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By Lauren French | 01/21/2016 08:49 AM EDT


By Lauren French (@laurennfrench & lfrench@politico.com)

GOP LEADERS AREN'T YET READY TO ANOINT RUBIO. Burgess Everett with the story, "Republican Party elders in Congress have nothing but nice things to say about Marco Rubio, but the Florida senator is encountering a nagging problem - they're not ready to coalesce around him as the man to stop Donald Trump or Ted Cruz from marching to the nomination. While Rubio racked up a string of lawmaker endorsements this fall to rival Jeb Bush's roster of congressional backers, his momentum on Capitol Hill has since stalled. His performance in the endorsement game, on the cusp of primary season, certainly isn't fatal given Congress' dismal ratings. But it does point to a struggle to be anointed the
establishment candidate of choice. The reticence around Rubio was punctuated by Sen. Lindsey Graham's surprise move into Jeb Bush's camp last week." politi.co/1np8QYl

KASICH CAPITALIZING ON CONGRESSIONAL BACKGROUND. Carl Hulse with the New York Times writes, "With Congress so unpopular, most Republican presidential candidates are intent on bashing the institution and its members. Not so with Gov. John R. Kasich of Ohio, who served 18 years in the House before leaving in 2001 and evidently has fond memories of his Capitol Hill years. While others pound Washington, Mr. Kasich has played up relationships forged on Capitol Hill, sometimes reaching far back. On Wednesday, for instance, Mr. Kasich, a former Budget Committee chairman, celebrated his endorsement by former Representative Chuck Douglas of New Hampshire, a Republican who served one term in the
House more than 25 years ago." nyti.ms/1WxjPe4

CONGRESS SUBPOENAS PRICE-HIKING CEO. The New York Times Matthew Goldstein reports, "Martin Shkreli loves to talk. Whether on Twitter, in online streaming videos or in interviews with the news media, Mr. Shkreli, a New York businessman, has shown little reserve when it comes to discussing the pending federal securities fraud charges against him, or his rationale for increasing the price of a decades-old drug by more than 5,000 percent at a pharmaceutical company he ran until last month. On Tuesday, Mr. Shkreli, 32, will get his chance to talk some more. A congressional committee has served a subpoena on him and ordered him to appear for a hearing to discuss pricing trends and other
developments in the drug industry, according to documents reviewed by The New York Times." nyti.ms/1NkIYBz

HAPPY ALMOST SNOW DAY. And welcome to the Huddle, your play-by-play guide to everything Capitol Hill. There is snow on the ground, the grocery store shelves are bare and everyone is checking OPM's website. Winter has arrived. Please send tips to lfrench@politico.com and follow along on Twitter @laurennfrench.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The House is out this week. The Senate will vote at 10:30 a.m.

AROUND THE HILL - Senators Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, Patty Murray, Jack Reed, Brian Schatz, Tammy Baldwin, Mazie Hirono and Elizabeth Warren will hold a press conference on college affordability at 11:30 a.m. in SVC 201-00. Senators Kelly Ayotte, Lindsey Graham, John McCain, James Risch and Dan Sullivan will speak on Iran at 11:30 in the Senate Studio.

MAKING MOVES. Todd Webster, chief of staff to Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) will be joining Cornerstone as a vice president focused on trade, foreign affairs, judiciary, energy, financial services and telecommunications. Webster is an alumnus of Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle, Senator Patty Murray and the Gore-Lieberman campaign.

FORBES CONSIDERING AN ADDRESS CHANGE. Rachel Weiner reports for the Washington Post, "Rep. J. Randy Forbes (R-Va.), endangered by a new court-imposed congressional map in Virginia, could change districts to stay in Congress. A spokeswoman for Rep. Scott Rigell (R-Va.), who is retiring in 2017, said that the congressman is encouraging his Republican colleague to move into his district "and will fully support him if he makes the decision to do so....Forbes now represents Virginia's 4th District. But in January, having deemed that Republicans unconstitutionally packed black voters into a neighboring district, federal judges implemented a new map that makes Forbes's district significantly more
African American and Democratic." wapo.st/1NkvFku

MCCARTHY AND THE $$$. Jake Sherman reports, "House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy raised more than $11 million last year, a sum that places him near the top of the Republican fundraising pyramid on Capitol Hill, according to sources familiar with his operation. Aside from former Speaker John Boehner and Paul Ryan, the 2015 haul makes McCarthy among the most prolific GOP fundraisers since the party took the majority in 2010, according to Republican aides familiar with party fundraising." politi.co/1Swzj2D

ICYMI: SENATE DEMOCRATS STALL REFUGEE VOTE. Seung Min Kim with the story, "Senate Democrats decisively blocked a proposal to implement stricter screening requirements for refugees from Iraq and Syria, after a partisan dispute over amendments - as usual - killed any prospects of advancing the measure. Earlier, Democrats indicated that they would seek votes on several hot-button measures in connection with the refugee screening bill, including GOP front-runner Donald Trump's controversial proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States. But the two sides couldn't agree on how to proceed, and Democrats filibustered the measure on a 55-43 vote Wednesday afternoon." politi.co/1S4OZJc

CLINTON CAMP BLAMES CONGRESSIONAL REPUBLICANS FOR EMAIL LEAK. Nick Gass reports, "Hillary Clinton's campaign is accusing the Intelligence Community Inspector General and congressional Republicans of coordinating against its candidate to damage her electoral chances, in the latest flare-up of the nearly yearlong scandal over her use of a private server while secretary of state. Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon, asked on CNN's "New Day" whether the email reports were taking a toll on Clinton, responded, "No, I think that Republicans are continuing to try to trumpet up and resurface these allegations for the purposes of hurting her campaign." politi.co/1nlVNag

AIDE WITH METH 'STASH HOUSE' GETS PRISON SENTENCE. Josh Gerstein reports, "A former top aide to Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), Fred Pagan, was sentenced to 2½ years in prison Wednesday for allowing his Washington home to be used as what a judge called a "stash house" for methamphetamine. Pagan's defense had sought a sentence of probation, but U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell instead sentenced the former Senate staffer in line with the prosecution's recommendation that he face punishment at the low end of the sentencing guidelines range, which she calculated at 30 to 36 months." politi.co/1ZCD8T8

WEDNESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - James Casto was the first to answer that Eva Clayton was the first African American woman to represent North Carolina in Congress and served for five terms.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - What city holds the record for largest snowball fight and how many people showed up for the fun? The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. Email me at lfrench@politico.com

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