a913abce8d742c1344d47acd4b700774461e8dfb92af469ef999281e House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler is calling for hearings on the administration's decision to declare a
national emergency. The New York Democrat, who is newly armed with subpoena power, has asked White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and other Justice Department officials involved in the decision-making process to testify in front of his panel. Nadler is also demanding documents and other information from the administration. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is circulating a list of all the military projects that could be at risk of losing funding under Trump's move, according to The Hill. The White House is looking to shift $3.6 billion from the military construction budget to pay for the wall - and Democrats are planning to make it as politically painful as possible for Republicans. More from
Mike Lillis and Scott Wong: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=307d529edf4a3368d572064921f4165286df94695a4b3908df1a5df33ddd4f816978f8a48d6168d3fb05df784f199f71
IN COURT:

A group of 16 states filed a lawsuit on Monday to stop the president's emergency declaration. The suit, led by California, was filed in Federal District Court in San Francisco. The complaint argues that the border states would incur "irreparable environmental damage," while all the plaintiffs would suffer from losing millions of dollars that were supposed to be earmarked for drug enforcement and military construction projects. More from Jeremy B. White and Gabby Orr: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=307d529edf4a3368acaaf02223f20cd71f91a31dcd17e8965be4ca3ee58111946823084047267f10ab134fddfa8d01b1 The liberal advocacy group Public Citizen filed the first lawsuit on behalf of private landowners, arguing that Trump violated the separation of powers. And the American
Civil Liberties Union is planning a lawsuit aimed at challenging the administration's plan to tap Pentagon funds with the declaration. A trio of environmental groups are also suing the administration for sidestepping Congress to pay for the wall, which they say will damage communities and wildlife along the border. The groups include the Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife and Animal Legal Defense Fund.
THE SENATOR AND THE SECRETARY -- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao are one of the most well-known power couples in Washington - and now a trove of emails obtained by POLITICO is shedding new light on their fascinating working relationship. While the documents don't reveal any illegal activity, the emails do show coordination between the secretary and the Senator's offices. The DOT, however, maintains that any agency would respond to requests from the Senate leader.

Chao met at least 10 times with politicians and business leaders from her husband's home state of Kentucky in response to requests from McConnell's office. That includes meeting with a maritime industry lobbyist who has donated to McConnell. And in some cases, those people later received what they wanted from the DOT, although the documents don't indicate that the meetings directly led to those outcomes. Tanya Snyder with the scoop: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=307d529edf4a3368fb64c54a26f16ec5c1db7dff9d66d101dc7e2101446109fbd8ce5b5feed09abe7dcae8af31b8057a

GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Tuesday, Feb. 19, where your host is still geeking out over seeing "The Handmaid's Tale" film in D.C. over the weekend (though some people confused it with actual protests, because #thistown.)

FRIDAY'S MOST CLICKED: The report from Axios on former Reps. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) and Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.) joining forces on K Street was the big winner.

Join us for POLITICO's Ninth Annual State Solutions Conference. On the sidelines of the National Governors Association Winter Meeting, the program features a series of exclusive conversations with governors from across the country to share their innovative solutions to the states' complex challenges. RSVP here.

LATEST ON NORTH CAROLINA -- North Carolina's board of elections heard testimony Monday on allegations of ballot and election fraud in the 9th district's congressional race, which has been in limbo since November. Republican Mark Harris won the seat in the midterms, but the board declined to certify the results amid accusations that one of his campaign consultants conducted an illegal ballot-harvesting scheme. As Laura reports, there are likely three ways the inquiry could end: "declaring Harris the winner, ordering a new election, or potential stalemate - and continued confusion." The dispatch: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=307d529edf4a3368d585c57fc5340394d9c704e82da8056053a706b2b2725fe2f3222154f33f8691de47cf2dbf43ee71

MORE MCCABE FALLOUT -- Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a top Trump ally, is vowing to investigate explosive claims made by former acting FBI director Andrew McCabe in a recent interview with "60 minutes." McCabe said that top Justice Department officials discussed invoking the 25th amendment to remove Trump from office and that deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein suggested wearing a wire after the president fired former FBI Director James Comey. "I promise your viewers the following: that we will have a hearing about who's telling the truth, what actually happened," Graham told CBS's "Face the Nation," adding that he is willing to subpoena both McCabe and Rosenstein.

Related: "Rosenstein plans to leave Justice Department next month," by Matt Zapotosky of The Washington Post: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=307d529edf4a336874d3c8f806fb8af115cc6beff1258c542a0935cc12a685858c9706913b5d2d21839ee00c72f98e61

BERNIE IS RUNNING, AGAIN -- Bernie Sanders is officially launching another bid for president, he announced in an interview with "CBS This Morning." The move is hardly surprising, given that the independent Vermont senator already recorded a campaign video, as Holly Otterbein reported over the weekend. But this time around, Sanders will be competing with a crowded and diverse field of candidates, though he will likely benefit from name recognition. Already, Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden are leading the pack of 2020 hopefuls among likely Iowa caucus goers, according to a new poll from the Des Moines Register.

WARREN TO UNVEIL CHILD CARE PLAN -- Sen. Elizabeth Warren is expected to unveil a universal child care plan today, according to The Huffington Post. The Massachusetts Democrat will likely make the sweeping initiative a key pillar of her presidential platform. The idea to help working parents by offering access to high-quality child care has gained traction on Capitol Hill over the years, while other 2020 Democratic hopefuls have also shown a similar interest in the issue. But the plan could face push back over its massive scale and cost. More from Jonathan Cohn: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=307d529edf4a336844ad8715c4d4557dadb3785a265c6c9148562d3b389b7c7ec3794741f2f1f6616ab2946810c44c1c

Related: "'Carer-feeder': Gillibrand plays up motherhood in 2020 race," by the AP's Juana Summers: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=307d529edf4a3368394d3ae90d339d81ab642992d3ef029d33df9bb6f7bc26de5a3281d42a887b8ec52599dff1990f66

OVERSIGHT UPDATE -- House Democrats are plotting ways to get to the bottom of Trump's private meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Andrew scooped over the weekend. Key committee chairmen have already started consulting with the House's general counsel about how they can force the Trump administration to fork over documents and other information related to the one-on-one discussions. Democrats are especially interested in last year's meeting in Helsinki, which Trump reportedly went to great lengths to conceal. And Democrats have previously called on Trump's interpreter to testify. But their efforts are almost certain to face legal hurdles, with Trump likely to claim executive
privilege. Much more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=307d529edf4a33689b40bf2a577d61c40663265338246058cfc64189ee05b2214fb2955cfa507b332789733ebbf70828

WEEKEND WEDDING -- Congrats to Jamie Geller and Daniel Schwarz, a pair of Capitol Hill staffers who got hitched in Chicago over the weekend. Geller is a senior adviser and communications director for Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), while Schwarz is director of strategic communications for House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.).
TRANSITIONS
Kathryn McQuade will serve as communications director for Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.). She comes from the office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

Mike Burns is leaving the personal office of Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) to serve as her deputy communications director for the House Appropriations Committee. Katelynn Thorpe will take over handling communications for the office.
TODAY IN CONGRESS
The House and Senate are OUT until the week of Feb. 25.
AROUND THE HILL
Not much, but members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and a few other Democrats will visit Homestead detention facility in Florida and then hold a press conference and roundtable discussion starting at 11:45 a.m. The event will be livestreamed here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=307d529edf4a3368d905df5594756466e742ddd4726860127525e10b8a2be5231e1f7d046ce2c34a40b6e42bd359dd09
TRIVIA
FRIDAY'S WINNER -- Casey Burgat correctly guessed that Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first U.S. president to address Congress about the importance of phosphorus for agricultural production.

TODAY'S QUESTION -- From Casey: Which U.S. presidents were sitting members of Congress when they were elected to the White House? First person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your best guess my way: mzanona@politico.com.

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