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11/29/2016 07:59 AM EDT


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

THE ROAD AHEAD: ATTORNEY GENERAL SESSIONS- For nearly 20 years, Sen. Jeff Sessions has used his perch to lead an anti-immigration crusade that put him on the fringe in GOP politics. But now, if he's confirmed as President-elect Donald Trump's attorney general, Sessions will be the one leading the immigration crackdown, Seung Min reports this morning. Sessions "would instantly become one of the most powerful people overseeing the nation's immigration policy, with wide latitude over the kinds of immigration violations to prosecute and who would be deported."

"As the nation's top cop, Sessions would be able to direct limited department resources to pursuing immigration cases. He could launch federal investigations into what he perceives as discrimination against U.S. citizens caused by immigration. He would be in charge of drafting legal rationales for immigration policies under the Trump administration." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=25b4749704b984f761d5bd1df8e8bfe09e29da0e30f2de4c675ae30858088797

Them's fightin' words: Sessions likely has enough votes to clinch the AG post but that doesn't mean Senate Democrats are going to go easy on their colleague. "In a new letter obtained by POLITICO, the eight Democrats who will sit on the Judiciary Committee next year give a glimpse of the strategy they'll pursue when the powerful panel takes up Sessions' nomination next year," Seung Min reports. "They are pushing for extensive confirmation hearings, giving senators ample time to thoroughly question Sessions, his views and how he'll run the Justice Department." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=25b4749704b984f78da8e2534a264805e234d6318c3d31522e73a7c95af8afeb

Later this morning, Sessions will meet with Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley.

PELOSI ANNOUNCES MORE LEADERSHIP CHANGES- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is expanding the Democratic leadership team, adding a member from the incoming class of lawmakers after complaints about the lack of turnover at the top. "I will be including a representative from the Freshmen Class to serve as part of the House Democratic leadership and attend our regular leadership meetings," Pelosi wrote in a letter to lawmakers Monday evening.

The move comes amid ongoing grumbling from members that changes she proposed before Thanksgiving didn't do enough to give rank-and-file lawmakers more say in caucus decisions. In the letter, Pelosi also defers talk about changes to the assistant leader position but noticeably doesn't address calls from members to make the DCCC and steering committee chairmanships elected positions. Both issues were outlined in a CBC memo from Rep. Cedric Richmond last week.

Pelosi is still expected to beat challenger Tim Ryan (who has eight endorsements by Huddle's count) but it's unclear if she'll have to make any more changes to secure the overwhelming support of her caucus. (Remember, in a letter announcing her run Pelosi said she already had the backing of two-thirds of the caucus.) "I think [the Richmond] letter has generated some interest in change," Rep. Emanuel Cleaver told Huddle. "I think he opened the door that many people are going to walk through."

TRANSITION WATCH: PRICE TAPPED FOR HHS- House Budget Chairman Tom Price has been picked by Trump to lead the Health and Human Services Department, the transition team announced this morning. Price, a staunch Obamacare opponent, will be charged with dismantling the healthcare law he's long criticized. More on the Price pick from Jennifer Haberkorn: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=25b4749704b984f7c80b632dacc1919b3f583facb8c6edb0354f661c185fbae7 And Louis Nelson with this morning's official announcement: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=25b4749704b984f7e501ef420e518c6ef2f3a12367e2faca091da03d510b1724

Rep. Lou Barletta, an early supporter of the president-elect, is in the running to be the next Transportation secretary, Rachael reports. "As secretary of Transportation, Barletta would be tasked with implementing a key pillar of Trump's policy agenda: boosting infrastructure spending." Barletta meets with Trump today. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=25b4749704b984f79805394c55a92665caedcd6e668e64af10b27cf8f3d2735c

Today: Reps. Marsha Blackburn and Michael McCaul and Sen. Bob Corker are also scheduled to meet with Trump.

And potential problems with Petraeus: At least one GOP lawmaker would have issues if Trump taps former General David Petraeus as his secretary of state. "You know, I think the problem they're going to have if they put him forward is there's a lot of similarities to Hillary Clinton as far as revealing classified information," Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=25b4749704b984f75392629e9a2761c8aac9074e63cc22b026a691426d6ad1d2

CONGRESS IS BACK ON THIS TUESDAY, NOV. 29. Thanks for reading POLITICO's Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill.

MONDAY'S MOST CLICKED- The Hill's roundup of the week ahead in the House.

TODAY IN CONGRESS- The Senate gavels in at 10 a.m. with a roll call vote around 11:30 a.m. The House meets at 12 p.m. with votes at 6:30 p.m. Today's House agenda: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=25b4749704b984f7f5258acf1eb1a7a35d31cc4b2f7da91a5a780a730152431a

AROUND THE HILL- Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley will meet with Sen. Jeff Sessions, Trump's attorney general nominee, with a photo-op at 10:30 a.m. in Hart-135. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy holds a pen and pad at 11 a.m. in H-107. The Senate will recess from 12:30 p.m.- 2:15 p.m. for weekly caucus lunches.

OFF THE HILL- McCarthy participates in a 9 a.m. event with the Washington Post on the agenda for Trump's first year.

COMING ATTRACTIONS- A group of senators will honor outgoing Vice President Joe Biden, who served in the chamber for 36 years, with a series of Senate floor tributes next month, Seung Min reports this morning. The idea came from Sen. Chris Coons, who holds Biden's old seat. And Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has worked closely with Biden before, was quickly on board.

Mark your calendar: Biden plans to attend the hour-long tribute, which is scheduled for Dec. 7. "Coons will kick it off, and other top senators will follow with their own accolades for Biden - including McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=25b4749704b984f70b9194a7dbb472ae4c38dbda9870fc25814e49391edb3264

DEMOCRATS' CONSOLATION PRIZE- Democrats may still be reeling after failing to take back the Senate despite a very favorable landscape. But there is one silver lining: There will be more women serving in the chamber next Congress. "The next Congress will have a record high 21 female senators, 16 of them Democrats, including a quartet of newcomers whose campaigns rarely passed up the chance to throw elbows at President-elect Donald Trump," Elana reports.

The newbie roster: "They include the Senate's soon-to-be first Indian-American female member, California Attorney General Kamala Harris, who's promising to challenge Trump's hard-line immigration agenda ...and the chamber's first Latina, Catherine Cortez Masto, the former attorney general of Nevada. Illinois Rep. Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran who was born in Thailand, and New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire round out the foursome." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=25b4749704b984f7cd8760a599101bc7826a8e5184f2bb36308fa7dec8b28677

ISSA WINS IN NARROW VICTORY- Rep. Darrell Issa was officially declared the winner Monday in his race against Democratic challenger Doug Applegate. Issa "leads with 50.4 percent of the vote to Applegate's 49.6 percent, a margin of 2,348 votes as of Monday night, according to the California Secretary of State's website," reports Joshua Stewart for the San Diego Union Tribune. "While ballots are still being processed, the current gap between the candidates appears greater than the number of uncounted votes, shoring up a victory for Issa barring any sort of unexpected and unusual development." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=25b4749704b984f7fbae6c30ca59872e76e90e7f9f2d43f836b7250894ed4aa3

PLANNED PARENTHOOD DEFUNDING ON THE AGENDA- Republicans have their best opportunity in years to defund Planned Parenthood and could do so using a fast-track budget procedure that would also repeal Obamacare, Jennifer and Burgess report. Using budget reconciliation would block any possibility of a Democratic filibuster and means "Republicans could have the package on Trump's desk within weeks of his inauguration." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=25b4749704b984f79ec730ee2ced5a3d77daa7cb118f2385e04ea4354abda328

WILL CONGRESS STEP IN FOR COAL MINERS? "About 12,500 former union miners and their families have been told their health benefits will lapse come Jan. 1, and an additional 10,000 are in danger of losing benefits at a later date," reports Mike DeBonis for the Washington Post. "Congress could intervene... But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who represents a swath of coal country himself, has blocked previous efforts to address the crisis and has yet to commit to passing the legislation before Congress adjourns next month." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=25b4749704b984f74abb3fbbb5224b66312c34295cf599e5986322ccfb0c2e21

HMM, SO ABOUT THAT BILL TEXT- Congress has until Dec. 9 to pass a new government spending bill and even though there's not expected to be any shutdown drama this time, don't expect to see bill text until next week, reports Ben Weyl. "One reason for the delay? The CR is perhaps the last train leaving the station for the 114th Congress, and any measures yet to be passed could hitch a ride on the funding bill. Lawmakers may need to use the CR to hash out any outstanding issues over defense policy, the 21st Century Cures bill and aid for Flint," Ben reports. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=25b4749704b984f7702d993430190483661978fdda0335799e36169d0ca97589

SCHOCK WANTS TO MOVE CASE- "Indicted former Rep. Aaron Schock has asked a federal judge to move his case from Springfield to his hometown of Peoria, Illinois, saying it has "virtually no connection" to the state capital," Jake and Anna report. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=25b4749704b984f7608582f90b1916a4f023861c14aedafb07461195907bc91d

MONDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER- No one correctly guessed yesterday's trivia question.

TODAY'S TRIVIA- Let's try this one more time since I'm pretty sure the post-Thanksgiving food coma has worn off by now: According to the Washington Post, Sessions was only the second federal judicial nominee to be blocked by the Senate Judiciary Committee in nearly 50 years.

Who was the other nominee the committee blocked? (Hint: The answer to today's trivia was voted down by the panel in 1980.) The first person to correctly guess the answer to today's question gets a mention in tomorrow's Huddle.

Have your own Congress or D.C.-themed trivia questions you'd like to see in Huddle? Send them my way: hcaygle@politico.com

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