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      Debt ceiling bill: key takeaways from the vote

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      The US House of Representatives passed the much-debated debt ceiling bill on Wednesday evening, moving the country closer to avoiding a potentially catastrophic default. Next up in line is the Senate, the Democrat majority chamber, which would push the bill to Joe Biden’s desk.But the vote on Wednesday revealed the divided lines, not only between Republicans and Democrats, but within the parties. Here are some key takeaways from this vote on the Fiscal Responsibility Act:Kevin McCarthy’s party faced significant internal resistanceMore Democrats (165) than Republicans (149) supported the measure – something the right wing may use as evidence that the bill was a bad deal for their side. Indeed, the Republican opposition to the bill is much louder than that of progressive Democrats, who are concerned about the cuts to benefits programs and the impact on climate.Key Democratic programs and priorities will feel the effectsAn estimated 750,000 could lose food stamp benefits due to the new work requirements, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a progressive thinktank. And in another blow to progressives, the bill gives special treatment to the Mountain Valley pipeline.A quarter of the $80bn of newly allotted funding to refurbish the IRS will also be cut from Biden’s key legislation, the Inflation Reduction ActBut it preserves health plans, Social Security and other programsThe bill will not impact Medicaid benefits, the main government health program for low income Americans, or social security, even though McCarthy tried to keep the debate open on such programs just hours ahead of Wednesday’s vote. Republicans attempted to cut these plans to curb government spending. However the bill will avoid more increases to the bloated US defense budget.And the agreement will fully fund medical care for veterans at the levels included in Biden’s proposed 2024 budget blueprint.Both Biden and McCarthy are counting this as a winWhile critics say the president could have avoided making multiple concessions, the president touted his ability to bring the deal together under heated circumstances, and the bipartisanship he has famously campaigned on.“This budget agreement is a bipartisan compromise,” the president said in a statement reacting to the news. “Neither side got everything it wanted. That’s the responsibility of governing. I want to thank speaker McCarthy and his team for negotiating in good faith, as well as leader Jeffries for his leadership. This agreement is good news for the American people and the American economy.”McCarthy, meanwhile, claimed the bill would herald the “largest savings in American history” during the floor debate, though this is not quite accurate.“I have been thinking about this day before my vote for speaker because I knew the debt ceiling was coming. And I wanted to make history. I wanted to do something no other Congress has done,” McCarthy told reporters after the vote. “Tonight, we all made history.”The Senate is already making moves to move the bill forwardChuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader has already put the debt limit bill on the Senate calendar to start the process on Thursday. There is likely to be some resistance there as well, as progressives such as Bernie Sanders have already signaled their concerns, but the bill is expected to pass. More

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      US House passes bill to raise debt ceiling just days before default

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      The House passed a bill to raise the debt ceiling on Wednesday, clearing a major legislative hurdle with just days left before the US is expected to default.The final House vote was 314 to 117, with 149 Republicans and 165 Democrats supporting the measure. In a potentially worrisome sign for the House Republican speaker, Kevin McCarthy, 71 members of his conference opposed the deal that he brokered with President Joe Biden.Taking a victory lap after the bill’s passage, McCarthy downplayed concerns over divisions within the House Republican conference and celebrated the policy concessions he secured in his negotiations with Biden.“I have been thinking about this day before my vote for speaker because I knew the debt ceiling was coming. And I wanted to make history. I wanted to do something no other Congress has done,” McCarthy told reporters after the vote. “Tonight, we all made history.”Biden applauded the House passage of the legislation, calling on the Senate to quickly take up the legislation to avoid a default. The treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, has warned that the federal government will be unable to pay its bills starting 5 June unless the debt ceiling is raised.“This budget agreement is a bipartisan compromise. Neither side got everything it wanted,” Biden said in a statement. “I have been clear that the only path forward is a bipartisan compromise that can earn the support of both parties. This agreement meets that test.”The debt ceiling bill passed by the House would raise the government’s borrowing limit until January 2025, ensuring the issue will not resurface before the next presidential election. As part of his negotiations with Biden, McCarthy successfully pushed for government spending cuts and changes to the work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.However, the concessions that McCarthy won fell far short for members of the freedom caucus, who had pushed for steeper spending cuts and much stricter work requirements for benefits programs. They belittled the debt ceiling compromise as a paltry effort to tackle the nation’s debt, which stands at more than $31tn.Representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, chair of the freedom caucus, said on Twitter before the vote, “President Biden is happily sending Americans over yet another fiscal cliff, with far too many swampy Republicans behind the wheel of a ‘deal’ that fails miserably to address the real reason for our debt crisis: SPENDING.”House freedom caucus members staged one last attempt to block the debt ceiling bill from advancing on Wednesday afternoon, when they opposed a procedural motion prior to the final vote. With 29 Republicans voting against the motion, McCarthy had to rely on Democratic assistance to advance the debt ceiling proposal. In the end, 52 Democrats voted for the motion, setting up the final vote and virtually ensuring the bill’s passage.The House Democratic leader, representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, mocked McCarthy’s failure to unify his party, arguing the procedural vote proved the speaker has “lost control of the floor”.“It’s an extraordinary act that indicates just the nature of the extremism that is out of control on the other side of the aisle,” Jeffries said during the floor debate before the final vote. “Extreme Maga Republicans attempted to take control of the House floor. Democrats took it back for the American people.”skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionDespite his sharp criticism of McCarthy and his Republican colleagues, Jeffries and the majority of the House Democratic caucus supported the debt ceiling bill. Although they lamented the spending cuts included in the bill, those Democrats argued the crucial importance of avoiding a default outweighed their personal concerns about the legislation.“Our constitution makes perfectly clear the validity of the public debt of the United States shall not be questioned,” said California representative Nancy Pelosi, the former Democratic House speaker. “While I find this legislation objectionable, it will avert an unprecedented default, which would bring devastation to America’s families.”But dozens of progressive lawmakers opposed the bill, attacking the spending cuts and new work requirements procured by McCarthy as an affront to the voters who elected them.“Republicans never cared about reducing the deficit, only about forcing through their anti-working family policy priorities under the threat of a catastrophic default,” said Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. “The deal they passed tonight proves that point, and I could not be part of their extortion scheme.”Progressives in the Senate, including Senator Bernie Sanders, have echoed that criticism and indicated they plan to oppose the debt ceiling proposal, but the bill still appears likely to become law. The Senate Democratic majority leader, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, has pledged to act swiftly to take up the bill once it has passed the House. The Senate Republican minority leader, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, has already indicated he plans to support the proposal as well.“Any needless delay, any last-minute brinksmanship at this point would be an unacceptable risk,” Schumer said in a floor speech Wednesday morning. “Moving quickly, working together to avoid default is the responsible and necessary thing to do.” More

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      Chris Christie will reportedly announce 2024 presidential bid next week

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      The former New Jersey governor Chris Christie will reportedly announce a second run for president next week, seeking to take the political fight over the 2024 Republican nomination to Donald Trump.The news site Axios first said Christie, 60, would launch his campaign in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Tuesday.Trump dominates Republican primary polling, leading his closest challenger, the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, by more than 30 points in most polling averages.DeSantis, who endured a glitch-filled campaign launch on Twitter last week, is pursuing the same hard-right supporters as Trump.Other candidates, including the former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, the South Carolina senator Tim Scott and the former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, have sought to distance themselves from the two men but have not made an impact.Citing members of Christie’s campaign team, Axios said he planned to offer Republicans “a happy warrior who speaks his mind, takes risks and is happy to punch Donald Trump in the nose”.The former governor aims to run “a national race … a non-traditional campaign … mixing it up in the news cycle and engaging Trump”, the site quoted a Christie adviser as saying.The adviser added: “Will not be geographic dependent, but nimble.”A political heavyweight with a New Jersey brawling style, Christie rose to national prominence after winning election in 2009 but suffered in Republican eyes after being photographed working with Barack Obama in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, during the 2012 presidential election.In 2015 he left office under a cloud, amid the Bridgegate scandal about alleged political payback.Christie ran for the Republican nomination in 2016 but aside from brutally taking down the Florida senator Marco Rubio on the debate stage, failed to make an impression. He quickly endorsed Trump and was by his side as he won the nomination and then the White House. But Christie lost his role planning the Trump transition, he said because Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, resented Christie’s role in putting Kushner’s father in jail.Christie proved unable to quit Trump, advising him through the 2020 election. He finally broke with him after the deadly January 6 assault on Congress.According to Axios, Christie now hopes to be “joyful” on the campaign trail, aiming to hit “a more hopeful note aimed at America’s ‘exhausted majority’”.Assessing Christie’s hopes, the Washington Post writer Aaron Blake said: “Say what you will about Chris Christie; he is a smart man … He must know that he has precious little chance in 2024 … and while he has insisted this isn’t just a kamikaze mission to take down Donald Trump, it’s difficult to see how it could amount to much else.”Christie is expected to soon be joined in the race by Doug Burgum, the North Dakota governor, and Mike Pence, the former Indiana governor and vice-president to Trump.Polling has shown the potential for a large primary field to split the vote and hand Trump the nomination without a majority, as happened in 2016.Bill Kristol, a conservative commentator and Trump critic, said: “Chris Christie behaved reprehensibly from 2016 through 2020. Also, I wish him well in his efforts to stop Donald Trump or Ron DeSantis from being the Republican nominee in 2024.”Adam Kinzinger, a former Republican congressman from Illinois turned anti-Trump conservative, said that though he appreciated “Christie’s newfound outrage, it’s important to remember he took down Rubio for Trump then dutifully endorsed him with googly eyes.” More

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      US debt ceiling: Republican hard-right vows to ‘do everything in our power’ to oppose bill

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      Members of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus have attacked the proposed spending cuts in the debt ceiling bill as woefully inadequate, and vowed to oppose the legislation when it hits the floor.“We had the time to act, and this deal fails – fails completely,” Representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, chair of the Freedom Caucus, said on Tuesday. “We will do everything in our power to stop it and end it now.”The House is expected to hold a final vote on the bill on Wednesday, while other members of the Freedom Caucus continue to denounce the compromise brokered by the Republican speaker, Kevin McCarthy, and President Joe Biden over the weekend.The compromise bill, formally named the Fiscal Responsibility Act, would suspend the debt ceiling until 2025, allowing the US to avoid a default that could reap devastating consequences on the American economy. The treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, has warned that the federal government will be unable to pay its bills starting on 5 June unless Congress takes action.In addition to the debt ceiling suspension, the bill includes government spending cuts and expanded work requirements demanded by McCarthy.“There has been a lot of hard work and a lot of late nights that have gone into changing the spending trajectory in this town,” Steve Scalise, the House majority leader, told reporters at the Capitol on Tuesday night. “For once in a long, long time, Washington is actually going to spend less money next year than it is this year, and that’s a reform that all of us can support.”Republicans on the House rules committee voted late on Tuesday to advance the bill, clearing the way for a final vote on Wednesday.During that hearing, two Freedom Caucus members who sit on the panel, Chip Roy of Texas and Ralph Norman of South Carolina, attempted to block the legislation from advancing, but they were outnumbered by their colleagues. The final vote in the rules committee was 7-6 to advance the bill, with four Democrats joining Roy and Norman in opposing the measure.“The Republican conference right now has been torn asunder,” Roy said ahead of the hearing. “Not one Republican should vote for this deal. It is a bad deal.”But the Republican chair of the rules committee, Tom Cole of Oklahoma, defended the bill as the party’s best possible option with Democrats in control of the White House and the Senate.“Today’s bill is a product of compromise that reflects the realities of a divided government,” Cole said at the hearing. “In a true negotiation, you always get less than you want and give up more than you’d like.”Despite reassurances from McCarthy and his allies, it remains unclear how many House Republicans will support the proposal. In addition to the Freedom Caucus, some of the more centrist members of the House Republican conference like representatives Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Wesley Hunt of Texas said they would vote against the bill.Dan Bishop of North Carolina, a member of the Freedom Caucus, predicted that most of the House Republican conference would oppose the legislation, forcing McCarthy to rely on Democrats to pass the bill.“This is a career-defining vote for every Republican,” Bishop said Tuesday. “This bill, if it passes, must pass with less than half of the Republican conference.”The House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, underscored the reality that Republicans must provide most of the 218 votes needed to get the bill approved.“This is an agreement that, at their insistence, they negotiated with the administration,” Jeffries said. “It’s our full and complete expectation that they are going to produce at least 150 votes.”Some House Democrats also appeared conflicted over the compromise measure on Tuesday, bemoaning the proposed spending cuts while emphasizing the crucial need to increase the government’s borrowing limit before 5 June.“There are some pros to the bill. The chief one is that it raises the debt limit to 2025 and ensures that we avoid a Republican-led catastrophic default,” Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said on Tuesday.“I don’t want to minimize the challenges with the bill. There will be real harmful impacts for poor people and working people,” she added.Jayapal said her team was in the process of conducting a whip count to assess where progressive members stand on the debt ceiling bill, but it appears certain that the legislation will win bipartisan support in the House, as the center-left New Democrat Coalition has endorsed the proposal.If the bill passes the House, it will move on to the Senate, where lawmakers will have only a few days to approve the proposal before the 5 June default deadline. Even if McCarthy’s compromise can become law, the speaker’s troubles may be just beginning.Members of the Freedom Caucus, some of whom initially resisted McCarthy’s speakership bid in January, toyed with the idea of ousting him depending on the outcome of Wednesday’s vote.Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida told Newsmax on Tuesday, “If a majority of Republicans are against a piece of legislation, and you use Democrats to pass it, that would immediately be a black-letter violation of the deal we had with McCarthy to allow his ascent to the speakership, and it would likely trigger an immediate motion to vacate.” More

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      Ron v Don / Britain’s numbers game: Inside the 2 June Guardian Weekly

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      Whether DeSantis has it in him to wrest Republican playground bragging rights from Trump remains to be seen, as David Smith reports from Washington.The Guardian Weekly has a split cover this week, depending where in the world you get the magazine.Our North America edition puts the cover focus on the US race for the Republican presidential nomination. Ron DeSantis finally confirmed his candidacy, despite a nightmare launch on social media platform Twitter, which means the Florida governor is already playing catch-up with his arch-rival, Donald Trump.To capture the schoolyard-rumble feel of the race, illustrator Neil Jamieson tried to channel his 10- and 13-year-old kids who, he says, love to press each other’s buttons. “This cover leans in to the work of my hero George Lois, the legendary American creative director of Esquire whose acerbic wit and eye for composition redefined the American magazine cover in the 1960s,” adds Neil.Whether DeSantis has it in him to wrest the Republican playground bragging rights from Trump remains to be seen, as David Smith reports from Washington.For readers elsewhere, the cover reflects the record figures of people migrating to Britain – a subject that affects the lives of many around the world, more recently from countries such as Hong Kong, India and Ukraine, to name but a few.As our big story explores, one of the main talking points is not that the numbers are so high but why, when migration is such a dynamic and enduring reality of the modern world, successive Conservative governments have perpetuated the simplistic notion that UK immigration can easily be reduced.Home affairs editor Rajeev Syal breaks down the figures, while south Asia correspondent Hannah Ellis-Petersen finds out why Indians studying abroad are so keen on British universities. Finally, Daniel Trilling outlines how the UK’s controversial policy to stop small migrant boats crossing the Channel is partly inspired by Greece’s hardline crackdown, one area in which post-Brexit Britain seems happy to emulate its European neighbours.If you’ve wondered what inspires people to stand on one leg blindfolded for hours, or to attempt the loudest burp, don’t miss Imogen West-Knights’ long read on how the weird and wonderful Guinness World Records is still thriving in the digital age.In Culture, as the TV series Succession ended this week, writer Jesse Armstrong discusses the show’s genesis and the real-life characters who inspired its fearsome media mogul protagonist, Logan Roy.Get 12 issues of the Guardian Weekly magazine for just £12 (UK offer only) More

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      US debt ceiling deal: House rules committee debates bill amid criticism on both sides – as it happened

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      From 3h agoThe 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. More

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      McCarthy insists Republican support for debt deal ‘easy’ despite vocal opposition

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      The Republican speaker of the US House, Kevin McCarthy, insisted on Tuesday that supporting the debt ceiling deal would be “easy” for his party and it was likely to pass through Congress despite one prominent rightwinger’s verdict that the proposed agreement is a “turd sandwich”.Amid loud denunciations from the Republican right and also from closer to the centre, McCarthy said he was not worried the agreement would fail, or that it would threaten his hold on the speaker’s gavel.The bill is the “most conservative deal we’ve ever had”, McCarthy told reporters, of a two-year agreement that includes spending freezes and rescinding Internal Revenue Service funding while leaving military and veterans spending untouched.Negotiators fielded by McCarthy and Joe Biden reached the deal to raise the $31.4tn US debt ceiling last weekend.A default would be likely to have catastrophic consequences for the US and world economies. The treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, has said that will happen on 5 June if no bill is passed.But members of the far-right the House Freedom Caucus have balked at the deal.Chip Roy of Texas, who in January played a key role in securing the speakership for McCarthy after 15 rounds of voting, amid a rightwing rebellion, had perhaps the most pungent response.He said the debt ceiling deal was a “turd sandwich”, because it did not include spending cuts demanded by the hard right.Speaking to reporters at the Capitol on Tuesday, Roy said he had not changed his mind.“Right now, it ain’t good,” he said.Another rightwing firebrand, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, said he “anticipate[d] voting for” the bill, having said: “I think it’s important to keep in mind the debt limit bill itself does not spend money.”But a comparative moderate, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, resorted to personal abuse of Biden when she said on Twitter: “Washington is broken. Republicans got outsmarted by a president who can’t find his pants. I’m voting no on the debt ceiling debacle because playing the DC game isn’t worth selling out our kids and grandkids.”Republicans regularly claim without evidence that Biden, 80, is too old and mentally unfit to be president. Conversely, many political observers have credited Biden and his White House negotiators with pulling off a deal to avoid default while keeping Democrats on the front foot.Saluting Biden’s “capacity to over-perform after an onslaught of negative press and Democratic hand-wringing”, the Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin said: “Biden brushed back the litany of outrageous demands, kept his spending agenda and tax increases intact and got his two-year debt limit increase.“And in making a deal with [McCarthy] Biden helps stoke dissension on the GOP side as the extreme Maga wing denounces the agreement.”Biden has also faced criticism from progressives and from environmental activists, in the latter case over the inclusion in the deal of approval for a controversial pipeline in Virginia and West Virginia.“Singling out the Mountain Valley pipeline for approval in a vote about our nation’s credit limit is an egregious act,” said Peter Anderson of Appalachian Voices, which has charted hundreds of environmental violations by the project.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionRepublicans control the House by 222-213. By Tuesday afternoon, more than 20 Republicans had said they would vote against the deal. Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, has said the party should let default happen if Biden does not cave.If defections proliferate, McCarthy could be left needing Democratic support to pass the bill arising from the deal and thereby avoid default.On Tuesday, the House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, said his party would do their part to win passage of the bill.“My expectation is House Republicans will keep their commitment to produce at least two-thirds of their conference which is approximately 150 votes” and pass the bill, Jeffries said. “Democrats are committed to making sure we do our part in avoiding default.”Jeffries said he did not think there would be a problem advancing the bill through the rules committee. That panel was due to consider the 99-page bill beginning at 3pm ET on Tuesday, ahead of votes in the Republican-controlled House and Democratic-held Senate.Democrats control the Senate 51-49. Some Senate Republicans have voiced dissatisfaction with the deal.On Tuesday, one of Biden’s negotiators, the budget director, Shalanda Young, said the White House “strongly urged” Congress to pass the bill. Wally Adeyemo, the deputy treasury secretary, told MSNBC the deal was a “good faith compromise” that took a debt default off the table.A White House spokesperson said Biden was having conversations with both progressive and moderate Democrats ahead of a House vote planned for Wednesday.Markets have reacted positively to the deal so far.Reuters contributed reporting More

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      Ron DeSantis says he will ‘destroy leftism’ in US if elected president

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      Predicting two terms in the White House should he defeat Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination next year, Ron DeSantis said he would go on to “destroy leftism in this country”.“I will be able to destroy leftism in this country and leave woke ideology in the dustbin of history,” the Florida governor told Fox News.DeSantis declared his long-expected run last week, in a glitch-filled appearance on Twitter with its owner, Elon Musk.The widely panned launch followed a long phony war period in which DeSantis toured early voting states and launched a campaign-oriented book but nonetheless fell further and further behind the former president in primary polling.Trump faces unprecedented legal jeopardy, including criminal charges over a hush money payment to a porn star; being found liable for sexual assault and defamation; and facing indictment for his election subversion and incitement of the January 6 attack on Congress and for his retention of classified records.Nonetheless, Trump maintains big leads over the rest of the field. Most polling averages put Trump more than 30 points ahead of his nearest challenger: DeSantis.Undaunted, the governor told Fox & Friends on Monday: “At the end of the day, I’ve shown in Florida an ability to win huge swaths of voters that Republicans typically can’t win – while also delivering the boldest agenda anywhere in the country.”Democrats and many political observers suggest that hardline record, including attacks on LGBTQ+ rights, moves to control teaching in public schools, loosened gun control laws and a six-week abortion ban, will cost DeSantis in a general election.The governor’s high-profile fight with Disney, a major employer in his state, over its opposition to his so-called “don’t say gay” law prohibiting discussion of sexuality and gender identity in public classrooms, has also cost him support among some major donors.Speaking to Fox News, DeSantis said the fight with Disney was about “standing for parents … standing for children. And I think a multibillion-dollar company that sexualises children is not consistent with the values of Florida or the values of a place like Iowa”, which will hold the first Republican contest next year.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionDeSantis, 44, has amassed a significant campaign war chest and remains the clear strongest challenger to Trump, ahead of candidates including the former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, the South Carolina senator Tim Scott and Asa Hutchinson, a former governor of Arkansas.Polling concerning a hypothetical general election between DeSantis and Joe Biden puts the governor and the president neck-and-neck.Speaking to Fox News, DeSantis said: “I think there’s a reason why the legacy media is attacking me more than they’re attacking anybody else, because I think they realise that if I’m successful in winning the Republican nomination, we’re going to bring it home in the general election.“And I pledge to Republican voters if you nominate me, I will be taking the oath of office on January 20, 2025, on the west side of the Capitol. No more excuses about why we can’t get it done. We need to get it done, and I will get it done.” More