1/ The Senate is heading toward a showdown vote on spending legislation to keep the government open past midnight. Democrats appear ready to vote against the short-term spending bill in an effort to secure concessions that would offer protections for young undocumented immigrants, increase domestic spending, provide aid to Puerto Rico, and more. The Senate adjourned Thursday night without scheduling a vote. (New York Times / Politico)

2/ President Trump invited Chuck Schumer to the White House to discuss a deal with less than 12 hours to go before a possible government shutdown. Neither Mitch McConnell nor Paul Ryan plans to attend the White House meeting. (Washington Post)

3/ Trump canceled his trip to Mar-a-Lago in hopes that lawmakers will avoid a shutdown. Trump had been planning to celebrate the first anniversary of his inauguration at the Florida resort. He's hosting a Saturday night fundraising party. Tickets cost $100,000 per couple and include a photograph with Trump. (CNN)

4/ House Republicans are threatening to head home for the weekend, "virtually guaranteeing a shutdown unless some last-minute deal is struck." The House passed a stopgap spending bill on Thursday night in a 230 to 197 vote to keep the government open through February 16. (Politico / CNN / New York Times)

poll/ 57% of Americans disapprove of Trump's job performance, the lowest mark for any modern-day president ending his first year. 51% strongly disapprove with 26% strongly approving of Trump's performance. (NBC News)

poll/ 48% of Americans blame Trump and congressional Republicans for the potential government shutdown. 28% fault Democrats. (Washington Post)

---

Notables.

1. The chief of external affairs for the federal government's volunteer service organization resigned after racist, sexist, anti-Muslim, and anti-LGBT comments he made on the radio in 2013 surfaced. (CNN)

2. A year into Trump's presidency, five of his top staffers still have not certified their financial disclosures, which are required by law to ensure that these senior officials aren't personally benefiting from their White House jobs. (McClatchy DC)

---

Swamp Things.

1. Omarosa Manigault-Newman may have taped confidential West Wing conversations. The former White House staffer believes she may become a fixture in Robert Mueller's investigation into possible connections between the Trump campaign and Russia's election meddling. (NY Daily News)

2. Hannity declared that Robert Mueller's "witch hunt is now over." In a monologue, Hannity claimed there is a memo circulating among lawmakers that reportedly details surveillance abuses by the U.S. government that are "far bigger" than Watergate. (The Hill)

3. Chris Christie was blocked from the VIP entrance at Newark Liberty International Airport, which he had used for eight years. The former New Jersey governor was directed to stand in the general TSA screening lines. (Bloomberg)

1/ Trump will back a short-term funding legislation after causing confusion on Twitter. Hours earlier Trump tweeted: "CHIP should be part of a long term solution, not a 30 Day, or short term, extension!" Trump contradicted the Republican legislative strategy by calling for a separate, long-term extension of the Children's Health Insurance Program with less than 48 hours before a shutdown. The Republican proposal included a six-year extension of CHIP as part of their short-term spending bill, which would fund the government through February 16. (Politico / Washington Post / New York Times)

2/ Senate Democrats have the votes needed to block the stop-gap spending bill that the House is taking up, raising the likelihood the government will close. At least nine members of the Senate Democratic Caucus said they will oppose the latest short-term spending bill, which would keep the government open through February 16th, extend the Children’s Health Insurance Program for six years, but also roll back several Affordable Care Act taxes. It doesn't, however, include a deal on DACA, which Democrats have demanded in exchange for their votes. Paul Ryan believes that he has the votes needed in the House to pass the short-term funding measure on Thursday night. (Politico / Washington Post)

3/ In the event of a shutdown, Mitch McConnell plans to keep the Senate in session and stage a series of votes. They're intended to place blame for the shutdown on 10 Democratic senators, who are up for reelection this fall in states won by Donald Trump in 2016. McConnell called the Senate Democrats' plan "irresponsible" for being "willing to shut down the government and the Children's Health Insurance Program because they have yet to conclude a deal on DACA." (Politico)

4/ Trump contradicted John Kelly's statements about the proposed border wall, saying "The Wall is the Wall" and his plan "has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it." Yesterday, Kelly said that the U.S. would never actually build a physical wall along the entire U.S. border with Mexico. Trump recently said that the wall would be funded by Mexico "indirectly through NAFTA." (The Hill / New York Times / Washington Post)

5/ Ty Cobb said Trump is "very eager" to talk to Robert Mueller in the hope that this will help wrap up the Russia investigation as quickly as possible. Trump's personal lawyer expects the investigation to end in the next four to six weeks. (The Hill)

6/ The White House's top lawyer may have a conflict of interest. Don McGahn was personally involved in instructing Steve Bannon about what questions he shouldn't answer from the House Intelligence Committee's Russia investigation. He is also a witness to events under investigation by both Congress and Robert Mueller. (Bloomberg)

7/ The House Intelligence Committee released the interview transcript with Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson. In the interview, Simpson claimed the Kremlin used the publication of the Trump dossier as pretext to "purge" people, including those who may have been sources for the American intelligence community. Dianne Feinstein previously released a transcript of Simpson's interview with the Senate Judiciary Committee. (Politico / The Daily Beast / Reuters)

8/ The FBI is investigating whether a Russian banker illegally funneled money to the NRA in order to help Trump win the presidency. Alexander Torshin is the deputy governor of Russia's central bank and has a close relationship with Putin. Torshin spoke with Trump Jr. during an NRA gala in May 2016, when Trump won the NRA's presidential endorsement. The NRA spent $30 million to support Trump in the 2016 election – three times what they devoted to Mitt Romney in 2012. (McClatchy DC)

poll/ 53% of Americans see Trump's first year as a failure. 61% believe Trump has divided the country. (NPR)

poll/ 37% of Americans approve Trump's job performance after his first year in office. (CBS News)

---

Notables.

1. Trump released his 2017 Fake News Awards. (GOP.com)

2. Hundreds of Yelp reviewers have been giving the Trump International Hotel in Washington one-star reviews, describing the property as a "shithole." (Washington Post)

3. The Trump administration is finalizing its infrastructure plan, which it hopes will encourage more than $1 trillion in state, local, and private financing to build and repair bridges, highways, and other infrastructure. Trump is expected to preview parts of the plan on January 30th during his State of the Union address. (Reuters)

4. The past four years were the hottest recorded period in the planet's history, according to both NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (Washington Post)

5. Haitians will no longer be eligible to receive temporary agricultural and seasonal work visas. The decision by the White House removes Haiti from the list of countries that are eligible for H-2A and H-2B visas. (CNN)

6. House members introduced a bipartisan sexual harassment bill that would prohibit lawmakers from using taxpayer funds to settle claims. (NBC News)

7. Mick Mulvaney requested no additional funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The bureau has $177 million in the bank. Last quarter the CFPB asked for $217.1 million and it required $86.6 million the quarter before that. (Politico)

8. The Trump administration will protect health workers who oppose abortions or sex-change operations based on religious or moral objections. Officials want people to report discrimination to the new conscience and religious freedom division of the office for civil rights at the Department of Health and Human Services. (New York Times)

1/ Trump accused Russia of helping North Korea evade sanctions and claimed that Pyongyang is getting "closer every day" to being able to deliver a long-range missile to the United States. Russian tankers were caught supplying fuel to North Korea on at least three occasions in recent months. North Korea requires imported fuel to keep its intercontinental ballistic missile and nuclear program functioning. "Russia is not helping us at all with North Korea," Trump said. (Reuters)

2/ The Pentagon wants to allow nuclear retaliation in response to cyberattacks against the United States. The latest draft of the U.S. nuclear strategy, which was sent to Trump's desk for approval, is the first to expand the list of justifications for "first use" nuclear strikes. It includes attempts to destroy national infrastructure via cyberattack. (New York Times / HuffPost)

3/ Steve Bannon cited executive privilege and refused to answer questions from the House Intelligence Committee yesterday. House investigators in both parties were outraged by his refusal, leading the committee to subpoena Bannon on the spot, vowing to force him to answer their questions about Russian interference in the 2016 election. (Politico)

• What Steve Bannon told Congress yesterday. Bannon admitted that he'd had conversations with Reince Priebus, Sean Spicer and legal spokesman Mark Corallo about Don Junior's infamous meeting with the Russians in Trump Tower in June 2016. (Axios)

4/ Bannon didn't respond to House Intelligence Committee questions because the White House directed him not to. During Bannon's testimony, his attorney relayed questions in real time to the White House asking if his client could answer the questions. Bannon was instructed not to discuss his work on the transition or in the White House. White House officials believed they had an agreement with the committee to limit questions to the presidential campaign. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the committee, called the "gag order" an "audacious" move by the White House. (Associated Press / CNN / CNBC)

5/ Bannon struck a deal with Robert Mueller to be interviewed by prosecutors instead of testifying before the grand jury. A source close to Bannon said he will cooperate with the special counsel and that "Mueller will hear everything Bannon has to say." (The Daily Beast / CNN)

6/ The chance of a government shutdown increased as Trump aligned himself with the conservative House Freedom Caucus on immigration, criticizing a proposed bipartisan deal as "horrible" on border security and "very, very weak" on legal immigration reform. Democrats are threatening to vote against any spending bill that doesn't include a DACA fix. Republicans, meanwhile, need 60 votes to pass a spending bill in order to keep the federal government funded past the Friday deadline. Trump is confident that Americans will blame Democrats for a shutdown, despite Republicans controlling the House, Senate, and the White House. (Reuters / NBC News)

7/ Robert Mueller's probe would continue in the event of a government shutdown. Employees in the special counsel's office are exempt from furlough and would continue their work, despite a potential lack of appropriations. The government is set to shut down Friday night if lawmakers are unable to agree on a spending bill. (CNN)

8/ The Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to review an order to restart DACA. A federal judge ordered that previous beneficiaries of DACA must be allowed to renew their status in the program, but the government is not required to accept new applications. The Justice Department also appealed a related decision, which imposed a nationwide stop on the Trump administration's decision to end the program until the case can be heard. (New York Times)

---

Notables.

1. Robert Mueller's team is investigating newly uncovered financial transactions from Russian diplomatic accounts and people or businesses inside the United States. Among them are transactions by former ambassador Sergey Kislyak 10 days after the 2016 presidential election and a blocked $150,000 cash withdrawal five days after the inauguration. (BuzzFeed News)

2. Trump's alleged affair with a porn star and the reported $130,000 in hush money scandal, explained. (Vox)

3. Three-quarters of the National Parks Service advisory panel resigned in frustration. Nine out of 12 members abruptly quit, citing frustration that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke had refused to meet with them or hold a single meeting last year. All of the members who resigned had terms that were set to expire in May. (Washington Post)

4. Wisconsin Democrats flipped a state senate seat in a special election. The district voted for Trump and Mitt Romney in the past two presidential elections. (The Hill)

5. Jeff Flake delivered a speech from the Senate floor comparing Trump's anti-press rhetoric to former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin that Trump inspires modern-day authoritarians. Trump promised to announce his "Fake News Awards" today. (Los Angeles Times / Reuters)

6. John Kelly told Democratic lawmakers that the U.S. will never construct a physical wall along the entire stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border and that some of Trump's campaign promises on immigration were "uninformed." (Washington Post)

7. Border patrol agents routinely vandalize containers of water and supplies left in the Arizona desert for migrants in an attempt to deter and punish people who illegally cross from Mexico. (The Guardian)