Good Monday morning. I'm Anna Palmer and welcome to your first Politico Playbook audio briefing of

2020. Stay tuned after the show for a message from Energy for Progress. And I'm Jake Sherman.

Washington is snapping back into action, kicking off what could be the most volatile slice of time

in the most turbulent period in recent memory. The United States is facing international domestic

turmoil. Thousands of

soldiers are beginning 2020 by boarding planes to take them to the battlefields of the early 2000s, and

the political climate is as charged as any point in recent memory, with the Senate set to decide

impeachment for the second time in nearly two decades. Congress will begin this decade attempting

to reassert itself as a voice and

figure in American foreign policy. Trump's defense secretary, Mark Esper, is expected on Capitol

Hill to brief the legislature split on the wisdom of killing Qasem Soleimani on Iraqi soil.

The Trump team will be under intense questioning about whether it is prepared for a conflict

with Iran, what their

strategy is, and why they left Congress in the lurch. This will come days after Secretary of State

Mike Pompeo said there might be some, quote, noise from Iran when asked if Tehran would attack

U.S. assets. Despite Trump's supposed disdain for former president George W. Bush's foreign policy,

he'll face many of the same questions his predecessor did. The pressure on Trump from the Hill is

undeniable. Chuck Schumer and Bob Menendez have sent a letter to Trump asking him to declassify

the war powers notification he sent to Congress. And in the House, Pelosi released a dear colleague

letter, which announced a vote on a war powers resolution to limit the president's ability to take military

action in Iran. Domestically, Washington will be consumed with impeachment, which appears to be

heading toward completion in the Senate. It is best we know at the moment. All evidence

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