Axios

The new deployment, which would almost double the number of U.S. forces in Syria, is in the planning stages, according to the U.S. defense officials who tipped off The Washington Post. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and Trump still have to approve the deployment, which General Joseph Votel proposed.

Why now: The deployment to northern Syria, which could take place in the coming weeks, would be to bolster the current U.S. operation on the ground in advance of an offensive on Raqqa. If deployed, these troops would reportedly focus on advisement roles and offer expertise on bomb disposal and air support coordination for the U.S.-backed Kurds and Arabs.

Why this matters: This increases the potential for U.S. combat involvement in Syria. The U.S. has already deployed Marine artillery, Army Rangers, and other forces, a step which Obama avoided. Limits on the number of troops that Obama put in place might be lifted soon.

House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes and top Democrat Adam Schiff (both of California) aren't buying Trump's claims that Obama wiretapped Trump Tower during the campaign, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions told reporters today that he gave Trump no reason to think he'd been wiretapped by Obama.

• Rep. Nunes: "I don't believe that took place. I don't think there was an actual tap of Trump Tower" and "the evidence on that remains the same... which is that we don't have any evidence."
• Rep. Schiff: "There isn't going to be any evidence about this, because, frankly, if there were, I would know it by now." Schiff added that Trump can't keep crying wolf since it "undermines his credibility, it makes it that much more difficult for the country to believe him when" he makes real allegations.

It's coming Monday, according to House Intel Chair Devin Nunes. The FBI Director has been silent on whether the Trump campaign's ties to Russia are under investigation, but it appears that silence will soon end.

Comey will also brief the top members of the Senate Judiciary Committee this afternoon. Those are Chuck Grassley and Dianne Feinstein.

Last year, nearly 80% of federal IT workers were aged 40 or above — and more than half were over 50, according to data from the Partnership for Public Service.

Data: Partnership for Public Service; Chart: Andrew Witherspoon / Axios

The kicker: Federal IT employees over 60 outnumber those under 30 by nearly 5 to 1.

Where's all the talent? Per Bloomberg, the median age at Google and Tesla is 30. LinkedIn and Facebook are even younger at 29.

Spicer and the White House press corps braved the snow for today's briefing. The GOP's proposed healthcare plan and the Congressional Budget Office's estimate that 24 million people will lose coverage under Trumpcare dominated the presser. Takeaways:

• CBO coverage estimates: Spicer emphasized (again) that the CBO has been "consistently wrong" when estimating the number of people who would be covered under Obamacare, so we can't fully rely on the score this time either. He added that the CBO says phase 1 of AHCA will bring down costs by 10%, and that's before phase 2 and phase 3 even take effect.
• Why not draft a new healthcare bill that's more favorable? "This is it," said Spicer. "If we don't get this through, the goal of repealing Obamacare is... going to be unbelievably difficult."
• Trump's unsubstantiated claims that Obama wiretapped him: "I think [Trump] is extremely confident" that the DOJ will come up with evidence to support Trump's wiretapping claims, said Spicer.
• Sanctuary cities: "I think the last poll I saw on this said about 80% of Americans don't support sanctuary cities." From a federal point of view, Trump has made it "very clear" he won't use federal funds to support them.

A new study from the University of Michigan and the University of California, San Diego shows that H-1B visas for highly-skilled foreign workers pushed up the economy, but brought down tech industry wages by 5.1% and employment of American workers by 10.8%, per the WSJ.

The caveat: The study focuses on 1994 to 2001 as it was the longest stretch of time when all H-1B visas were claimed. The chief economist at the Department of Labor under President Obama told the WSJ that'd she'd prefer a more recent look, but said the study is "the best work we have by a long way."

The ball is in Trump's court as he campaigned on reigning in H-1B visas, but has notably punted the issue since taking office.

The Environmental Protection Agency isn't fighting the White House's initial budget that proposes to cut the agency's budget by about $2 billion — or roughly 25% — and reduce the agency's workforce by roughly 3,000 employees.

Climate change programs would be gutted under the proposal and the workforce attached to these programs would be cleared out of the agency — in line with the aggressive vision of EPA transition head Myron Ebell.

The Trump Administration, in fact, is now discussing making even deeper cuts to the EPA, according to a source privy to the White House's internal deliberations. Senior Trump officials consider the EPA the leading edge of the administration's plans to deconstruct the administrative state.