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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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      Debt ceiling bill clears first House hurdle as 5 June deadline inches closer – live

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      From 3h agoThe House of Representatives has started its debate ahead of the chamber’s final vote on the debt ceiling bill.We will be bringing you all the latest details.Transport secretary Pete Buttigieg has weighed in on the debate surrounding the debt ceiling deal, saying that “no one’s going to get everything they want when you have a negotiation like this.”During an interview with NBC host Chuck Todd on Meet The Press, Todd asked Buttigieg what responsibility he believes Democrats have to pass the bill for president Joe Biden.Buttigieg replied:
      “Obviously, we all would have loved to see a clean bill that separated the budget conversation from the default conversation but also we’re in a moment of divided government where no one side, no one party is going to get everything that they want…
      No one’s going to get everything they want when you have a negotiation like this, but this is one that we believe in that we think is the right way forward that also allows us to move on to the next conversation, putting the terrible and unacceptable specter default behind us.”
      When asked whether Congress and the Biden administration are “mainstreaming” using debt ceiling as a budget negotiation tool, Buttigieg replied:
      “Obviously, we didn’t ask for this situation that some of the more extreme voices in the House GOP put this country into … most reasonable people could agree, the best way to handle the budget negotiations is through the regular order process that the law and the Constitution set out.”
      Donald Trump has promised to strip away birthright US citizenship if he gets elected into office again.In a video posted onto social media yesterday, Trump said if he becomes president, he will sign an executive order that will make sure children of undocumented migrants “will not receive automatic US citizenship.”He added that his order “will “choke off a major incentive for continued illegal immigration, deter more migrants from coming and encourage many of the aliens Joe Biden has unlawfully let into our country to go.”Trump’s reiteration of birthright removal comes 125 years after the supreme court settled the issue.During his first presidential run he condemned the right by inaccurately saying, “We’re the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States … with all of those benefits. It’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous. And it has to end,” as over 30 countries currently offer birthright citizenship.Martin Pengelly has more:The House is now in recess subject to the call of the chair.The House will reconvene again at 7:15pm for one hour of debate that will be evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats before voting on the bill.The special counsel investigating former president Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election results is looking into Trump’s firing of a cybersecurity official whose office called the election “the most secure in American history,” according to the New York Times.Reuters reports:The US special counsel investigating Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn his 2020 election defeat is examining his firing of a cybersecurity official whose office said the vote was secure, the New York Times said.Jack Smith, who is also investigating Trump’s handling of classified documents, has subpoenaed former Trump White House staffers as well as Christopher Krebs, who oversaw the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (Cisa) under Trump, the Times said, citing unnamed sources.Trump fired Krebs in November 2020, days after Cisa issued a statement calling the 3 November election “the most secure in American history”, as the then-president made his unsupported accusations that the vote was rigged.Cisa, part of the Department of Homeland Security, works to protect US elections. Krebs told associates at the time he expected to be fired.Representatives for Smith declined to comment on the Times report. Representatives for Krebs and Trump could not be reached for comment.For more, click here:The debt ceiling bill has passed the first procedural hurdle in the House, with 52 Democrats bailing out the Republican lawmakers.In addition to 52 Democrats voting yes for the rule governing debate in the chamber, 189 Republicans voted yes. Voting no were 158 Democrats and 29 Republicans.One more hour of debate is left before the final voting round commences later tonight.Donald Trump was captured on tape acknowledging that he kept a classified Pentagon document regarding a potential attack on Iran, CNN reports.According to report, federal prosecutors obtained the recording which was made during a meeting in summer 2021 at Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.Sources familiar with the matter told CNN that Trump made comments that suggested that he would like to share the information but that he was aware of his post-presidency limitations surrounding classified records.The report also cited sources saying that the meeting attendees did not have security clearance. Attendees included two people working on the autobiography of Mark Meadows, Trump’s former chief of staff, in addition to former Trump aides including communications specialist Margo Martin.According to sources, the recording is an “important” piece of evidence in a potential case against Trump over his handling over classified documents following his presidency.Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell echoed similar sentiments alongside Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, saying that he will support the debt ceiling bill once it reaches the Senate chamber.“House Republicans’ unity gave them the upper hand, they used it to secure a much needed step in the right direction. When this agreement reaches the Senate, I’ll be proud to support it without delay,” said McConnell.Texas governor Greg Abbott has declared John Scott as the state’s temporary attorney general following the state House’s vote to impeach Republican attorney general Ken Paxton.The decision to impeach Paxton comes as a result of years of allegations including corruption, bribery, unfitness for office and abuse of public trust.According to the Texas Tribune, investigators testified at the state House general investigating committee, saying that they believed Paxton wrongly used official funds and abused his authority to assist a friend and financial backer.In response to the impeachment, Paxton said it was an attempt to “overthrow the will of the people and disenfranchise the voters of our state” and that the charges are based on “hearsay and gossip, parroting long-disproven claims,” the Associated Press reports.Meanwhile, Abbott, who has largely been silent during the whole ordeal, said in a statement, “John Scott has the background and experience needed to step in as a short-term interim Attorney General during the time the Attorney General has been suspended from duty,” the Associated Press added.New York Republican representative Marcus Molinaro hailed the tentative bill, calling it “an agreement [that] will move this nation forward.”
      “The Fiscal Responsibility Act takes important action, not at all to punish our most vulnerable. In fact, it takes real steps to ensure those most vulnerable among us are protected and served and have access to the support that they deserve, and by the way, find their way to work.
      This bill hold states like New York and others accountable for waving restrictions, expanding access, not to help the most vulnerable, but to bloat and to grow and to increase state government. Because of action states have taken, the most vulnerable are left to fend for themselves…
      States like New York increased their infrastructure, their government and leveraged federal taxpayer dollars, not to benefit those who need the help the most but to benefit state government. And this bill starts a very important step of holding states accountable…
      We have an opportunity here to make a measurable difference in the lives of those who struggle the most. And this is an effort to ensure that that happens.”
      Texas Republican representative Chip Roy lashed out against Democrats over the tentative bill during the House debate, saying:
      “I don’t wanna hear a whole hell of a lot about what we’re doing to devastate American families with rampant inflation, because we keep spending money we don’t have.
      To my colleagues on this side of the aisle, my beef isn’t that I don’t understand the struggle with the negotiators against that kind of reasoning. My beef is that you cut a deal that shouldn’t have been cut…”
      The House of Representatives has started its debate ahead of the chamber’s final vote on the debt ceiling bill.We will be bringing you all the latest details. More

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      Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says she will vote against US debt ceiling deal

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      The New York Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she would vote against the debt limit deal on Wednesday night, as the 5 June deadline looms.On Tuesday, the Hill said the office of one of the most high-profile progressives in the US House confirmed she would not support the controversial agreement to raise the debt ceiling, which was agreed by Republicans under the speaker, Kevin McCarthy, and the Biden White House.Ocasio-Cortez, widely known as AOC, had previously signaled that she would not support the deal.“My red line has already been surpassed,” Ocasio-Cortez said last week. “I mean, where do we start? [No] clean debt ceiling. Work requirements. Cuts to programs. I would never – I would never – vote for that.”Several far-right Republicans have also opposed the deal, saying it does not go far enough to cut spending.Support from Democrats will probably be needed for the bill to pass the House on Wednesday night. But progressive support is split, as some lawmakers raise concerns about work requirements added to welfare programs.“Some number of progressives, including myself, lean no,” Greg Casar, the Progressive caucus whip and a Democrat from Texas, told Axios.The progressive caucus chair, Pramila Jayapal of Washington, said on a Tuesday press call the bill contained measures progressives were “seriously concerned about”.“There will be real harmful impacts for poor people and working people,” Jayapal said, noting that several members had “serious concerns about the environmental justice implications of this bill”.Other progressives emphasized the need to avoid a default.“You have to deal with reality in politics,” the Tennessee representative Steve Cohen, a progressive caucus member, told Axios, adding that concerns about the bill’s contents are “totally secondary to keeping the world’s economy … on track”.The compromise announced on Sunday would suspend debt-limit negotiations through 1 January 2025 and raise the US debt limit from $31.4tn.The deal includes changes to federal assistance programs, including new work requirements for food stamps access. Unspent Covid-19 aid will be returned to the government.Several Democrats have criticized Biden for negotiating with Republicans under threat of a default. More

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      What is the US debt ceiling and what would happen if it is not raised?

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      Joe Biden and the House Republican speaker, Kevin McCarthy, have reached a deal “in principle” to raise the federal government’s $31.4tn debt ceiling, potentially averting an economically destabilising default on 5 June.With any new agreement still required to pass through a divided Congress, the risk that the Treasury department runs short of money to cover all its obligations does however remain.Without raising the debt limit, the US government would default on its bills, a historic first that would likely carry catastrophic consequences. Federal workers would be furloughed, global stock markets would crash and the US economy would probably drop into a recession.As details of the deal begin to come to light, here is a quick guide on the debt ceiling and what it means for the US government and people across the country:What is the debt ceiling?The debt ceiling is the limit on the amount of money the US government can borrow to pay for services, such as social security, Medicare and the military.Each year, the government takes in revenue from taxes and other streams, such as customs duties, but ultimately spends more than it takes in. This leaves the government with a deficit, which has ranged from $400bn to $3tn each year over the last decade. The deficit left at the end of the year ultimately gets tacked on to the country’s total debt.To borrow money, the US treasury issues securities, like US government bonds, that it will eventually pay back with interest. Once the US government hits its debt limit, the treasury cannot issue more securities, essentially stopping a key flow of money into the federal government.Congress is in charge of setting the debt limit, which currently stands at $31.4tn. The debt ceiling has been raised 78 times since 1960, under both Democrat and Republican presidents. At times, the ceiling was briefly suspended and then reinstated at a higher limit, essentially a retroactive raising of the debt ceiling.What happens if the US defaults?The US has never defaulted on its payments before, so exactly what would happen is unclear. It’s not likely to be good.“Failure to meet the government’s obligation would cause irreparable harm to the US economy, the livelihoods of all Americans and global financial stability,” the US treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, said in a letter to Congress in January.Investors would lose faith in the US dollar, causing the economy to weaken quickly. Job cuts would be imminent, and the US federal government would not have the means to continue all its services. Mortgage rates would probably soar – tanking the housing market.Why is the US debt so high?The US debt grows when the government is spending more money or when its revenue is lower.Throughout its history, the US has had at least some amount of debt. But the debt really started to grow in the 80s, after Ronald Reagan’s huge tax cuts. Without as much tax revenue, the government needed to borrow more money to spend.During the 90s, the end of the cold war allowed the government to cut back on defense spending, and a booming economy led to higher tax revenues. But then, in the early 2000s, the dotcom bubble burst, leading to a recession. George W Bush cut taxes twice, in 2001 and 2003, and then the US military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan increased spending by as much as nearly $6tn over the course of the war.When the 2008 Great Recession started, the government had to bulk up spending to bail out banks and increase social services as the unemployment rate hit 10%.When the unemployment rate returned to its pre-recession levels, in 2017, a major tax cut was passed under Donald Trump. The debt rose by $7.8tn while he was in office.And then the Covid-19 pandemic hit. The US government passed a series of stimulus bills to offset the worst of the pandemic’s impacts that ultimately totaled $5tn.What are the main contributors to federal government spending?The biggest chunk of US government spending goes to mandatory programs, such as social security, Medicaid and Medicare, which comprise nearly half of the overall annual budget. Military spending takes up the biggest chunk of discretionary spending, taking up 12% of the budget. Other big-ticket items include spending on education, employment training and services and benefits for US veterans. More

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      US debt ceiling talks continue into weekend amid signs deal is close

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      Negotiations over America’s looming debt crisis pushed into Saturday amid signs that a deal between Joe Biden’s administration and Republicans was close to being struck even as the deadline for a potentially catastrophic US default was nudged by a few days.The Associated Press reported that work requirements for federal food aid recipients have emerged as a final sticking point in talks, even as Biden had said on Friday that a deal on raising the debt ceiling was “very close”.Biden’s optimism came after the deadline when the US government would run short of funds to pay all its bills was pushed back to 5 June, giving both sides more breathing room but also raising the prospects that talks – which had seemed almost at a deal on Friday evening – could now stretch into next week.On Saturday, Republican House speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters that he was making “progress” in negotiations with Biden, saying: “We do not have a deal … We are not there yet. We did make progress, we worked well into early this morning and we’re back at it now,” according to Reuters.When asked if Congress is able to meet the 5 June deadline, McCarthy swiftly responded: “Yes,” the Hill reports.Asked if a deal could be announced on Saturday, he replied: “I don’t know about today”.Biden and McCarthy have seemed to be narrowing on a two-year budget-slashing deal that would also extend the US debt limit into 2025 past the next presidential election.Both sides have suggested one of the main holdups is a Republican effort to boost work requirements for recipients of food stamps and other federal aid programs, a longtime Republican goal that many Democrats have strenuously opposed.The White House spokesman Andrew Bates said Republican proposals on the issue were “cruel and senseless” and said Biden and Democrats would oppose them.But at the same time the Louisiana congressman Garret Graves, one of McCarthy’s negotiators, was blunt when asked if Republicans might relent, saying: “Hell no, not a chance.”Bates condemned House Republicans in a statement to Politico, accusing them of “threatening to trigger an unprecedented recession and cost the American people over 8 million jobs unless they can take food out of the mouths of hungry Americans.”Americans and the world have watched with growing fear and and anger as the negotiating brinkmanship that could throw the US economy into chaos has dragged on in yet another repeat of the regular political theater that always seems to surround the issue in Washington.Yet Biden was upbeat as he left for the Memorial Day weekend at Camp David, declaring: “It’s very close, and I’m optimistic.”In a blunt warning, the Treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, said on Friday that failure to act by the new date for default would “cause severe hardship to American families, harm our global leadership position and raise questions about our ability to defend our national security interests”.Anxious retirees and others were already making contingency plans for missed checks, with the next Social Security payments due next week.Any deal struck by the White House and Republican negotiators would need to be a political compromise, with support from both Democrats and Republicans needed to pass the divided US Congress.McCarthy has promised to give his Republican members 72 hours to go through any deal, pushing back a vote to at least Tuesday and possibly much later in the week, depending on when a deal can be announced.On Saturday, Axios revealed that independent senator Kyrsten Sinema has joined the negotiations, according to sources familiar with the matter.The outlet reported that as Sinema attempts to use her newfound independent position to help negotiators reach a compromise, some Democratic lawmakers are privately concerned that her involvement might limit key renewable energy proposals.Currently, Republicans are seeking to make modifications to the National Environmental Policy Act in order to remove legal restrictions for oil and gas companies. Meanwhile, Democrats have urged the Biden administration and Democratic congressional leaders to oppose any Nepa changes.Earlier this month, Arizona’s representative Raúl Grijalva, a ranking member of the House natural resources committee, sent a letter – along with 79 other Democrats – to Biden and Democratic leadership, urging them to oppose environmental rollbacks in any deal.Ultimately, focus would especially be on the reaction to rightwing Republicans in the House, especially those in the Freedom Caucus mostly aligned with former US president Donald Trump.“Raising the debt ceiling is not a ‘concession’ by Republicans – it’s their constitutional duty,” the New York Democratic representative Dan Goldman tweeted on Friday.“Republicans are extorting the American people by threatening to crater the economy to extract unreasonable demands they’d never be able to get in the ordinary appropriations process,” he added.Several credit-rating agencies have said they have put the US on review for a possible downgrade, which would push up borrowing costs and undercut its standing as the backbone of the global financial system.A similar 2011 standoff led Standard & Poor’s to downgrade its rating on US debt, hammering markets and sending the government’s borrowing costs higher. More

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      US lawmakers blame each other for debt ceiling standoff: ‘They are not negotiating’

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      Lawmakers exchanged sharp criticism about who was to blame for the protracted standoff over the debt ceiling on Wednesday.As the country nears its deadline to avoid a federal default, talks between Joe Biden and the House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, continued on Wednesday, as negotiators met again to hash out the details of a potential deal. But both parties simultaneously trade pointed remarks, underscoring that an agreement is not yet in reach.Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, pushed back against Republicans’ insistence on spending cuts. Jayapal said she spoke Tuesday to White House officials who informed her that Republican negotiators had already rejected $3tn worth of deficit-reduction proposals, such as ending tax subsidies for large oil companies and closing the carried-interest loophole.“It is not actually about debt or deficit,” Jayapal said at a press conference Wednesday afternoon. “It is about keeping the cash flowing to the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations.”Accusing Biden of acquiescing to the “extreme” wing of his party, McCarthy reiterated that he would not support a “clean” bill raising the debt ceiling without cutting government spending. Rejecting the White House’s efforts to reduce the federal deficit by raising more tax revenue, McCarthy insisted that any agreement must focus on the spending side.“We have to spend less than we spent last year,” McCarthy said. “It’s not a revenue problem. It’s a spending problem.”Asked what concessions McCarthy was willing to offer Democrats to win their support on a potential bipartisan bill raising the debt ceiling, the speaker sidestepped the question.“I’m willing to make America stronger, to curb inflation, less dependency on China and spend less than we spent the year before,” McCarthy replied. “It’s not my responsibility to represent the socialist wing of the Democratic party.”Progressive lawmakers countered that Republicans were playing politics with the future of the US economy in the hopes of weakening Biden’s prospects in the 2024 election.“They are not negotiating,” said the progressive congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. “They are looking to waste time, play games and make sure we default because they think that somehow that is going to be a political advantage that they will have in the coming elections.”The clashing perspectives demonstrated the challenges ahead in getting a debt ceiling bill through Congress. With some of the far-right members of the House Republican conference indicating they will not accept any compromise on the debt ceiling, McCarthy will likely need some Democratic votes to pass a bipartisan bill, and that task appeared daunting on Wednesday.“Democrats are not going to vote for a bill that screws poor people while protecting rich people and paving the way for another tax cut for billionaires,” said congressman Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the House rules committee.The White House, however, voiced optimism that a deal could still be struck, saying the talks remained “productive”.“If it keeps going in good faith, then we can get to an agreement here that is bipartisan and that will get out of the House and get out of the Senate,” said Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionThe clock is ticking for lawmakers to reach a solution and prevent a default that could reap devastating consequences on the American economy and global markets. The treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, reiterated in a letter sent to congressional leaders on Monday that the US government may be unable to pay its bills as early as 1 June.With just a week left before a potential default, surveys offer a mixed picture on the public’s response to the debt ceiling negotiations. According to a CNN poll, 60% of Americans believe the debt ceiling should only be raised if Congress simultaneously approves government spending cuts, while 24% want the borrowing limit to be hiked no matter what. But another NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist survey showed 52% of Americans support Congress raising the debt ceiling and holding a separate discussion on potential spending cuts.For most Americans, the debt ceiling fight remains a distinctly Washington issue. The CNN survey found that 71% of Americans believe failure to address the debt ceiling would cause a crisis or major problems for the country, but only 35% said a default would damage their own finances.And yet, economists have warned that the ramifications of a federal default would be felt in every US household. Millions of jobs could be lost, and interest rates would probably climb, while those who rely on government funding would be deeply affected. A default would also probably trigger a severe tumble in the US stock market, reducing the value of tens of millions of Americans’ retirement accounts.Speaking at a Wall Street Journal forum on Wednesday, Yellen noted that markets are already seeing some volatility as the debt ceiling talks drag on, and she warned that the Biden administration will face “very tough choices” if the debt ceiling is not raised.“There will be some obligations we will be unable to pay,” Yellen said. She added, “We simply have to raise the debt ceiling.” More

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      Republican debt ceiling plans could see most vulnerable Americans lose aid

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      As debt ceiling negotiations come down to the wire with the 1 June deadline looming, some Republican leaders seem determined to use critical safety net programs – specifically, Medicaid and Snap – as a bargaining chip, and millions of America’s most vulnerable families may pay the price.Cuts and restrictions to these essential programs, which offer healthcare and food assistance, will cause further hardship to families who are already struggling – and who in many cases can’t afford the basic essentials like food and shelter. The Republican fixation on appending work requirements to these benefits are also ineffective: data shows these policies are not needed and don’t produce any substantial solutions. Some critics say they also force people to find jobs that don’t actually lead to economic mobility, prolonging their need for federal assistance.“Most Americans with health coverage through Medicaid are already working if they are able to,” Senator Ron Wyden, chairman of the Senate finance committee, said in a recent statement. He also noted that “the track record shows work reporting requirements are a bureaucratic nightmare for Americans”.If Democrats make these concessions to the GOP, the cuts would also be one more blow to vulnerable people this year, many of whom just recently experienced slashed benefits when emergency Snap benefits ended along with the public health emergency for Covid-19 in May. At the same time, grocery prices are soaring: The US Department of Agriculture estimates all food prices are predicted to increase 6.5% in 2023, on top of the jumps in cost we’ve already seen over the past year or so.Maine resident Hazel Willow, single mother to a four year old, recently left an abusive relationship and says these programs provide the essential support she desperately needs to survive and heal.“The way I’m best able to provide for my child, to make sure I’m living my highest good as myself, a mother, a citizen and human in society, is to heal and recover with whatever ability I have in my body that day,” Willow said. “To do that safely and successfully, I need the societal safety net of Snap, Tanf, Wic, and others.”Willow notes that – like everyone else she knows who relies on these programs – she would love to be more self-sufficient, and wishes she had more options that would provide her with more financial breathing room and agency over her own life.“A life in which you live or die by your access to these programs is not an easy one. In my new world – where almost everyone is on most of these same programs – I have yet to meet someone who has an easy day, who is happy and safe with the way their life is and feels content to simply exist on these benefits.”Paco Vélez, president and chief executive of Feeding South Florida, said there are more than a million people struggling with food insecurity in his region and worries that more restrictions will make the situation even more dire.“The proposed work restrictions expand the minimum 20 hour per week work requirement from ages 18 to 49 to include ages 50 to 55,” said Vélez. “Many times, individuals that are unable to work fall through the cracks and have a hard time filing for an exemption or navigating the process to obtain disability, although their health is at risk, or they are unable to perform in a job they used to be able to do.”“My Snap benefits run out by the second week of the month and that is already shopping for whatever I can find on sale,” says Lilia Jorge Perez, 51, of Hollywood, Florida, who relies on Feeding South Florida. “I want to buy more healthy foods like vegetables, fruits, chicken or fish but that would take most of my benefits.”Perez came to the US from Cuba last year and has been struggling to find work because she is still waiting for her work permit. She was recently cut off from Medicaid and cash assistance and is grateful to be receiving Snap benefits.“It is already difficult to find work and even worse for those over 50 with little to no education and who don’t speak English,” says Perez. “I know people shouldn’t have to rely only on the government to provide for themselves, but if we are already facing the possibility of homelessness from the raise in rent, and people are going without food because of the prices, how can the politicians make it worse during such a difficult time in the United States?”Work restrictions often create obstacles for people accessing benefits, while also putting additional strain on staff and resources that are already stretched thin in such programs. Many families are required to navigate a notoriously complicated and time-consuming process in order to submit documentation proving they are meeting the requirements.And many communities – especially those in high-poverty areas – lack the resources to help residents who are facing food insecurity.“The families we serve may not have access to a computer, miss the required phone interview, or have notices mailed to a former address,” said Vélez. “Expanding the age for work requirements will force more folks to jump through these hoops to access food – a necessity.”Meanwhile, the cuts could deprive millions of Americans access to healthcare at a time when Covid continues to have significant impacts. The pandemic emergency status may have officially ended earlier in May, but tens of thousands of Americans are still getting sick with the virus or dealing with the lingering symptoms of long-term Covid.A mandatory national Medicaid recertification process involving all program enrollees – known as an “unwinding” – has already begun as states resume the annual eligibility verification procedures that had been on hold during the pandemic. KFF estimates that between 5.3 million and 14.2 million people will lose Medicaid coverage just through that process alone.States that saw some of the largest Medicaid enrollment surges during the pandemic – such as California, New York and Florida – are also likely to be among those with the largest number of people who lose coverage during this unwinding process. That means many people living in those states will soon be left uninsured – particularly in states like Florida, which didn’t adopt the Medicaid expansion, meaning fewer people meet the criteria for eligibility.Adding work requirements and other barriers to coverage will compound the healthcare access crisis – and place significant strain on community resources including emergency rooms (where uninsured patients will seek care if they have no other option).The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) says the red tape created by the Republicans’ proposed work restrictions would jeopardize the health coverage and access to care of 21 million Americans.Kimberley Causey-Gomez, commissioner of the Virgin Islands Department of Human Services, notes that more than 40% of the territory’s population relies on Medicaid, and she worries that many of them may be at risk of losing coverage (and the access to healthcare) should work requirements become a reality.Meanwhile, in Maine, Willow thinks the wealthy, including lawmakers and administrators who create and oversee these policies, don’t appreciate the consequences their actions have for people who rely on these programs – people who play an important role in our communities and society.“The people who make your coffee, cut your hair or bag your groceries. The staff at the gas stations and restaurants you frequent,” she said.“Your life is supported by these programs whether you see them or not.”This article was supported by the Economic Hardship Reporting Project More

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      Debt ceiling showdowns aren’t new – but this time gonzo Republicans are ready to blow up the economy | Robert Reich

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      On 22 October 1985, the treasury secretary, James A Baker III, told congressional leaders that if Congress failed to raise the debt ceiling by the end of the month, the Reagan administration would pay the nation’s bills by taking back treasury securities in which social security had invested.It was an extraordinary move. Under Baker’s plan, social security would lose interest on its funds.If Congress still didn’t raise the debt ceiling, the administration would borrow from the railroad retirement and military retirement trust funds.If the impasse continued, it would begin selling gold from the US gold reserve “even though that could undercut confidence here and abroad based on the widespread belief that the gold reserve is the foundation of our financial system”, said Baker.An agreement was reached after the Reagan administration had begun raiding social security, but before it took any other measures.The comptroller general of the United States later found Baker’s raid on social security technically illegal but concluded nonetheless that Baker “did not act unreasonably” under the circumstances.I recount this history to give you some perspective on the current debt-ceiling crisis.First, showdowns over the debt ceiling have been going on for a long time.Second, they have often been fueled by soaring national debts due to Republican tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations.The 1985 standoff involved a refusal by Senate Democrats to support a balanced budget, even though it was Reagan’s mammoth spending on the military and huge tax cut that had doubled the national debt in less than five years.Finally, they have required Treasury secretaries to do extraordinary things to keep paying the nation’s bills notwithstanding, sometimes technically illegal.Hence, there have never been “X-dates” at which time the treasury runs dry. There are just ever more extreme government bookkeeping measures.But here’s the difference this time. Previous standoffs have been carefully crafted dramas in which both sides demonstrate their commitments to their position, knowing full well how the play will end – with the debt ceiling lifted.This time, though, gonzo lawmakers like Marjorie Taylor Greene and nihilists like the current Republican frontrunner for president have considerable influence.And unlike Bob Dole in 1985, these players have no real commitment to cutting the government debt. (Were that their goal, presumably they wouldn’t have supported the massive 2017 tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations that fueled the debt, or would now urge its repeal. And they certainly wouldn’t demand cuts in staffing for the IRS, which House Republicans are also now doing.)Their only commitment is to power – gaining dominance over, and submission from, Democrats, progressives, putative “coastal elites” and so-called “deep state” bureaucrats.For them, this is not play-acting. It’s not for show. It’s for real. If they don’t get their way, they’re prepared to blow up the economy.In fact, as the so-called X-date looms ever closer, their demands have only escalated.Which is why it’s critical for Biden to continue paying the government’s bills and for the treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, to continue using every bookkeeping scheme imaginable to find the means to pay those bills.They must never declare an “X-date”, and never default.If Kevin McCarthy and his band of radicals don’t like this, let them take the Biden administration to court.Let House Republicans argue in the courts that the 1917 act establishing the debt ceiling has precedence over section 4 of the 14th amendment, which requires that the “the validity of the public debt …. shall not be questioned.”Let them claim that the debt-ceiling act takes precedence over other acts of Congress that require the president, for example, to pay interest on the federal debt, distribute social security benefits, and pay bills from defense contractors and everyone else who has relied on the full faith and credit of the United States.Let McCarthy and House Republicans make the case before the courts that they have standing to sue Biden for paying the government’s debts as they come due.Finally, let McCarthy, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and the other loonies demand openly and publicly in court that Biden not honor the full faith and credit of the United States – with the predictable results that the cost of borrowing soars, bond markets crash, the stock market plummets, the global economy is in turmoil, the dollar’s status as the world’s major currency is up for grabs, America is plunged into a deep recession, and millions of jobs are lost.In other words, leave it to McCarthy and House Republicans to seek to enforce their dangerous nonsense about the debt ceiling – so Americans can see clearly what they’re up to.
      Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. His new book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, is out now. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com More