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It's the equivalent of finals week in Congress, when lawmakers are scrambling to pass legislation to keep the government and the military funded and more. But you can expect many on the hill to pause for a little while to watch former Obamacare adviser Jonathan Gruber's guest appearance on Tuesday. But watching the embattled economist is far different thing than, say, sitting next to him, which appears to be the way that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) sees it. (Amling, 12/5)

No one seems to want to sit next to Jonathan Gruber. The Obama administration is asking Rep. Darrell Issa not to put its senior Medicare official next to the now infamous Obamacare “architect” when both testify on Capitol Hill next Tuesday. (Haberkorn, 12/5)

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is asking lawmakers not to seat ObamaCare consultant Jonathan Gruber next to Medicare's top official when the two testify on Capitol Hill next week. HHS Assistant Secretary for Legislation Jim Esquea wrote to the House Oversight Committee with the request, stating that government witnesses are "almost always afforded an opportunity" to sit alone or with other federal officials. (Viebeck, 12/5)

Republicans in the U.S. Congress plan to renew their attacks on President Barack Obama and his signature healthcare plan on Tuesday when they grill a consultant who said "the stupidity of the American voter" helped ensure the law's passage. Representative Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said panel members will ask consultant Jonathan Gruber about possible deceptions and a lack of transparency in the 2010 Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. Republicans have seized on videos in which Gruber, a healthcare economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an Obamacare consultant, says the law was written in a "very tortured way" to hide taxes, and passed thanks to "the stupidity of the American voter." (Cornwell and Rampton, 12/7)