Axios

CIA Director Gina Haspel will brief Senate leaders Tuesday on the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the Wall Street Journal reports, days after several lawmakers expressed outrage over her absence from last week's Senate briefing regarding U.S. support of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.

Why it matters: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary James Mattis led last week's briefing, but Haspel's absence was particularly noticeable given intelligence officials are normally present at such a meeting. The CIA also issued a key report last month which reportedly concluded with "high confidence" that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) ordered the killing.

Go deeper:

• Pompeo refuses to answer why Gina Haspel didn't appear at Saudi Arabia briefing
• White House denies blocking CIA director from briefing Senate on Khashoggi
• CIA report shows evidence linking Saudi crown prince to Khashoggi murder

43 out of 76 of Iowa's Democratic county party leaders who responded to a survey by the Wall Street Journal say they want a young candidate to be their nominee for president in 2020.

Why it matters: As the first state to caucus in presidential elections, Iowa serves as an early indicator of which candidates could succeed at the national level. One potential candidate tossed around in Iowa was 46-year-old Rep. Beto O'Rourke, whose name was "volunteered without prompting" as an ideal choice by more than a dozen Iowan officials to the Journal. Sens. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and former Vice President Joe Biden, considered three of the Democratic frontrunners for 2020, will all be at least 70 years old when the race kicks off in earnest in 2019.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on CNBC's "Squawk Box" Monday that President Trump liked Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell's speech last week, in which Powell struck a less aggressive tone and said interest rates are "just below" the level that would neither promote nor restrict economic growth.

Between the lines: Trump has publicly and repeatedly expressed disappointment in Powell, even calling the Fed's interest rate hikes a "much bigger problem than China" in an interview with the Washington Post last week. Trump’s approval of Powell’s speech — which was widely interpreted to be less hawkish — makes it clear that Powell has to do one thing to get back in Trump’s good graces: stop raising interest rates. As a politically independent institution, however, none of this should matter much to the Fed.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has not made a final decision on whether he'll run for president in 2020, but the democratic socialist's massive national profile and existing fundraising network could set the stage for a much bigger campaign than in 2016, the AP's Steve Peoples reports from a gathering of Sanders' advisers this weekend.

The big picture: Once an "insurgent underdog," Sanders would begin the 2020 Democratic campaign as a frontrunner, his campaign manager tells the AP, even in a packed field of potential candidates like Sens. Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker that share his progressive policy dreams. Sanders' wife Jane O’Meara Sanders says that the his path to victory would come via a "very strong progressive commitment" to issues like climate change, affordable housing and student debt.

Go deeper: Bernie blames midterm losses in Florida and Georgia on white voters

A record number of women will take Capitol Hill by storm in January, and they're pushing Congress to better adapt to its shifting demographics.

The big picture: As Politico's Rachael Bade reports, while some of the desired changes are physical, like additional lactation rooms, women in Congress also want to shape it into a more modern workplace, eyeing a flexible floor schedule for working parents, child care tax credits and anti-harassment legislation.

Until George H.W. Bush's death on Friday, most of my GOP leadership and White House sources expected the government to partially shut down on Dec. 7, as Democrats won't give Trump the $5 billion he wants for his border wall.

But these same sources now say the week of national mourning for George H.W. Bush — his body will lay in state in the Capitol and services will be held in D.C. and Texas — makes it likely Trump signs a short-term funding bill to delay the shutdown by one to two weeks. Trump told reporters this was the case on Air Force One on his way back from Argentina on Saturday.

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) told "Morning Joe" co-host Mika Brzezinski at the "Know Your Value" event in San Francisco on Saturday that she will decide early next year whether to launch a bid for the White House, saying that "over the holiday" she will "make that decision with my family," per NBC News.

Why it matters: Harris' move would help to clarify what is expected to be a crowded field of Democratic primary candidates. Rep. Beto O'Rourke is currently a candidate du jour — and other top contenders like Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Vice President Joe Biden have indicated they could make their decisions soon.

Go deeper: The Democrats' 2020 crowd jumps the gun

Incoming House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday that President Trump’s refusal to rule out a pardon for his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort "adds to the growing body of evidence that the president is engaged in obstructing justice."

The backdrop: Trump told the New York Post last week that a potential pardon "was never discussed, but I wouldn’t take it off the table. Why would I take it off the table?" Trump's statement came as the president doubled down in his attacks on the Mueller investigation after the special counsel said in court filings that Manafort violated a plea agreement by lying repeatedly to federal investigators.

Go deeper: Democrats to probe Trump for targeting CNN, Washington Post

Former FBI Director James Comey tweeted Sunday that he had reached a deal to take part in a hearing with House Republicans behind closed doors but with the ability to release a transcript the next day, stating the deal was "the closest I can get to public testimony."

"Grateful for a fair hearing from judge. Hard to protect my rights without being in contempt, which I don’t believe in. So will sit in the dark, but Republicans agree I’m free to talk when done and transcript released in 24 hours. This is the closest I can get to public testimony."

The big picture: Comey had been subpoenaed by House Republicans to discuss Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server as well as Russian interference in the 2016 election in a closed door setting, but he asked a federal judge to quash the subpoena while arguing that he preferred to take part in a public hearing, per Vox.