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SITUATIONAL AWARENESS  — The tall black metal fence is back up around the Capitol, but only until midweek when President Joe Biden gives his State of the Union address.

HOME RULE — House Republicans will finally get to tackle two hot-button issues this week: immigration and crime… but only in the nation’s capital. On the House schedule this week are disapproval resolutions to overturn two bills passed by the D.C. Council: one that overhauls the city’s century-old criminal code and another that would allow non-citizens vote in local elections starting in 2024.

The bill on the criminal code is sponsored by Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), who last year called for D.C.’s locally run government to be abolished completely. The measure would clarify and update definitions of criminal offices and expand the right to a jury trial to people charged with misdemeanors. Much of the D.C. criminal code had not been updated since the original version passed by Congress in 1901.

The immigrant voting measure followed the lead of Maryland towns including Hayattsville and Takoma Park, which allow legal permanent residents to vote. The disapproval measure hitting the House floor this week is sponsored by Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.).

“The idea that allowing people who are here illegally [to vote] not only undermines one of our most sacred rights, but it also sends the wrong message to those seeking to come into the country illegally,” said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) during last week’s colloquy.

The clock is ticking on the effort to overturn both D.C. council decisions, but it is unlikely that even if House Republicans advance the measures this week that the Senate will take them up.

It has been nearly 30 years since Congress has succeeded in overturning a D.C. law.

D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton has also proposed legislation to scrap the current 30-day congressional review period during which bills passed by D.C. lawmakers are subject to disapproval resolutions.

GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Monday, Feb. 6, where the State of the Union and Congressional Correspondents’ Dinner mean sleep could be hard to come by.

BUT POLITICIANS USUALLY LIKE BALLOONS — Maybe at conventions, but Chinese spy balloons are another story. The Gang of Eight will be briefed by the administration this week on the balloon situation and an all-Senators briefing is scheduled for Feb. 15, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced on Sunday.

The Gang of Eight includes the top two congressional leaders in each chamber — Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) — as well as the top Democrat and Republican on the House and Senate intelligence committees.

Possible action Tuesday: Olivia reports that House Republicans are readying a resolution to criticize the Biden administration for slow action on the balloon. It could be on the floor as soon as Tuesday, a clear rebuke of Biden just hours before he’s in the chamber for his State of the Union address. But that’s still in early stages and there could be naysayers that derail the attempt.

Hearings galore: Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), the Senate Defense Appropriations chair, has promised hearings in his panel on the balloon episode, which violated his home state’s airspace. But there will already be action on other panels this week.

• House Armed Services holds a hearing Tuesday on “The Pressing Threat of the Chinese Communist Party to U.S. National Defense,” the first of the year under new Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.). 
• House Financial Services holds a hearing Tuesday on the economic threat posed by China and will examine more than a dozen related bills, including one to impose sanctions on Chinese military and surveillance companies. 
• Senate Foreign Relations holds a hearing Thursday on U.S.-China policy in the era of strategic competition.

RELATED READS: Biden, the balloon, and the age of anti-China one-upmanship, from Adam Cancryn and Chris Cadelago; China balloon: Many questions about suspected spy in the sky, from Lolita C. Baldor and Tara Copp at The Associated Press; Trump officials deny Chinese spy balloons flew above U.S. on their watch, from Alexander Ward and Laura Seligman

(If anything enters Capitol airspace, you won’t be able to miss it.)

PUT AWAY THAT LABEL MAKER — No Labels is back on the scene and making a play in divided government. The centrist group held a policy conference in Florida over the weekend, with current and former lawmakers in attendance.

Burgess talked to Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) during the events as the pair navigates how to take their bipartisan dealmaking into the new Congress.

COLLINS: “We’re more focused on issues. Now, in focusing on issues, we obviously discuss the possibility of political agreements and negotiations,” Collins said in an interview. “In some ways, No Labels is designed for dealing with divided government.”

MANCHIN: “The center is still going to be where people are going to have to gather around in order to get anything done,” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said Sunday. If Senate Democrats “can’t find basically nine centrist moderate, reasonable Republicans who want to accomplish something in the next Congress here … then it will be just basically a stalemate,” he added.

Who else was on hand? Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) were scheduled to attend the Florida meeting, as were Texas Reps. Henry Cuellar (D), Tony Gonzales (R) and Vicente Gonzalez (D), with immigration a big focus among the House members and Sinema. Collins attended via Zoom. (Sinema was posting on Instagram from the Mesa Marathon this weekend, so it’s not clear if she was also in Florida or attended virtually.)

In recent years, No Labels has faced criticism for its internal culture and for being a landing pad for political insiders credibly accused of sexual misconduct. The group hired Mark Halperin after he was accused by nine women of sexual harassment, unwanted touching and physical assault. It also hired former Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.), who resigned following accusations of sexual misconduct by a lobbyist.

SANTOS’ ETHICS FILE GETS THICKER — A complaint from a prospective employee of Rep. George Santos says he has filed complaints with the House Ethics Committee and Capitol Police alleging sexual harassment by the already scandal-ridden New York Republican. Derek Myers said his status of “volunteer” in Santos’ office while he waited for his employment paperwork to be processed violates House Ethics Rules and that Santos made a sexual advance on Jan. 25, touching his groin and assuring him that his husband was out of town.

Risky recordings: Meyers made secret recordings of Santos and his chief of staff Charley Lovett days before his job offer was rescinded and he made his complaint. The recordings were published by Talking Points Memo after the job was rescinded. Last year Meyers was charged with wiretapping in Ohio for publishing audio of courtroom testimony that a source sent to him.

Ethics state-of-play: The House Ethics Committee has now received multiple complaints of Ethics violations by Santos, but no one should be holding their breath for quick action by the panel. So far the committee, which is evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, is only doing preliminary evaluations of allegations made. The committee has not taken the next serious step, which would be impaneling an investigative subcommittee.

ICYMI: Groups file ethics complaint over Sinema’s alleged use of staff, from Alexander Bolton at The Hill

Hot wheels… Rep. Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.) had the tires stolen off her rental car last month in Eastern Market.

Official officiant… McCarthy officiated a wedding in the Capitol. (We usually leave the wedding content to our friends at Playbook, but this peek inside the Congressional Prayer Room caught our eye.)

QUICK LINKS 

Gut spending? Slash the IRS budget? 7 GOP ideas for debt limit talks. From Jeff Stein at The Washington Post

Confessions of a Sometimes-MAGA Critic, a look at Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) from Kara Voght at Rolling Stone

The Pentagon Saw a Warship Boondoggle. Congress Saw Jobs, from Eric Lipton at The New York Times

John Fetterman's picture-taking, buddy-making, convention-breaking first month on Capitol Hill, from Warren Rojas at Insider

House GOP embraces mainstream media after years of bashing ‘fake news’, from Paul Kane at The Washington Post

TRANSITIONS 

Annie Kowalewski has joined the House Foreign Affairs Committee as a professional staff member. She was last in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as a senior policy analyst on the Indo-Pacific.

Madeleine Gagne is now director of operations for Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.). She most recently was constituent services representative for former Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.).

TODAY IN CONGRESS

The House convenes at noon for morning hour and 2 p.m. for legislative business. Roll call votes are postponed until 6:30 p.m.

The Senate is out.

AROUND THE HILL

11 a.m. House Ways and Means Committee field hearing on the state of the economy, with an emphasis on Appalachia. (Petersburg, W.Va.)

5 p.m. House Rules Committee business meeting to consider three measures, including a bill that would terminate the CDC requirement that foreign travelers present proof of Covid-19 vaccination as a condition of entry into the U.S. (H-313)

FRIDAY’S WINNER: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell correctly answered that the Army Balloon Corps was established during the Civil War. More info (including photos) from the National Park Service.

TODAY’S QUESTION: Who was the first U.S. senator to serve as president?

The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your answers to [email protected]

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Follow Katherine on Twitter @ktullymcmanus