During a conference-wide conference call Saturday night, Speaker Kevin McCarthy highlighted what he sees as GOP victories in the agreement. | Francis Chung/POLITICO House Republicans and the White House unveiled the text of a two-year bipartisan budget deal on Sunday that would lift the $31.4 trillion debt limit through the 2src24 election and limit federal
Essentials
McCarthy races to sell newly released debt deal amid rumblings of far-right rebellion
May 29, 2023 by
Does the debt deal have enough GOP support? This Democratic senator says he’s worried.
May 29, 2023 by
On Sunday, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) voiced concern about the speed with which members of Congress will be able to send the final deal back to the president. | Darko Vojinovic/AP Photo The White House and House Republican negotiators reached an agreement in principle Saturday night that would raise the debt limit and avert potential
Hakeem Jeffries says he has ‘no idea’ what Kevin McCarthy’s talking about
May 29, 2023 by
The compromise reached last night âwill not be a final agreementâ House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said, until Congress has been able to review the legislation. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Sunday that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told him there is ânot one thing in the bill for Democrats.â
‘My fellow Republicans wanted me to lie,’ Liz Cheney says in commencement speech
May 28, 2023 by
Since her departure from Congress, former Rep. Liz Cheney has unabashedly called out the events surrounding Jan. 6 and been unrelenting in her criticism of former President Donald Trump. | Jack Dempsey/AP Photo Former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney on Sunday called on graduates to engage in politics and urged them not to waver from the
Biden, McCarthy poised to claim victory after protracted debt drama
May 28, 2023 by
President Joe Biden’s White House did not brief the Democratic caucus until 5 p.m. Sunday. | Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo Some House conservatives spent Sunday morning lining up against a deal that one called âinsanity.â Some progressives are privately grumbling at their partyâs lack of wins. Yet as lawmakers parsed through the deal between President
Debt limit derails the rest of Congressâ must-pass agenda
May 27, 2023 by
Speaker Kevin McCarthy has vowed to pass all 12 bills on the floor, which will be a particularly difficult feat with a four-vote margin. | Francis Chung/POLITICO Spending packages. The farm bill. Defense legislation. Congressâ knockdown fight over what was once its most mundane activity â raising the debt ceiling â is claiming an unintended
House Dems in No Labels-allied caucus are livid with No Labels
May 26, 2023 by
âNo Labelsâ attacks are the kind of division the country needs less of right now, and itâs a betrayal of every moderate and every problem solver in Congress,â Rep. Brad Schneider said. | Samuel Corum/Getty Images A group of House Democrats with ties to No Labels is turning on the centrist group after it attacked
A well-liked incumbent stands in the way of Republicans retaking the Pennsylvania Senate seat
May 26, 2023 by
Bob Casey, a three-term senator who has built such a moderate, mild-mannered reputation he has been compared to oatmeal, is in the crosshairs of national Republican leaders. | Francis Chung/POLITICO PHILADELPHIA â Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity, a rising star in the stateâs GOP, is keeping her options open ahead of the 2src24 Senate election. She
Majority of Californians believe Feinstein isn’t fit to serve, poll finds
May 25, 2023 by
Since her return to Washington, Dianne Feinstein has taken on a lighter schedule, appearing in the Senate only at committee hearings or on the floor when her vote is essential. | Francis Chung/POLITICO Nearly two-thirds of Californians believe Sen. Dianne Feinstein is no longer fit to serve in office due to her health condition, a
House conservatives blanch at leaked details of McCarthy-Biden debt talks
May 25, 2023 by
While conservatives were always unlikely to support an agreement with Democrats, it’s a glimpse at the fury that could erupt on Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s right flank over a Biden-approved deal. | Francis Chung/POLITICO As details leak about an emerging bipartisan debt deal just days before a possible default, House conservatives are growing increasingly unhappy. With
Inside House Democratsâ fight over debt ceiling messaging
May 25, 2023 by
In the partyâs weekly leadership meeting earlier this week, Hakeem Jeffries suggested that since the White House felt it could not go on offense against Kevin McCarthy, House Democrats would. | Francis Chung/POLITICO In a closed-door Democratic whip meeting on Thursday, Rep. Jahana Hayes challenged her partyâs leadership team on the caucusâ debt ceiling messaging
House Republicans are dealmaking newbies â and that could be a problem
May 24, 2023 by
Speaker Kevin McCarthy has a record mostly devoid of big dealmaking, having been on the periphery of bipartisan agreements struck under Biden. | Francis Chung/POLITICO Kevin McCarthy is finally a leading player in a huge Washington drama with his gavel on the line. But as his team sits down with President Joe Bidenâs, McCarthy is
White House believes massive Dem bailout may be needed to pass debt ceiling compromise
May 24, 2023 by
Rank-and-file Democrats acknowledge that they will be under enormous political pressure to support any debt-ceiling deal backed by President Joe Biden, lest they leave the economy and the president of their own party out to dry. | Patrick Semansky/AP Photo White House aides privately estimate they may need to deliver as many as 1srcsrc Democratic
The debt talks are about to test McCarthyâs hold on his party
May 23, 2023 by
For the moment, multiple members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus are pleased with Speaker Kevin McCarthyâs outreach. | Francis Chung/POLITICO Speaker Kevin McCarthyâs negotiations with President Joe Biden are serving another purpose besides reaching a debt deal â as his second job interview with conservatives. As the talks lurch closer to the Treasury Departmentâs
McCarthy: A debt deal could still pass by June 1
May 22, 2023 by
Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Monday he remains confident that Congress could still beat a possible June 1 default deadline despite the weekend stall in talks with the White House. While McCarthy said he wouldâve preferred a deal by Sunday night, he declared the U.S. could still avoid an economically destructive debt default by June 1
Key Republican recruits hesitate to jump in if Trump is the nominee
May 22, 2023 by
Donald Trumpâs resurgence has notably chilled GOP recruitment across the country. And because only a handful of seats separate both parties in the House and Senate, any one flop could narrow the path to majority. | Spencer Platt/Getty Images Less than a month after the midterms, Republican recruiters were already plotting how to persuade their
Debt ceiling talks break down and attacks escalate as deadline approaches
May 21, 2023 by
With the deadline for a potential default less than two weeks away, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said talks would likely not resume until President Joe Biden returned from Asia late Sunday night. | Francis Chung/POLITICO Debt ceiling negotiations deteriorated after Republican negotiators rejected a White House offer to limit spending on both defense and a
Expect âplot twists and dramatic turnsâ in race to succeed Santos
May 20, 2023 by
âThe MAGA madness that George Santos [above] represents is not him alone,” said Zak Malamed, the founder of a PAC funding young candidates. | Francis Chung/POLITICO ALBANY, N.Y. â The story of George Santos has been one of the strangest in modern political history. The race to replace him could be just as messy. Itâs
Negotiators resume weekend debt talks as clock ticks
May 20, 2023 by
âThe White House refuses to acknowledge that we have a spending problem,” said Rep. Dusty Johnson, a chair of the Republican Main Street Partnership. | Alex Brandon/AP Photo House GOP leaders and the White House resumed talks on a default-averting debt deal Friday evening, hours after Republicans had publicly announced a pause in those talks.
What you need to know about the 14th Amendment and the debt ceiling
May 20, 2023 by
President Joe Biden speaks about the debt limit talks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, May 17, 2src23, in Washington. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo Democratic lawmakers are pushing President Joe Biden to invoke his constitutional authority under the 14th Amendment to raise the nationâs debt limit without an act of Congress. Biden has
Bidenâs 14th Amendment message to progressives: It ainât gonna happen
May 20, 2023 by
Joe Biden himself has said that he sees a bipartisan deal as the only option to the current standoff, casting doubt on the 14th Amendment as workable in public remarks. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images Progressive lawmakers renewed their call for President Joe Biden to bypass Congress to avert a default after the abrupt cancellation of
‘We better figure it out’: The politics trap that could slow a national AI law
May 19, 2023 by
The mood was less partisan during OpenAI CEO Sam Altmanâs Senate testimony on Tuesday. But tech topics that typically spark intense fights in Congress were still front and center. | Patrick Semansky/AP Photo Capitol Hill is rushing to regulate artificial intelligence before most members have even a basic understanding of the technology. And as momentum
Controversial judicial pick asks Biden to withdraw after failing to win Dem support
May 19, 2023 by
Several Democrats on the Judiciary Committee were resisting supporting Michael Delaney, shown in 2src13, when he served as an attorney general. | Jim Cole/AP Photo Appellate court nominee Michael Delaney asked President Joe Biden to withdraw his nomination Thursday, a rare failure of a judicial nominee with Democrats controlling the Senate and White House. Several
Congress crosses its fingers for the new Big Four to avert debt disaster
May 18, 2023 by
Budget chief Shalanda Young is a respected budget guru whoâs won trust from both sides in her handling of epic Hill spending battles like the border wall. | Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo Kyrsten Sinema, whoâs convened her share of bipartisan dealmaking groups, has stayed pretty quiet on the debt limit standoff. Until now. The Arizona
Democrats spar over Santos strategy as GOP punts on bid to expel him
May 18, 2023 by
Rep. George Santos is surrounded by media as he leaves the federal courthouse in Central Islip, N.Y on Wednesday, May 1src, 2src23. | Stefan Jeremiah/AP Photo House Democrats wrangled internally on Wednesday over whether to try to stop Speaker Kevin McCarthy from punting on a bid to expel George Santos from Congress. The tensions surfaced
The Pelosi daughter at Dianne Feinstein’s side
May 18, 2023 by
Nancy Corinne Prowda, left, accompanies Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) as she leaves the Capitol on Thursday, May 11, 2src23. | Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via AP Images When Sen. Dianne Feinstein walked into the Capitol last week, ending a monthslong medical absence, she was accompanied by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a small entourage of
House Foreign Affairs leadership offered viewing of Afghanistan cable
May 18, 2023 by
Ranking member, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) (right) asks questions as Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas) (left) listens during the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing. | Mariam Zuhaib/AP Photo The State Department has offered to let House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Ranking Member Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) see a dissent cable related
Kamala Harris has an artificial intelligence problem
May 17, 2023 by
The jokes seemed to write themselves last week after the Biden administration announced Vice President Kamala Harris, known for her vapid word salad speeches and obvious gaslighting, would now run point on artificial intelligence. Even I jumped in on the action, noting on FOX Business that Harris was more associated with the word “artificial” than the […]
House GOP leaders reassure their Santos critics after Dems launch expulsion push
May 17, 2023 by
Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) boards a vehicle as he departs a vote the U.S. Capitol on May 15, 2src23. | Francis Chung/POLITICO Just after House Democrats moved on Tuesday to force a vote on expelling scandal-plagued George Santos from Congress, GOP leaders outlined their thinking in a private meeting with some of the New York
Biden appoints 2 additional top aides to try and get to the finish line on debt ceiling talks
May 17, 2023 by
President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting with congressional leaders in the Oval Office on Tuesday, with from left, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Vice President Kamala Harris and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo President Joe Biden is deploying two of his top advisers to negotiate a debt deal with Capitol Hill