With help from Burgess Everett and Jordain Carney

WELCOME TO THE ZOO — The flash of cameras and a sea of disappointed faces greet dozens of staffers when they arrive at work on the first floor of the Longworth House Office Building. That’s life for office neighbors of Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.).

Weeks into the new Congress, the media circus surrounding the embattled freshman New Yorker has not let up. More than a dozen reporters and photographers are stationed outside his fledgling office whenever the House is in session. The New York Republican is accused of lying about everything from his credentials and volleyball career to his Jewish heritage and the stories keep coming.

“When the elevator doors open, it's like a red carpet spray of cameras and like 10 lights that are like pointed at the elevator door,” one of Santos’ neighbors in Longworth described to Huddle. “I'm just like, ‘hey, sorry guys, I'm not him. I'm just gonna squeeze by real quick and go to my office.’”

Some staff on the hall are having more fun with it than others. Aaron Fritschner from Rep. Don Beyer’s (D-Va.) office has taken to flagging for the press hordes if he sees Santos exiting a side door, setting off a scramble to chase Santos.

“I've done it twice. Now. I'm gonna keep on doing it for as long as he's there. And it seems like he's not going anywhere,” Fritschner told Huddle.

The stakeout isn’t going anywhere, either, it seems. One staffer, whose boss represents a state that isn’t home to such a robust media market, commented on the “tenacity of the New York press.” TV station New York 1 is camped out and the New York Times dispatched an NYC-based reporter who busted open the allegations against Santos.

“Michael Gold is in the hallway. Dude, you got on a train to come sit in this hallway. That's wild,” a staffer who passes the stakeout spot daily told Huddle. The same House aide said that he hasn’t even seen Santos in person, but he can tell from behind his closed office door when he’s around: “The hive buzzes outside and I can hear it from my desk.” The first few days he encouraged his boss to engage with the media, get some airtime. But “that got old.”

Santos isn’t the first troubled New York Republican to call this hallway home. His office was previously occupied by indicted former Rep. Chris Collins who went to prison for insider trading.

Scandals aside, this stretch of hallway is typically pretty quiet. But Fritschner said he and Beyer come down on the side of bemusement at the frenzy most days. “Might as well liven things up,” he said.

PULL UP A SEAT — The House Republican Steering Committee saved the best for last (or are they scraping the bottom of the barrel?) putting Santos on the House Small Business and Science, Space, and Technology committees.

HOW LOW CAN HE GO — Two New Jersey veterans told Oyster Bay Patch that Santos promised to raise funds for a lifesaving surgery for a service dog — then disappeared with the money raised.

THE LATEST… from Michael Gold at The New York Times: George Santos Shows Early Signs of Tilting to the Hard Right

GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Wednesday, Jan. 18, where we’re having flashbacks to the Rayburn stakeout of former Rep. Anthony Weiner’s office.

A (FIRST IN HUDDLE) RED LINE — Former Rep. David Jolly, the co-chair of the outside group Facts First USA, is urging his former colleague (and now Speaker) Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to avoid placing 13 House Republicans on the GOP’s new select subcommittee on the weaponization of the federal government. The baker’s dozen includes McCarthy himself, one name guaranteed to be on it (Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan), as well as several other high-profile conservatives within the conference.

The group is releasing a research report on Wednesday, obtained exclusively by Huddle ahead of its release, breaking down the 13 Republicans into three tiers, based on their actions outlined in the final Jan. 6 committee report. They are urging McCarthy to prevent Republicans listed in any of the three tiers from getting a seat on the select subcommittee.

“No member involved in the January 6th insurrection should be allowed a seat on the Select Subcommittee to Investigate the Weaponization of Government. The fact that this line in the sand even needs to be drawn is a testament to how craven Speaker McCarthy’s corrupt bargain has been — but some deals just shouldn’t be made, and the line protecting our democracy from those who would undermine national security cannot be,” Jolly said.

SINEMA ANGLES FOR APPROPS — Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) is eyeing a seat on the powerful Appropriations Committee, according to two people familiar with the matter. Sinema is entering her fifth year in the Senate, a level of seniority that puts her in contention for the plum gig, but there's a new dynamic in town: Sinema left the Democratic Party to go independent, though is still essentially a part of the Democratic Caucus. As far as timing, Senate leaders are still working out the committee ratios and it's not clear when they will be announced.

The appropriations process hasn’t started yet, but it is already causing heartburn on Capitol Hill, where House Republicans are pledging to move all 12 bills separately and to slash billions in federal spending. McCarthy has also pledged to not even negotiate with the Senate unless their versions of the spending bills align with the GOP caucus’ demands.

KNOWING ROBERT HUR — The special counsel for President Joe Biden's document handling of classified documents may not draw much criticism from Democrats despite his work on the GOP side of the aisle. Robert Hur was the U.S. Attorney for Maryland for three years and during that time, "He conducted himself with professionalism in that position," Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen said on Tuesday. "Make no mistake, he is in the conservative judicial philosophy, but he was a straight shooter."

THREATS TAKE A TUMBLE — Capitol Police say direct threats or “concerning statements” made against members of Congress decreased in 2022, reversing an upward trend.

“Overall, during the last couple of decades the threat assessment section’s caseload has increased because people on social media have a false sense of anonymity and feel more emboldened,” Mario Scalora, the Capitol Police’s consulting psychologist, said in the statement. “This is not a problem we can only arrest our way out of.”

THE CRYPTO CLASS — If a lawmaker took big money from crypto-funded super PACs, can they be impartial on the panel that plans to regulate the crypto industry? That’s a question that is causing some hand wringing in the House after crypto dumped millions into the midterm election.

Anyone with an interest in cryptocurrency is keeping an eye on the House Financial Services Committee roster. Freshman Rep. Erin Houchin (R-Ind.), who raked in more than $1 million from crypto-backed groups already has a seat at the table. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) is angling for a spot, after she got a significant boost from crypto interests.

Ally Mutnick and Nicholas Wu dig into this super-modern update to the age-old question of the true influence of industry groups and what it means for a fresh class of crypto backed lawmakers.

LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO — Senate Judiciary will hold a hearing later this month digging into the lack of competition in the ticketing industry following Ticketmaster’s debacle managing the sale of Taylor Swift concert tickets in November. The hearing was announced by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah), who lead the Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights. Mark your calendars for Tuesday Jan. 24. No ticket necessary.

Speaking of New Yorkers… Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries grabbed a (highly choreographed) bite at Junior’s.

QUICK LINKS 

What the 21 McCarthy holdouts got in committee assignments, from NBC’s Scott Wong and Kyle Stewart

TRANSITIONS 

Remmington Belford is now the deputy chief of staff for Rep. Emilia Sykes (D-Ohio). He was previously the communications director for the Congressional Black Caucus.

Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) is staffing up: Dan Hillenbrand is legislative director, Sean Ross is comms director and Mark McKinnon is national security adviser. Hillenbrand most recently was chief of staff for former Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ross held the same role throughout the campaign and was previously editor in chief of Alabama-based Yellowhammer News and McKinnon was NSA for former Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.).

TODAY IN CONGRESS

The House and Senate are out.

AROUND THE HILL

Not much.

TUESDAY’S WINNER:Alex Keledjian correctly answered that Republican Clara Cressingham became the first woman to fill a leadership position in a state legislature, serving as Secretary of the Colorado House Republican Caucus in 1895.

TODAY’S QUESTION from Alex: The Armenian Genocide played heavily into this former president’s advocacy for joining First World War against the Ottoman Empire. 

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

GET HUDDLEemailed to your phone each morning.

Follow Katherine on Twitter @ktullymcmanus