The meeting between Joe Biden and Kevin McCarthy isn’t that big of a deal. No, really: just listen to what the White House is telling the press.
“First meeting of a hundred to follow,” a White House official told Politico. A more succinct description from the same person: “boring”.
The Biden administration yesterday laid out its demands for McCarthy with a memo that asked two questions:
Will the Speaker commit to the bedrock principle that the United States will never default on its financial obligations …?
When will Speaker McCarthy and House Republicans release their Budget?
McCarthy has already answered the first question, saying he will not allow a default in a CBS News interview last Sunday. The budget is an outstanding question, and one Biden and the Democrats will surely seize on to cast the GOP as making vague demands in a negotiation with uniquely high stakes.
As for McCarthy, he has cast just getting the president to sit down with him as a victory, since Biden says he won’t negotiate over increasing the debt ceiling and demanded Republicans raise it without preconditions. But the Republican speaker is intent on bargaining, saying Washington needs to reduce its spending. He hasn’t said what cuts he will demand, though has ruled out going after the Social Security and Medicare benefit programs.
“I’d rather sit down with the president, and let’s have those discussions,” McCarthy said on CBS. “The one thing I do know is, we cannot continue the waste that is happening.”
Key events
Justice department searching Biden’s Delaware home in documents investigation
Federal agents are searching Joe Biden’s Rehoboth Beach, Delaware home as part of the investigation into his possession of classified documents, his personal attorney says.
“Today, with the President’s full support and cooperation, the DOJ is conducting a planned search of his home in Rehoboth, Delaware,” Bob Bauer said in a statement. “Under DOJ’s standard procedures, in the interests of operational security and integrity, it sought to do this work without advance public notice, and we agreed to cooperate. The search today is a further step in a thorough and timely DOJ process we will continue to fully support and facilitate. We will have further information at the conclusion of today’s search.”
Last month, Biden allowed agents to conduct an unprecedented search of his home in Wilmington, Delaware, one of two locations where secret materials had earlier been found. He also consented in November to the FBI searching a former office he used in Washington DC, where the documents were first discovered.
All told, between 25 and 30 classified documents dating to Biden’s time as senator and vice-president have been found by both the FBI and Biden’s aides at the Wilmington and Washington DC properties. Biden’s attorneys also searched the home in Rehoboth Beach, where he often vacations or spends weekends, but found no documents. It is not known to have been previously searched by the FBI.
The spotlight in the House has indeed shifted to Republicans and their slim control of the chamber, but that does not mean progressive Democrats have thrown in the towel. The Guardian’s Joan E Greve spoke to one of their most notable lawmakers, Mark Pocan, about what, if anything, he thinks they can get done over the next two years:
Democrats may not control the House of Representatives anymore, but congressman Mark Pocan is not giving up on his legislative agenda. Pocan, a Wisconsin Democrat and the former co-chair of the congressional progressive caucus (CPC), instead focuses on playing “the long game” of policymaking.
Pocan’s commitment to promoting progressive policies will be on display Wednesday, as he reintroduces the Save Medicare Act. The congressman points to his advocacy for the legislation as just one example of how progressives can keep advancing their ideals in a Republican-controlled House and ensure that Democrats will be ready to act when they regain full control of Congress.
“I’ve been in local, state and federal government. Each time, you can impact more people’s lives, but it takes exponentially longer to get things done,” Pocan told the Guardian. “You’re always in the long game.”
The meeting between Joe Biden and Kevin McCarthy isn’t that big of a deal. No, really: just listen to what the White House is telling the press.
“First meeting of a hundred to follow,” a White House official told Politico. A more succinct description from the same person: “boring”.
The Biden administration yesterday laid out its demands for McCarthy with a memo that asked two questions:
Will the Speaker commit to the bedrock principle that the United States will never default on its financial obligations …?
When will Speaker McCarthy and House Republicans release their Budget?
McCarthy has already answered the first question, saying he will not allow a default in a CBS News interview last Sunday. The budget is an outstanding question, and one Biden and the Democrats will surely seize on to cast the GOP as making vague demands in a negotiation with uniquely high stakes.
As for McCarthy, he has cast just getting the president to sit down with him as a victory, since Biden says he won’t negotiate over increasing the debt ceiling and demanded Republicans raise it without preconditions. But the Republican speaker is intent on bargaining, saying Washington needs to reduce its spending. He hasn’t said what cuts he will demand, though has ruled out going after the Social Security and Medicare benefit programs.
“I’d rather sit down with the president, and let’s have those discussions,” McCarthy said on CBS. “The one thing I do know is, we cannot continue the waste that is happening.”
Biden, McCarthy to meet as debt ceiling imperils economy
Good morning, US politics blog readers. This afternoon, Joe Biden will hold his first meeting with Kevin McCarthy since the California Republican was elected speaker of the House of Representatives, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. The two men will need to agree on a way to raise the US government’s borrowing limit in the next five months or so, otherwise Washington could default on its debt payments for the first time in history, with potentially cataclysmic economic consequences. That said, the White House is telling reporters not to expect too much from their encounter scheduled for 3.15pm eastern time – the two men will meet many times in the months to come.
Here’s what else we can expect today:
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Kamala Harris is heading to Memphis to attend the funeral of Tyre Nichols, whose beating death following a traffic stop has led to the indictment of five police officers on murder charges. The funeral will begin at 10.30am central time, and the Guardian will have a live blog covering it.
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The Republican-led House judiciary and oversight committees will hold their first hearings today. Oversight will investigate fraud in Covid-19 aid programs, while judiciary will look into the more touchy subject of border security.
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White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will brief reporters at 2pm eastern time.