At the last such threats briefing a year ago, the chiefs presented findings that diverged from the president’s statements on the longevity of Islamic State terror group, as well as Iran and North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. He blistered them on Twitter the following day, labeling them “passive” and “naive” while writing that “Perhaps Intelligence should go back to school!"

Trump later claimed his top intelligence chiefs, including then-DNI Dan Coats and CIA Director Gina Haspel, told him that they had been misquoted in the press — even though their remarks had been broadcast and the video footage was publicly available.

The annual assessment from the intelligence community — which can take place anytime between February and May — traditionally features testimony from the DNI, as well as the heads of the NSA, CIA, FBI and others and includes both a public and closed-door segment. The officials offer their analysis on the latest threats and discuss, to the extent they can, what the U.S is doing to counter them, before moving to a classified setting.

This year’s briefing could prove even more hazardous than last year's for the intelligence community, which the president has alternately praised and denounced.

Several issues, like Pyongyang’s belligerence, have carried over into the new year. Lawmakers could also seek more details about developments such as Trump’s decision to kill a top Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani, and efforts to protect the 2020 election from foreign interference.

In addition, the 17-agency intelligence apparatus remains without Senate-confirmed leadership.

Coats and his deputy, Sue Gordon, stepped down in August. Joseph Maguire, the former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, was tapped to fill in as the country’s spy chief temporarily. But, five months later, Maguire is still in the saddle — and Trump has shown no hesitation about dismissing someone serving in an acting capacity, as he had done at the Pentagon and DHS.

Thus far, the wrangling over this year’s Worldwide Threats briefing has been kept at an informal, staff-level discussion because neither the House nor Senate Intelligence panel has issued formal invitations for leaders to appear. It’s unclear if officials are also trying to move the Senate Armed Services Committee’s Worldwide Threat hearing — which traditionally features just the DNI and the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

The clandestine community’s pleas to close the public segment have been met with varying degrees of bipartisan resistance.

In the Senate there is a prevailing sense that intelligence officials will eventually cave because to skip or refuse to comply with a formal request would harm national security leaders' relationship with Capitol Hill, people familiar with the matter told POLITICO.

“The committee has not yet issued formal invitations for this year’s annual Worldwide Threats hearing, but does expect to convene the hearing within the coming months,” Senate Intelligence Committee spokesperson Caitlin Carroll said in a statement. “The schedule and format for the hearing will be determined by the chairman.”

Things are growing more heated in the Democratically controlled House, where the Intelligence Committee has not held a public Worldwide Threats hearing since 2016.

The last time the panel convened an open hearing with senior intelligence leaders was in early 2017, with then-FBI Director James Comey and now retired U.S. Cyber Command and NSA chief Navy Adm. Mike Rogers.

The gathering marked the first public hearing in the House Intelligence Committee’s ongoing investigation into Russia’s alleged interference during the 2016 presidential race, which included the question of whether the Trump campaign had any ties to Moscow during that time.

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The session devolved into partisan warfare, and Trump weighed in on the hearing in real time, sending out several tweets from his official White House account.

The intelligence community has refused invitations to attend a public Worldwide Threats hearing in the House the last two years. A third refusal could cause tensions between the two sides to boil over.

“We have requested, and made clear, that the committee expects a public Worldwide Threats hearing this year — this is the one public form of oversight that the Intelligence Community is responsible to do each year, and avoiding angering the man in the Oval Office is not a good enough reason to refuse to come,” one senior Democratic committee official said.

“We also understand the concern that the IC has over members asking questions that essentially trap their leaders into either lying or disclosing classified information, but we don’t believe that concern is unsurmountable either.”

A spokesperson for Rep. Devin Nunes (Calif.), the House Intelligence Committee’s top Republican and a close ally of the president, did not respond to a request for comment.

In a statement, an ODNI spokesperson said the intelligence community is “committed to providing timely, accurate and useful information about the worldwide threats facing the nation to Congress and the American people. We continue discussions with the committees about the timing and format of the Worldwide Threat Assessment hearings this year.”