ADMINISTRATION & WHITE HOUSE: The Senate's two days of confirmation hearings for Attorney General nominee William Barr ended on Wednesday with lingering Democratic skepticism about his approach to special counsel Robert Mueller's probe, among other issues. No GOP senators on the committee expressed reservations about Trump's choice to lead the Justice Department and Barr was widely expected to clear the panel and eventually the full Senate (NBC News). Judiciary Committee senior Democrat Dianne Feinstein of California said her vote hinges on whether Barr will make public Mueller's report to the department. The nominee has pledged transparency, but hedged about what the public will learn when the special counsel's investigation is finally completed (The Hill). "I am going to make as much information available as I can, consistent with the rules and regulations that are part of the special counsel regulations." — Barr's testimony Jan. 15. Wednesday's witnesses spoke to support and oppose the nominee, who previously served as attorney general under former President George H.W. Bush. The committee has not set a date for a vote. Senators can submit additional questions in writing until Jan. 22. Last night, Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani presented the president's detractors with some head-turning new material as they contemplate Barr's nomination and pursue investigations tied to Russia. "I never said there was no collusion between the campaign. Or between people in the campaign." — Giuliani to CNN's Chris Cuomo > Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is expected to step down when there is a new attorney general. If confirmed, Barr is expected to select a deputy he trusts and with whom he's worked before. Former Justice Department colleagues who fit that description are undergoing new scrutiny among interested observers (The Hill). EPA: Democratic senators blasted Andrew Wheeler, the president's nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency as administrator, during his confirmation hearing on Wednesday (The Hill). They faulted him for unwinding former President Obama's energy and environmental policies, arguing that Wheeler is an unbending champion for fossil fuels. Pentagon: Trump today will deliver to the Defense Department the Missile Defense Review findings completed in October, Bloomberg reported. The Hill's Ellen Mitchell previews what's expected HERE. 
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State Department: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and North Korean official Kim Yong Chol are expected to meet Friday in Washington to discuss the particulars of a second summit between Trump and Kim Jong Un (The Guardian). The president, who is expected to see Chol, who carries a letter from Kim, could announce details of another summit as early as Friday (The Washington Post). China: U.S. federal prosecutors are pursuing a criminal case against China's Huawei Technologies Co. for alleged theft of trade secrets from U.S. business partners (The Wall Street Journal). Trump hotel lease in Washington: "Serious shortcomings" marred the General Services Administration's handling of Trump's lease of a government-owned building that houses his namesake hotel in the nation's capital, according to a U.S. government watchdog report released on Wednesday (Reuters). Mick Mulvaney: The new acting White House chief of staff expresses little interest in managing staff relationships or West Wing access to Trump. "You're all adults," he told senior staff members (The New York Times). President's health: It's been one year since Trump's first physical exam as president. He was gently advised then by former White House physician Dr. Ronny Jackson to trim down and eat better, exercise more and lower his bad cholesterol, plus get a colonoscopy this year. It's unclear if the president will undergo another annual exam that could offer America a progress report on what Jackson described in 2018 as the president's "excellent" health. *** CONGRESS: Apart from the endless shutdown, House Democrats had other business this week, including parceling out plum committee assignments within the conference. Pelosi, famous for dispensing both vinegar and honey, found ways to punish a few Democrats who bucked her successful bid for the gavel while rewarding others who began as critics and wound up as supporters (The Hill). New York freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a democratic socialist with an enormous social media following, now has a seat on the powerful House Financial Services Committee, overseeing banks, lenders and financial markets. Needless to say, the financial sector is nervous, as are some Democratic colleagues who maintain closer ties to Wall Street (The Hill). House and Senate Democrats on Wednesday proposed to more than double the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. The push from the left will not result in new law but showcased a popular liberal plank within the Democrats' evolving agenda (The Hill). On Wednesday, the GOP-controlled Senate rejected an effort to strengthen Congress's hand when it comes to Trump's authority over U.S. sanctions on Russia (The Hill). Eleven Republicans joined Democrats in a vote to enforce sanctions against the corporate empire of an influential ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, but the effort fell three votes short of the 60-vote threshold required to advance the measure (The New York Times). Also in the Senate, a little-known program that regulates how manufacturers guard against potential terror attacks is on the verge of expiring, but is in limbo after the House reauthorized it but a key senator, Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) refuses to take it up (The Hill). 
Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) has been pilloried, urged to resign and officially punished by GOP colleagues for his objectionable comments about white supremacy. Now it's Democrats' turn to grapple with next steps when it comes to King and the politically incendiary terrain of race (The Hill). | 
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