The Note: Spotlight turns to Sessions on Russia probe and Trump's executive privilege

Sessions will testify at a hearing held by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

By
Rick Klein and MaryAlice Parks
October 18, 2017, 5:49 AM ET
5 min read

— -- The TAKE with Rick Klein

Jeff Sessions is set to be the most interesting man in the Trump cabinet again – and he won't have to travel far to win that distinction.

The attorney general's appearance in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee today marks his first public testimony on Capitol Hill since June, when his much-hyped Senate Intelligence Committee day came and went with him ducking questions about his conversations with the president.

The list of questions his former colleagues have for him has grown exponentially since then – starting with the Russia probe and what recusal really means, and whether President Donald Trump plans to exert executive privilege to protect private communications with advisers.

Sessions' leadership at the Justice Department will be questioned from every direction, particularly when it comes to immigration enforcement, the travel ban, and criminal-justice hot-buttons like civil asset forfeiture.

When you start talking about a potential DACA deal and even Obamacare subsidies, Sessions' opinion goes beyond his leadership at the department and well into the White House. Look for Democratic lawmakers and even a few Republicans to zero-in on Sessions as proxy for the rightmost flank that President Trump might occupy.

One irony lost on few in the room today: Sessions would be the one pushing the administration in that direction if he still sat on the committee.

The RUNDOWN with MaryAlice Parks

The top lawmakers on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions both say they want to find a way to lower prices in the individual health insurance market for 2018 — but that's a crazy tall order at this point.

Open enrollment, when people can buy and switch plans for next year, begins in just a few weeks and the bipartisan pair still do not have legislative text of their deal.

The finest print is often the trickiest.

Plus, there are real question about whether the House, where there has been next to no work across the aisle on the issue, will even take up whatever the senators eventually send their way. Continuing these subsidies is not a move towards repeal, it is shoring up the Affordable Care Act, albeit in a small way.

Perhaps, Senators Lamar Alexander and Patty Murray get creative and write in measures with new tax credits or reimbursements, but all that is TBD.

For now, most insurance companies will likely go ahead with the rates they already have listed for next year. The most concrete impact of any deal may be getting more people to sign up for next year and convincing insurance companies still on the fence after the president's decision not to cut and run right now.

The TIP with Mary Bruce and Katherine Faulders

President Donald Trump hit back Tuesday at John McCain's not-so-subtle rebuke, after the senator cautioned the U.S. against turning to "half-baked, spurious nationalism."

In a radio interview with "The Chris Plante Show," the president said he heard the criticism and warned "People have to be careful because at some point I fight back."

"I'm being very nice, I'm being very, very nice but at some point I fight back and it won't be pretty," Trump said.

Asked what he thinks of the president's response, McCain didn't want to go there.

"I don't comment on what the president says, I comment on what he does," McCain told reporters.

"I've faced some pretty tough adversaries in the past. I'm not interested in confronting the president, I'm interested in working with the president," he said.

This is just the latest round in the contentious relationship between the president and the senator.

The president of course has previously blasted McCain, saying he's "not a war hero." And McCain famously put the nail in the coffin on health reform.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY:

  • Attorney General Jeff Sessions will testify at an oversight hearing held by the Senate Judiciary Committee to examine the Department of Justice at 10 a.m. Expect lawmakers to raise questions about such issues as decisions impacting the LGBTQ community, the decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and the investigation into Russia's election meddling.
  • Sens. Lamar Alexander, Bill Cassidy and Tim Kaine will discuss next steps on health care in an Axios360 conversation at 8:00 a.m.
  • American Muslim and civil rights groups will march on the Customs and Border Protection offices to protest "discriminatory policies" in the afternoon.
  • Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Charlie Sykes, author of "How the Right Lost Its Mind", will appear on the ABC NEWS / POWERHOUSE POLITICS podcast.
  • President Donald Trump will participate in a meeting with the Senate Finance Committee this morning.

    • QUOTE OF THE DAY

    "I wish I knew that before my speech." --President Donald Trump after a reporter asked the Greek prime minister if his opinion of Trump has changed since saying "I hope we will not face this evil," before the election.

    NEED TO READ

  • Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., said she overheard a conversation during a car ride with family members of U.S. Army Sgt. La David Johnson in which President Donald Trump told the soldier's widow that "he knew what he signed up for ... but when it happens it hurts anyway," after he died in the line of duty in northwestern Africa. ABC affiliate WPLG first reported the story. http://abcn.ws/2kWWmuI
  • Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., the GOP House Oversight Committee chairman is getting tough on federal agencies and the White House as the panel investigates administration air travel. The committee may subpoena USDA, DOJ over air travel records if they don't comply. http://abcn.ws/2yRBTxn
  • Senators reach deal to continue Obamacare insurance subsidy payments. Senate leaders agreed "in principle" to a bill that would cover government payments that subsidize insurance plans for low-income Americans for two years. http://abcn.ws/2ilR4YQ
  • US military says IS 'capital' of Raqqa 90 percent freed. After the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces announced that Raqqa was fully liberated on Tuesday, a spokesman for the coalition, Col. Ryan Dillon, told reporters at the Pentagon that more fighting remained. http://abcn.ws/2goDwej
  • Hillary Clinton says she won't run again despite Donald Trump's urging. Clinton says she will continue speak out against Trump's actions and policies and added that her voice will "be magnified because I am not running." http://abcn.ws/2gr69rt
  • Congressman withdraws bid to be Trump's drug czar after controversy. Rep. Tom Marino, R-Pa., withdrew his nomination to lead the Office of National Drug Control Policy following reports that a bill he authored weakened the Drug Enforcement Administration's ability to pursue drug companies distributing large amounts of opioids. http://abcn.ws/2xLs1Ag
  • Unwanted sexual advances not just a Hollywood, Weinstein story, ABC News/Washington Post poll. More than half of U.S. women have experienced unwanted and inappropriate sexual advances from men, three in 10 have put up with unwanted advances from male co-workers and a quarter have endured them from men who had influence over their work situation. http://abcn.ws/2x3tpid

    • The Note is a daily ABC News feature that highlights the key political moments of the day ahead. Please check back tomorrow for the latest.