Negotiators representing Joe Biden and Kevin McCarthy are finally getting to work on finding an agreement to raise the debt ceiling before America potentially defaults on 1 June. The speaker of the house says Republicans want tighter requirements on government aid recipients in any deal and no tax hikes, while the president said he wasn’t interested in further restricting access to anti-poverty programs, underscoring an issue that could prove a wedge before the two sides. The president then left town for Japan on a truncated trip to Asia, where he’ll meet with leaders from the G7 as well as countries in the Quad, a bloc intended to counter China’s influence.

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Here’s a rundown of the day’s news:

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• Biden deflected criticism that by skipping planned visits to Australia and Papua New Guinea, he’s undercutting his administration’s efforts to build alliances against Beijing in the Pacific.

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• Senate Democratswant Biden to consider invoking the constitution’s 14th amendment, which they say would guarantee the US government could keep paying its bills even if the debt ceiling is not raised.

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• The supreme court declined to block Illinois’s ban on military-style weapons from taking effect while legal challenges make their way through the courts.

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• The House GOPappears ready to block a Democratic resolution that would expel indicted fabulist George Santos from the chamber. They would instead refer the resolution to the ethics committee, which is investigating him.

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• Are Democrats regaining strength in Florida? The triumph of a mayoral candidate in Jacksonville could be a positive sign for the party, which has appeared weak in recent state elections.

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Arguing that Republicans are not negotiating “in good faith”, a group of Democratic senators is planning to send Joe Biden a letter requesting he use his authority under the 14th amendment of the constitution to continue paying the US government’s bills, even if the debt ceiling is not raised.

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“It is unfortunate that Republicans in the House of Representatives and Senate are not acting in good faith. Instead, Republicans have made it clear that they are prepared to hold our entire economy hostage unless you accede to their demands to reduce the deficit on the backs of working families. That is simply unacceptable,” reads the letter obtained by the Guardian.

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“We write to urgently request that you prepare to exercise your authority under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which clearly states: ‘the validity of the public debt of the United States … shall not be questioned.’ Using this authority would allow the United States to continue to pay its bills on-time, without delay, preventing a global economic catastrophe.”

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The letter is being circulated among lawmakers, and current signatories include Democratic senators Tina Smith, Elizabeth Warren, Ed Markey, Jeff Merkley and Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats.

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Negotiators representing Joe Biden and Kevin McCarthy are finally getting to work on finding an agreement to raise the debt ceiling before America potentially defaults on 1 June. McCarthy says Republicans want tighter requirements on government aid recipients in any deal and no tax hikes, while Biden said he wasn’t interested in further restricting access to anti-poverty programs, underscoring an issue that could prove a wedge before the two sides. The president then left town for Japan on a truncated trip to Asia, where he’ll meet with leaders from the G7 as well as countries in the Quad, an alliance intended to counter China’s influence.

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Here’s a rundown of the day’s news so far:

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• Biden deflected criticism that by skipping planned visits to Australia and Papua New Guinea, he’s undercutting his administration’s efforts to build alliances against Beijing in the Pacific.

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• The supreme court declined to block Illinois’s ban on military-style weapons from taking effect while legal challenges make their way through the courts.

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• The House GOPappears ready to block a Democratic resolution that would expel indicted fabulist George Santos from the chamber. They would instead refer the resolution to the ethics committee, which is investigating him.

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Kevin McCarthy just concluded a press conference alongside Republican lawmakers from the House and Senate, where he ruled out increasing taxes in a debt ceiling deal and signaled he would push for stricter work requirements for recipients of federal government aid.

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“No!” he replied when asked if he would consider higher taxes on wealthy Americans as part of a debt limit compromise.

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He also justified the GOP’s push to insist people in programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program work in order to receive the benefits. “Why wouldn’t he want to help people get out of poverty?” McCarthy asked, tying stricter work requirements to the programs’ effectiveness – a link studies have found is uneven.

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He also said he would stick to a promise made during his contentious election as speaker of the House to give lawmakers 72 hours to review any legislation before it is voted on.

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“It takes so many days to get through the Senate, so many days through the House. We have a 72 hour rule, which I’m not going to break. I think the American public and all the members should have 72 hours to read what we end up with, if we’re able to end up with it,” McCarthy said.

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Joe Biden says he is “confident” that a deal will be reached to increase the debt ceiling and avoid a US government default.

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“I’m confident that we’ll get the agreement on the budget, that America will not default,” the president said in a speech at the White House following his meeting yesterday afternoon with the Republican House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, and other leaders of Congress.

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“We’re going to come together because there’s no alternative way to do the right thing for the country. We have to move on.”

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The supreme court has declined to block a ban on military-style weapons approved by Illinois’s legislature from taking effect, the Washington Post reports:

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BREAKING; Supreme Court leaves in place Illinois restrictions on military-style weapons while legal battles continue. No noted dissents

— Robert Barnes (@scotusreporter) May 17, 2023

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Lawmakers in the midwestern state had passed the measure about six months after seven people were killed and more than 30 injured in a mass shooting in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park.

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While the supreme court did not stop the law from taking effect, it allowed legal challenges filed against it to proceed in state and federal courts.

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The White House has just announced that Joe Biden will speak at 10.45am ET “on preventing a first-ever government default”.

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The speech was not previously scheduled. The president still plans to later this morning begin his journey to Japan as part of a trip that was cut short so he could return to Washington to deal with the debt limit standoff.

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We’ll cover the speech on this blog as it happens.

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The top Democrat in the House of Representatives said the party is moving ahead with a parliamentary tactic that could force a vote on raising the debt ceiling in case negotiations between Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy fail.

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In a letter to Democrats, the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, encouraged his lawmakers to support a discharge petition filed by Brendan Boyle, the ranking member of the budget committee. The unusual maneuver circumvents that usual committee process bills must undergo by bringing legislation directly to the floor, but is time consuming and faces uncertain prospects of success.

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“In the next few weeks, at the reckless urging of former President Trump, we confront the possibility that right-wing extremists will intentionally plunge our country into a default crisis. Emerging from the White House meeting, I am hopeful that a real pathway exists to find an acceptable, bipartisan resolution that prevents a default,” wrote Jeffries, who attended the meeting yesterday where Biden and McCarthy agreed to appoint deputies to negotiate over an agreement.

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“However, given the impending June 1 deadline and urgency of the moment, it is important that all legislative options be pursued in the event that no agreement is reached. Accordingly, later on this morning, Budget Committee Ranking Member Brendan Boyle will file a discharge petition to provide a vehicle that may be necessary to protect the full faith and credit of the United States,” he continued, asking every Democrat to sign the petition today.

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A hint of Joe Biden’s newfound seriousness over the debt limit negotiations emerged yesterday, shortly before his meeting with Republican Kevin McCarthy and other congressional leaders. The giveaway was an unnamed administration official telling reporters that Biden would cut short his trip to Asia and return to Washington work on a deal – which the White House later confirmed would indeed happen, shortly after the president reversed his policy of not negotiating over the debt ceiling and appointed deputies to sit down with Republicans.

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While Biden will still travel to Japan to meet with G7 leaders and the country’s prime minister, he’s cut out visits to two other countries that were intended to shore up the influence of Washington and its allies against China. Biden will no longer visit Australia and attend a meeting of nations in the Quad, a group formed to stand against Beijing’s influence. Nor will he make the first ever visit by an American president to Papua New Guinea, a stop seen as intended to bring the country under the US’s wing.

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From Australia, the Guardian’s Daniel Hurst reports that by cancelling his visits to the two countries, Biden has dealt a blow to US diplomacy in Asia:

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The Chinese government is probably the biggest winner from Joe Biden’s decision to pull out of his trip to Australia and Papua New Guinea, forcing the cancellation of the Quad summit in Sydney.

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Chinese state media outlets won’t need to muster much creative energy to weave together some of Beijing’s preferred narratives: that the US is racked by increasingly severe domestic upheaval and is an unreliable partner, quick to leave allies high and dry.

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To make matters worse for the US’s standing in the region, Biden’s planned visit to PNG on Monday had been trumpeted as a clear statement of intent about his commitment to the Pacific amid growing competition for influence with China.

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You can read the rest of his story below:

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Good morning, US politics blog readers. Joe Biden spent weeks refusing to negotiate with Republicans over raising the debt ceiling, even as the party gave no ground on the issue and the 1 June deadline for a potential US government default grew nearer.

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Yesterday, the president met with the speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, and the two men agreed to appoint deputies to hash out a bipartisan measure that will probably include some policy concessions demanded of Democrats by conservatives and also raise the limit.

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In a sign of how seriously he is taking the deadline, Biden cut short the trip to Asia he will begin today, scrapping a stop in Australia and the first visit to Papua New Guinea by a US president. And while the government estimates it will need an increase approved by the start of June to avoid missing bond and salary payments for the first time in history, lawmakers are under an even tighter deadline.

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Congress only works certain days, and McCarthy has estimated a framework must be agreed to by the end of this week in order for legislation to be approved by both the House and Senate.

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Here’s a look at what we expect to happen today:

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• Biden is departing Washington DC for Japan, where he’ll meet with prime minister Fumio Kishida and attend a summit of G7 leaders.

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• McCarthy and top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell will brief reporters in the Capitol at 11:15am ET.

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• White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will take questions from reporters as Air Force One heads to Japan. She’ll be joined by national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

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Closing abstract

Negotiators representing Joe Biden and Kevin McCarthy are lastly attending to work on discovering an settlement to boost the debt ceiling earlier than America doubtlessly defaults on 1 June. The speaker of the home says Republicans need tighter necessities on authorities assist recipients in any deal and no tax hikes, whereas the president mentioned he wasn’t involved in additional limiting entry to anti-poverty applications, underscoring a difficulty that might show a wedge earlier than the 2 sides. The president then left city for Japan on a truncated journey to Asia, the place he’ll meet with leaders from the G7 in addition to nations within the Quad, a bloc supposed to counter China’s affect.

Right here’s a rundown of the day’s information:

• Biden deflected criticism that by skipping deliberate visits to Australia and Papua New Guinea, he’s undercutting his administration’s efforts to construct alliances in opposition to Beijing within the Pacific.

• Senate Democrats need Biden to think about invoking the structure’s 14th modification, which they are saying would assure the US authorities might preserve paying its payments even when the debt ceiling isn’t raised.

• The supreme court docket declined to dam Illinois’s ban on military-style weapons from taking impact whereas authorized challenges make their approach via the courts.

• The Home GOP seems prepared to dam a Democratic decision that might expel indicted fabulist George Santos from the chamber. They might as a substitute refer the decision to the ethics committee, which is investigating him.

• Are Democrats regaining power in Florida? The triumph of a mayoral candidate in Jacksonville may very well be a constructive signal for the occasion, which has appeared weak in current state elections.

Whilst Republican-led states push forward with limiting abortion, the occasion’s presidential frontrunner Donald Trump has stayed obscure concerning the diploma to which he would assist reducing off entry to the process.

That’s offered Joe Biden a gap. In a tweet, he dissected a cryptic Truth social post Trump made right this moment to argue the previous president favors nationwide abortion restrictions:

That’s about as clear because it will get. Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans are accountable for killing Roe v. Wade. And in the event you vote for them, they’ll go even additional. pic.twitter.com/IsPEy8pm7M

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 17, 2023

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That’s about as clear because it will get. Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans are accountable for killing Roe v. Wade. And in the event you vote for them, they’ll go even additional. pic.twitter.com/IsPEy8pm7M

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 17, 2023

The battle over entry to the abortion treatment mifepristone is continuous right this moment, as an appeals panel with a historical past of hostility to reproductive rights hears arguments within the case, which narrowly escaped being taken out of pharmacies final month. The Guardian’s Ramon Antonio Vargas has the newest on the continued listening to:

Three US appeals court docket judges who’ve beforehand favored abortion restrictions ready to listen to oral arguments on Wednesday on the way forward for the foremost abortion drug mifepristone.

The case – which has landed earlier than judges Jennifer Walker Elrod, James Ho and Cory Wilson – basically calls on them to rule on whether or not the federal authorities ought to droop orcut back the federal Meals and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of mifepristone in 2000, together with later actions that made the tablet extra broadly accessible.

Mifepristone has constantly been discovered to be secure and efficient, and advocates argue that it’s safer than the erectile dysfunction treatment Viagra and low-level ache reliever Tylenol.

Democratic senators name on Biden to invoke 14th modification to forestall default

Arguing that Republicans will not be negotiating “in good religion”, a bunch of Democratic senators is planning to ship Joe Biden a letter requesting he use his authority underneath the 14th modification of the structure to proceed paying the US authorities’s payments, even when the debt ceiling isn’t raised.

“It’s unlucky that Republicans within the Home of Representatives and Senate will not be appearing in good religion. As an alternative, Republicans have made it clear that they’re ready to carry our whole economic system hostage except you accede to their calls for to scale back the deficit on the backs of working households. That’s merely unacceptable,” reads the letter obtained by the Guardian.

“We write to urgently request that you simply put together to train your authority underneath the 14th Modification of the Structure, which clearly states: ‘the validity of the general public debt of america … shall not be questioned.’ Utilizing this authority would enable america to proceed to pay its payments on-time, immediately, stopping a worldwide financial disaster.”

The letter is being circulated amongst lawmakers, and present signatories embrace Democratic senators Tina Smith, Elizabeth Warren, Ed Markey, Jeff Merkley and Bernie Sanders, an impartial who caucuses with the Democrats.

Right here’s a narrative to observe. Final evening, Jacksonville, Florida, elected a Democratic mayor, turning away a Republican candidate backed by governor Ron DeSantis. Florida is commonly thought-about a swing state, however has turned rightward in current elections and noticed Democratic candidates carry out particularly poorly within the final November’s midterms. May the end result of the mayor’s race in Jacksonville be a constructive signal for the occasion statewide? The Related Press has the newest on the election:

In a serious electoral upset on Tuesday, voters in Jacksonville elected their first feminine mayor, defeating a Republican backed by enterprise leaders and endorsed by Ron DeSantis, the state governor and potential presidential candidate.

Jacksonville is probably the most populous Florida metropolis, with about 950,000 residents. Donna Deegan, a Democrat, earned 52% of the vote, beating Daniel Davis. About 217,000 folks voted, a turnout of 33%.

DeSantis’s hard-right agenda has usually made nationwide headlines.

However in Jacksonville, Deegan mentioned: “Love received tonight, and we made historical past.

“Now we have a brand new day in Jacksonville as a result of folks selected unity over division – making a broad coalition of individuals throughout the political spectrum that desire a unified metropolis.”

Martin Pengelly

Kaitlan Collins has been given a primetime slot on CNN – every week after struggling to carry the hospital go that was attempting to handle Donald Trump in a New Hampshire city corridor which landed the community in sizzling water.

In a memo to workers right this moment, reported by the Related Press, Chris Licht, the CNN chairman who has come underneath fireplace for internet hosting Trump, referred to as Collins “a wise and gifted journalist who we’ve all seen maintain lawmakers and newsmakers accountable.

“She pushes politicians off their speaking factors, will get actual solutions – and as everybody who’s labored together with her is aware of – breaks quite a lot of information.”

Final week, defending the choice to host Trump, Licht argued that CNN had coated the information in addition to making it.

Collins’s efficiency at St Anselm’s School in Manchester was usually effectively reviewed, for the way in which she tried to name out Trump’s lies concerning the Capitol assault, election subversion and different topics.

However truth checks she inevitably missed (on abortion, for instance), coupled with shows of viewers merriment – resembling when Trump attacked E Jean Carroll, the author he was discovered answerable for sexually assaulting and defaming – ensured a bumpy journey.

Collins will take over a night slot previously crammed by Chris Cuomo, who left CNN amid controversy over his protection of and recommendation to his brother, the now disgraced former New York governor Andrew Cuomo.

Because the Related Press studies, CNN “has struggled to achieve traction with out Cuomo. On Monday, for instance, CNN averaged 454,000 viewers within the time slot, in comparison with Rachel Maddow’s 2.41 million viewers on MSNBC and Sean Hannity’s 1.97 million on Fox, the Nielsen firm mentioned”.

Collins’s transfer takes her away from CNN’s revamped however troubled morning present, from which her co-anchor Don Lemon was fired final month. Poppy Harlow will proceed on that present with visitor hosts, Licht mentioned right this moment.

Licht additionally mentioned CNN “prioritize[s] reporting over punditry and separate the information from the noise”.

Martin Pengelly

My colleague Victoria Bekiempis is fast with the information, out of New York Metropolis, that the previous mayor and distinguished Trump ally Rudy Giuliani has a brand new authorized downside right this moment …

A heckler who was charged with assaulting Rudy Giuliani at a Staten Island grocery retailer final yr has filed go well with in opposition to the previous New York mayor and distinguished Trump ally, alleging he levied an empty accusation.

The lawsuit filed by Daniel Gill in Manhattan federal court docket additionally names as defendants the town and several other law enforcement officials.

It says they “participated in an illegal conspiracy … to deprive [Gill] of his proper to liberty, to his proper to talk freely with out retribution, and to be free from unreasonable seizures, in violation of his rights underneath the primary, fourth and 14th amendments to the structure of america.”

Filed by the distinguished civil rights legal professional Ron Kuby, the civil motion seeks financial damages “for false arrest, civil rights conspiracy leading to false arrest and false imprisonment, defamation, intentional infliction of emotional misery, and negligent infliction of emotional misery”.

The Guardian contacted a Giuliani legal professional for remark.

On 26 June 2022, Giuliani was campaigning along with his son, Andrew Giuliani, a candidate for governor of New York – in what the brand new go well with calls a “self-importance run” – when Gill, a grocery retailer worker, walked previous and clapped the previous mayor on the again, saying: “What’s up, scumbag?”

Giuliani, then 78, accused Gill of hitting him on the again – and mentioned the sensation was like being shot or struck with a boulder.

Within the phrases of Gill’s lawsuit, “video footage captured the whole encounter. One individual referred to as 911 and [officers] arrived on the scene, adopted by different NYPD officers.”

Gill was arrested and spent greater than 24 hours in jail earlier than being arraigned on misdemeanor costs together with third-degree assault.

Martin Pengelly

Stepping approach from Washington and the debt ceiling battle for a second, Ron DeSantis signed a slate of anti-LGBTQ+ payments earlier, utilizing a Christian college in Tampa as a stage for his newest culture-war-fueled transfer in the direction of declaring a run for the Republican presidential nomination.

In entrance of a cheering crowd, the governor signed payments banning gender-affirming take care of minors, limiting pronoun use in public faculties and forcing folks to make use of loos equivalent to their intercourse in some conditions.

“It’s form of unhappy that we even have a few of these discussions,” DeSantis mentioned, talking from a lectern carrying the slogan: Let Children Be Children.

“We by no means did this via all of human historical past till like, what, two weeks in the past? Now that is one thing? They’re having third-graders declare pronouns? We’re not doing the pronoun Olympics in Florida.”

DeSantis is anticipated to announce his run for the presidency quickly. He locations a transparent second in Republican polling – if a good distance behind the previous president Donald Trump.

Observers – and donors – have questioned whether or not his hard-right document in Florida, enabled by Republican supermajorities within the state legislature, will place him too removed from the mainstream to win a normal election in opposition to Joe Biden, ought to he safe the GOP nomination.

A six-week abortion ban and a authorized battle with Disney, over its opposition to a few of his anti-LGBTQ+ laws, have additionally been raised as potential obstacles to success for DeSantis on the nationwide stage.

Right here’s extra, on one other facet of Florida politics moderately much less thrilling for DeSantis:

Progressive Home Democrats are signaling their opposition to Republican makes an attempt to tighten entry to federal anti-poverty applications.

Right here’s Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts:

We must always NOT be reducing entry to essential security web applications, ever.

Full cease.

— Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (@RepPressley) May 17, 2023

“,”url”:”https://twitter.com/RepPressley/standing/1658833021309526024″,”id”:”1658833021309526024″,”hasMedia”:false,”function”:”inline”,”isThirdPartyTracking”:false,”supply”:”Twitter”,”elementId”:”51c7d62b-5135-4f31-bb9e-23c23b17389b”}}”>

We must always NOT be reducing entry to essential security web applications, ever.

Full cease.

— Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (@RepPressley) May 17, 2023

And Minnesota’s Ilhan Omar:

Kevin McCarthy is extorting the President of america and the whole world economic system to remove healthcare and meals help from working folks.

Cease pretending it’s anything. https://t.co/IbhmcbEOuG

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) May 16, 2023

“,”url”:”https://twitter.com/IlhanMN/standing/1658590760722219010″,”id”:”1658590760722219010″,”hasMedia”:false,”function”:”inline”,”isThirdPartyTracking”:false,”supply”:”Twitter”,”elementId”:”95dc69ea-eae4-40ba-af76-088f51df0a29″}}”>

Kevin McCarthy is extorting the President of america and the whole world economic system to remove healthcare and meals help from working folks.

Cease pretending it’s anything. https://t.co/IbhmcbEOuG

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) May 16, 2023

Yesterday, Democratic senator John Fetterman mentioned he might not vote for a measure to boost the debt ceiling that cuts assist for the Supplemental Diet Help Program (SNAP), usually referred to as meals stamps. Right here’s his assertion:

Nobody I’ve ever met desires to remain on SNAP for all times. They want it to make ends meet. I certain didn’t come to Washington to take important help away from working folks on the similar time massive financial institution CEOs almost crash the economic system and get to jet off to Hawaii scot-free. I can’t in good conscience assist a debt ceiling proposal that pushes folks into poverty.

He raised the problem once more in a Tuesday listening to with former executives from the failed Signature and Silicon Valley banks:

'Shouldn’t you might have a working requirement after [the U.S. bails out] your financial institution?'

In a listening to with execs of failed SVB & Signature Financial institution, Sen. John Fetterman questioned why the GOP is 'extra preoccupied' with work necessities for SNAP recipients than protecting banks accountable. pic.twitter.com/x9Ebmw2gJP

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) May 16, 2023

“,”url”:”https://twitter.com/nowthisnews/standing/1658559678945677322″,”id”:”1658559678945677322″,”hasMedia”:false,”function”:”inline”,”isThirdPartyTracking”:false,”supply”:”Twitter”,”elementId”:”46399070-2b84-45e2-b5d4-2e5ea7b84f3e”}}”>

‘Shouldn’t you might have a working requirement after [the U.S. bails out] your financial institution?’

In a listening to with execs of failed SVB & Signature Financial institution, Sen. John Fetterman questioned why the GOP is ‘extra preoccupied’ with work necessities for SNAP recipients than protecting banks accountable. pic.twitter.com/x9Ebmw2gJP

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) May 16, 2023

The flare up within the debt ceiling standoff has offered Donald Trump with a maybe welcome break from the general public highlight, as he offers with a swirl of scandals, investigations and prosecutions. However the Guardian’s Peter Stone studies that Trump hasn’t relented in his zeal to assault his foes, elevating considerations amongst some authorized observers:

As Donald Trump’s authorized troubles mount on the federal, state and native ranges, the ex-president and his legal professionals are banking on their political allies within the Republican occasion to make assaults on a New York prosecutor who has charged Trump with felony offenses, and to additionally get them to assist derail investigations that endanger his 2024 marketing campaign.

Former prosecutors and members of each events have voiced sturdy criticism concerning the drives by Trump, his legal professionals and Republican Home allies to assault prosecutors who’ve filed costs in opposition to Trump or are investigating him, calling such strikes antithetical to democratic rules and the rule of regulation.

Such criticism has not deterred Trump, his legal professionals or pliable Republicans from attempting to discredit prosecutors with political assaults that partially mirror Trump’s lack of success in convincing courts to curb prosecutors.

In April, the Home judiciary committee chairman, Jim Jordan, a key Trump ally, publicly launched an inquiry into the Manhattan district legal professional, Alvin Bragg, quickly after he filed a 34-count indictment of Trump for falsifying enterprise data tied to alleged hush cash funds that Trump made in 2016 to Stormy Daniels, the porn star who claimed Trump had an affair together with her.

In a Fox Information interview final month, Jordan echoed Trump’s assaults on Bragg for “interfering” within the coming election charging that “Alvin Bragg used federal tax {dollars} to go after a former president, to indict a former president for no crime, [which] interferes with the federal election”.

The day up to now

Negotiators representing Joe Biden and Kevin McCarthy are lastly attending to work on discovering an settlement to boost the debt ceiling earlier than America doubtlessly defaults on 1 June. McCarthy says Republicans need tighter necessities on authorities assist recipients in any deal and no tax hikes, whereas Biden mentioned he wasn’t involved in additional limiting entry to anti-poverty applications, underscoring a difficulty that might show a wedge earlier than the 2 sides. The president then left city for Japan on a truncated journey to Asia, the place he’ll meet with leaders from the G7 in addition to nations within the Quad, an alliance supposed to counter China’s affect.

Right here’s a rundown of the day’s information up to now:

• Biden deflected criticism that by skipping deliberate visits to Australia and Papua New Guinea, he’s undercutting his administration’s efforts to construct alliances in opposition to Beijing within the Pacific.

• The supreme court docket declined to dam Illinois’s ban on military-style weapons from taking impact whereas authorized challenges make their approach via the courts.

• The Home GOP seems prepared to dam a Democratic decision that might expel indicted fabulist George Santos from the chamber. They might as a substitute refer the decision to the ethics committee, which is investigating him.

Joe Biden, in the meantime, mentioned he wasn’t involved in imposing work necessities “of any penalties” on federal anti-poverty applications.

His feedback, on the tail finish of his speech about an hour in the past, point out that the brand new necessities proposed by Republicans may very well be a sticking level within the negotiations with Kevin McCarthy.

Right here’s a clip of the president’s feedback:

President Biden says he’ll assist solely restricted security web work necessities, which he has beforehand given conflicting solutions on and which have emerged as a prime GOP precedence:

“I’m not going to just accept any work necessities that go a lot past what’s already [there] .”pic.twitter.com/xJ9Z9krMLj

— The Recount (@therecount) May 17, 2023

“,”url”:”https://twitter.com/therecount/standing/1658858098474221569″,”id”:”1658858098474221569″,”hasMedia”:false,”function”:”inline”,”isThirdPartyTracking”:false,”supply”:”Twitter”,”elementId”:”b1729316-7063-45ca-ad9e-3165f327b07c”}}”>

President Biden says he’ll assist solely restricted security web work necessities, which he has beforehand given conflicting solutions on and which have emerged as a prime GOP precedence:

“I’m not going to just accept any work necessities that go a lot past what’s already [there] .”pic.twitter.com/xJ9Z9krMLj

— The Recount (@therecount) May 17, 2023

McCarthy says no to tax hikes, sure to work necessities for assist in debt restrict deal

Kevin McCarthy simply concluded a press convention alongside Republican lawmakers from the Home and Senate, the place he dominated out rising taxes in a debt ceiling deal and signaled he would push for stricter work necessities for recipients of federal authorities assist.

“No!” he replied when requested if he would take into account greater taxes on rich Individuals as a part of a debt restrict compromise.

He additionally justified the GOP’s push to insist folks in applications like Short-term Help for Needy Households and Supplemental Diet Help Program work in an effort to obtain the advantages. “Why wouldn’t he need to assist folks get out of poverty?” McCarthy requested, tying stricter work necessities to the applications’ effectiveness – a hyperlink research have found is uneven.

He additionally mentioned he would follow a promise made throughout his contentious election as speaker of the Home to present lawmakers 72 hours to overview any laws earlier than it’s voted on.

“It takes so many days to get via the Senate, so many days via the Home. Now we have a 72 hour rule, which I’m not going to interrupt. I feel the American public and all of the members ought to have 72 hours to learn what we find yourself with, if we’re capable of find yourself with it,” McCarthy mentioned.

As he departed the White Home’s Roosevelt Room after talking to reporters, Joe Biden was requested if he had given China a win by cancelling his visits to Australia and Papua New Guinea.

“No,” he replied. “We’re nonetheless formidable allies.”

And whereas it was tough to listen to precisely what he mentioned, the president signaled he supposed to talk or meet sooner or later with the Chinese language president, Xi Jinping.

With a purpose to return to Washington DC on Sunday, Joe Biden canceled visits to Australia and Papua New Guinea supposed to shore up America’s alliances in opposition to China.

In his speech on the White Home, Biden signaled he was conscious of the criticism that his administration isn’t taking efforts to counter China’s affect significantly.

“Within the meantime, I’ve spoken to the Australian chief [Anthony] Albanese … I’m going to be seeing him on the G7,” Biden mentioned, including he would additionally see the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, and the Japanese prime minister, Fumio Kishida, on the assembly. Biden was to satisfy with the leaders at a gathering of the Quad regional group in Australia, which has now been canceled.

“The Quad members shall be there, will get an opportunity to speak individually on the assembly, but it surely’s unlikely I’m going to be occurring to Australia,” the president mentioned.

Joe Biden mentioned he would stay in contact along with his negotiators together with Republican Home speaker Kevin McCarthy throughout his journey to satisfy G7 leaders in Japan.

“I’ll be in fixed contact with my staff whereas I’m on the G7 and be in shut contact with Speaker McCarthy and different leaders as effectively,” he mentioned. “What I’ve carried out in anticipation that we received’t get all of it carried out until I get again is, I’ve lower my journey quick in an effort to be [here] for the ultimate negotiations and signal the cope with the bulk chief.”

He mentioned he anticipated to return to Washington DC on Sunday and maintain a press convention.