by The White House and House Republicans appear to be reaching a deal to ensure the government can continue to pay its debts as the country fears it will hit the debt ceiling as early as June 1.
The exact details of the deal have yet to be worked out and it’s unclear when an agreement will be unveiled, but President Joe Biden has reiterated that he doesn’t think defaulting is an option.
“They are making progress,” Biden said in remarks on Thursday. “I have made it clear time and time again that defaulting on our national debt is not an option.”
Outside of Washington, the worst-kept secret in the 2024 Republican presidential race is out — Florida Governor Ron DeSantis officially announced his presidential campaign on Wednesday in a major shake-up in the GOP primary.
South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott also formally announced his own bid for the White House on Monday. And CNN announced it will host two town halls featuring former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley and former Vice President Mike Pence after the network’s controversial town hall featuring former President Donald Trump.
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What happened in politics this week?
Debt ceiling talks continue: ‘We need to make more progress now’
With less than a week to June 1, the earliest date the US could run out of cash to pay its bills, negotiators for the White House and House Republicans appear to be closing in on a deal to raise the debt ceiling .
Among the possible compromises is a cap on annual discretionary spending for the next two years instead of the six years that House Republicans have been pushing for, in addition to keeping spending levels on domestic programs the same.
The House was adjourned Thursday for the long Memorial Day weekend, but if a deal is reached, lawmakers could be called back to Washington to vote on the agreement to avoid a default.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters Friday that negotiators “made progress last night,” but “we need to make more progress now.”
Related: Could the 14th Amendment Solve the Debt Limit Deadlock? The White House says it’s not a solution
Ron DeSantis Announces 2024 Presidential Campaign
Perhaps one of the worst-kept secrets in the 2024 GOP primary came out Wednesday when Florida Governor Ron DeSantis formally announced that he was running for president.
“Refusing is a choice, success is achievable and freedom is worth fighting for,” DeSantis said in an announcement video. “To right the ship requires common sense for our society, normalcy for our communities and integrity for our institutions.”
DeSantis’ campaign held an unconventional campaign launch on Twitter in a conversation with billionaire Elon Musk, albeit with technical difficulties.
The event, originally scheduled for 6 p.m., crashed on Twitter Spaces and got caught up in other glitches. His opponents took the opportunity to land a quick punch at DeSantis. The Biden campaign tweeted a link to its fundraising page that read, “This link works,” and Trump called the launch a “DISASTER!” on Truth Social.
But the buggy campaign kick-off was just an outlier in what is expected to be a heated primary race for DeSantis’ highly anticipated campaign. In the first 24 hours since the announcement, his campaign announced it had raised $8.2 million — a huge sum that would make DeSantis one of the leading contenders to overthrow Trump and lead the GOP.
Twitter outages. No demonstration. No asset: 3 surprises about the DeSantis campaign rollout
2024 Republican presidential primaries are winding down
DeSantis’ participation in the 2024 GOP primary wasn’t the only major race news this week.
Tim Scott announced his presidential campaign Monday after months of consideration. Scott, the only black Republican in the Senate, wants to be the first African American to win the GOP nomination.
Scott has anchored his campaign in his unwavering faith and an optimistic message that the American dream is still achievable.
“May the Lord bless us for another thousand generations, may he have mercy on us. I believe the next American century begins today,” Scott told supporters in his hometown of North Charleston, South Carolina, on Monday.
CNN also announced two town halls with Haley and Pence in Iowa after the controversial event with Trump. Haley’s town hall is scheduled for June 4 and Pence’s is scheduled for June 7.
A Christian ‘above all’: How a Battle of the Ten Commandments Shaped Tim Scott
Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes sentenced to 18 years in prison for role in January 6, 2021 Capitol bombing
Rhodes, founder of the right-wing militia group Oath Keepers, was sentenced on Thursday to 18 years in prison and 3 years on supervised release for his role in the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Rhodes was convicted of seditious conspiracy last November in a trial in which prosecutors portrayed Rhodes and the Oath Keepers as the leaders behind the pro-Trump mob that raided the Capitol.
“I have never said this to anyone I have sentenced: You are a constant threat and danger to our democracy and the fabric of this country,” said Judge Amit Mehta, who oversaw the case. on Thursday.
Related: Oath Keepers are convicted of the uprising at the Capitol. What you need to know about the far-right group members
Supreme Court Rules Against EPA, Limits Government Authority to Address Water Pollution
The Supreme Court issued a landmark decision on Thursday that limits the federal government’s ability to address water pollution.
The court sided with a couple who have battled with the Environmental Protection Agency over a real estate development plan in the Idaho Panhandle. The case revolved around the 1972 Clean Water Act and what the EPA could and could not regulate when it came to the “waters of the United States.”
In an opinion written by Judge Samuel Alito, along with four other conservative justices, the court ruled that the Clean Water Act’s vagueness about the types of water it covers was too confusing for property owners.
The advisory has major implications for what types of water the EPA will be able to regulate. The EPA can now only regulate wetlands with a “continuous surface connection” to a larger body of water in a way that makes them “indistinguishable” from said bodies.
Related: Supreme Court sides with grandmother who lost home and equity due to back taxes
Contributors: Joey Garrison, Phillip M. Bailey, Ella Lee, and John Fritze, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Week in Politics: Washington Approaches Debt Deal, DeSantis Shakes Up 2024
