From 3h ago
The House rules committee has started debating the debt ceiling bill, a compromise between Biden and McCarthy that has garnered growing opposition from Republican lawmakers.
The stream of the debate is available at the top of the liveblog.
Democrats and Republicans contended with the debt ceiling deal reached over the long weekend. Republican House speaker Kevin McCarthy insisted the deal would be “easy” for his party to support, while right-wing members blasted it.
House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, said his party is “committed to making sure we do our part in avoiding default”.
Points of contention included expanded work requirements for long-term recipients of food stamp benefits. Republicans said that the new work requirements would save money, and help get poor Americans back on their feet – despite studies indicating otherwise (work requirements don’t increase work or earnings). Still, the White House said provisions in the deal that access to Snap for veterans and unhoused Americans would offset work requirement expansions.
Here’s more information about the deal and next steps:
Shalanda Young, Biden’s top negotiator on this debt deal, told reporters that the expanded access to food stamps for the unhoused and veterans could “offset” the number who might lose coverage due to new qualifications that the Republicans pushed for.
Food stamps have been a big point of division between Democrats and Republicans, and the new work requirements to receive Snap benefits is a point of contention for many on the left. Ultimately, if it would save the federal government any money – as Republicans claim it would.
Under the deal, so-called able-bodied adults who are 54 and younger and do not have children must work or participate in work training programs to get access to food stamps for an extended period. The current work requirements apply to those age 49 and under, and anti-poverty advocates said the changes could disproportionately impact poor, older Americans.
The White House, however, estimates that since many food stamp recipients are unhoused, veterans, or both – expanded access for those groups could ultimately mean that the number of people who are exempt from work requirements will be relatively unchanged.
California representative Joe Neguse got into into a disagreement with Missouri representative Jason Smith about whether the Biden administration submitted the budget late, despite Republicans not submitting a budget at all.
“Only in the rules committee could the witness lay blame at the president for being a few weeks late in submitting his budget, when his party hasn’t submitted a budget, period,” said Neguse.
Neguse added that Republicans submitted a bill, but not a budget.
Before the disagreement, Neguse doubled down on previous comments that the current debt ceiling crisis is Republican’s fault.
“This is a manufactured crisis. No question about it. House Republicans are in control. You have the gavels. You’re in the majority. And the fact that we’re a mere few days from potential default because the majority decided to engage in this hostage taking … I think is a dangerous harbinger for how this body may function into the future.”
Schumer has said that he will bring the debt ceiling agreement to the floor “as quickly as possible” to get votes before the default deadline of 5 June.
From CBS News’ Natalie Brand:
More Democrats are saying the bipartisan debt agreement is a win as several assistance programs were not cut in the compromise.
“There are, however, things to celebrate in this bill because of what is not in it. The sort of damage that we saw from the Republican partisan bill that passed here just a month ago,” said Pennsylvania representative Brendan Francis Boyle, who noted that programs such as veterans healthcare were not affected by the latest agreement.
Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell signaled his support for the debt ceiling agreement, in comments made Tuesday.
“The speaker’s deal secures reductions in discretionary spending,” said McConnell.
“Speaker McCarthy & House Republicans deserve our thanks,” McConnell added.
From Punchbowl News’ Andrew Desiderio:
Representative Jason Smith of Missouri criticized the Biden administration for taking too long to negotiate the debt ceiling bill.
“The American people didn’t have to wait those 100 days [Biden] chose to sit on the sidelines. But we have an agreement now and an opportunity to deliver some big wins for the American people,” said Smith, referring to the stalemate over the bill that took place across several months.
Meanwhile the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, has said he supports the bipartisan debt ceiling agreement, despite opposition on both sides.
From Politico’s Burgess Everett:
McGovern also called out Republicans attacking benefits, such as food assistance, as a part of the debt ceiling agreement.
“These adjustments will make poorer, older Americans hungrier. Full stop.”
Republicans included work requirements for adults receiving food-assistance benefits, requiring adults under the age of 54 to work at least 20 hours a week to qualify.
Ranking member Jim McGovern is currently speaking on the debt limit agreement, calling out Republicans for not negotiating on the agreement months ago.
“Frankly we should not be here. We should’ve taken care of this months ago,” said McGovern.
“This represents an all-time high in recklessness and stupidity.”
The House rules committee has started debating the debt ceiling bill, a compromise between Biden and McCarthy that has garnered growing opposition from Republican lawmakers.
The stream of the debate is available at the top of the liveblog.
Utah representative Chris Stewart will resign from the House due to his wife’s health issues, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The Salt Lake Tribune first reported that Stewart will probably step down from office as early as this week, shrinking the Republican majority in the House.
The Tribune did not confirm what health issues Stewart’s wife is dealing with.
Stewart was first elected in 2012 and is serving his sixth term in the House. Many believed Stewart would leave his House seat to unseat Mitt Romney as US senator for Utah, the Tribune reported.
Stewart’s departure will kick off a special election in the House, organized by the Utah governor’s office.
Here’s an exclusive from the Guardian’s Hugo Lowell, as Trump’s lawyer says that he was steered away from searching Trump’s office for secret records, where the FBI later found the most sensitive materials.
Donald Trump’s lawyer tasked with searching for classified documents at Mar-a-Lago after the justice department issued a subpoena told associates that he was waved off from searching the former president’s office, where the FBI later found the most sensitive materials anywhere on the property.
The lawyer, Evan Corcoran, recounted that several Trump aides had told him to search the storage room because that was where all the materials that had been brought from the White House at the end of Trump’s presidency ended up being deposited.
Corcoran found 38 classified documents in the storage room. He then asked whether he should search anywhere else, like Trump’s office, but was steered away, he told associates. Corcoran never searched the office and told prosecutors the 38 papers were the extent of the material at Mar-a-Lago.
The assertion that there were no classified documents elsewhere at the property proved to be wrong when the FBI seized 101 classified documents months afterwards, including from the office, which was found to be where the most highly classified documents had been located.
Read the full article here.
Former first lady Rosalynn Carter has been diagnosed with dementia, the the Carter Center announced Tuesday.
The non-profit founded by the Carters released a statement on Carter’s condition.
The center said that the 95-year old continues to live at home with her husband, former president Jimmy Carter, and receive visits from loved ones.
The statement also noted Carter’s role as a mental health advocate and work to decrease mental health stigma, adding that releasing the statement was to help increase conversations around dementia.
“We recognize, as she did more than half a century ago, that stigma is often a barrier that keeps individuals and their families from seeking and getting much-needed support. We hope sharing our family’s news will increase important conversations at kitchen tables and in doctor’s offices around the country,” read the statement.
A majority of Republican voters think Donald Trump would be their strongest nominee for president next year, according to a new poll.
According to the survey, from Monmouth University in New Jersey, 45% of Republicans (including Republican-leaning voters) think Trump is definitely the strongest candidate the party can hope to field against Joe Biden. Another 18% of such voters think Trump is probably the strongest possible GOP nominee.
This, remember, is a former president who has pleaded not guilty to 34 criminal counts over a hush money payment to the porn star Stormy Daniels; who was found liable for sexual assault and defamation against the writer E Jean Carroll, and fined $5m; who faces further problems in a related case after continuing to criticise Carroll; who faces a New York state civil suit over his business affairs; who faces indictment in state and federal investigations of his election subversion, including inciting the deadly January 6 attack on Congress; and also faces indictment over his retention of classified materials.
He’s also the former president who, according to the Washington Post, made 30,573 false or misleading statements in his four years in office. That too.
In the Monmouth poll, 13% of Republicans thought another candidate would definitely be the strongest nominee and 19% said another would probably be strongest.
More bad news, you’d think, for Ron DeSantis: the hard-right Florida governor who remains Trump’s closest challenger … if around 30 points behind in most polling averages and after a campaign rollout featuring its fair share of hiccups.
DeSantis, however, is feeling bullish. Here’s what he told Fox News he plans to do after winning the nomination and a general election against Biden. Clue – he doesn’t plan to start small:
And in more news from Texas – though unrelated – Elizabeth Holmes, the Theranos founder who was found guilty of defrauding investors, has begun her 11-year prison sentence.
It marks the end of the blood-testing firm’s fraud saga after the 39-year-old had tried and failed to delay her prison sentence.
Here’s a video of Holmes arriving at the prison in Bryan, Texas:
And you can read the full report here:
Away from the debt ceiling for a moment, it has emerged that the wife of the Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, has a vote in the impeachment proceedings against him.
The AP reports that state senator Angela Paxton could be voting on whether to restore her suspended spouse to office or banish him permanently.
It is a conflict of interest that would not be allowed in a criminal trial and one that raises an ethical cloud over the senate proceeding.
One legal expert says it will be up to Angela Paxton’s “moral compass” to decide if she will recuse herself. The impeachment charges against Ken Paxton include bribery related to his extramarital affair with an aide to a state senator.
Here’s an explainer from Mary Yang on how the debt ceiling compromise could get passed.
What are its chances of getting through?
While lawmakers have expressed confidence that the bill would successfully get past Congress, some hardline Republicans have signaled they will not sign the deal.
Representative Chip Roy of Texas, a member of the Rules committee, has urged fellow lawmakers to vote no on the deal.
“This is not a deal that we should be taking,” Roy told Fox News’ Glenn Beck on Tuesday.
What’s in the deal?
If passed, the deal would suspend the US debt limit through 1 January 2025, well past the next US presidential election, which is in November 2024. But suspending the debt limit is a temporary measure, and the US would need to bring down the national debt or raise the ceiling by the new deadline.
The deal would keep non-defense spending roughly the same for fiscal year 2024 and raise it by 1% in fiscal year 2025.
The bill would also place new restrictions on SNAP benefits, limiting the number of individuals eligible for food stamps. Unspent emergency aid related to the Covid-19 pandemic, totaling about $30bn, will also be returned to the government.
Read the full explainer here.
An increasing number of Freedom Caucus members speaking during Tuesday’s press conference are telling their Republican colleagues to reject the debt ceiling compromise.
Source: US Politics - theguardian.com
