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 could hit the debt ceiling as early as June 1.
Exact details of the deal have yet to be worked out, and it’s unclear when a deal will be unveiled, but President Joe Biden has reiterated that he believes default is not an option.
“They’re making progress,” Biden said in remarks 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 of the 2024 Republican presidential race is out — Florida Governor Ron DeSantis officially announced his presidential campaign on Wednesday in a major reshuffle of the GOP primary.
South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott also officially announced his own White House candidacy on Monday. And CNN announced it would hold two town halls with former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and former Vice President Mike Pence after the network’s controversial town hall with former President Donald Trump.
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What happened this week in politics?
Debt ceiling talks continue: ‘We need to make more progress now’
With less than a week to go until June 1, the earliest date the United States could run out of money to pay its bills, White House negotiators and House Republicans appear close to 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 called for, in addition to keeping spending levels flat for national programs.
The House adjourned for the Memorial Day long weekend on Thursday, but if a deal is reached, lawmakers could be called back to Washington to vote on the deal to avoid a default.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-California, told reporters Friday that negotiators “made some progress last night” but “we need to make more progress now.”
Related: Could the 14th Amendment resolve the debt limit impasse? The White House says it’s not a solution
Ron DeSantis announces 2024 presidential campaign
Perhaps one of the worst-kept secrets of the 2024 GOP primary race came out Wednesday when Florida Governor Ron DeSantis officially announced he was running for president.
“Decline is a choice, success is achievable, and freedom is worth fighting for,” DeSantis said in an announcement video. “Righting the ship requires sanity for our society, normality for our communities and integrity for our institutions.”
DeSantis’ campaign staged an unconventional campaign launch on Twitter during a conversation with billionaire Elon Musk, albeit with technical difficulties.
The event, originally scheduled for 6 p.m., crashed on Twitter Spaces and became mired in other glitches. His opponents jumped at the chance to give DeSantis a quick hit. The Biden campaign tweeted a link to its fundraising page that read “This link works,” and Trump called the launch “CATASTROPHE!” on Social Truth.
But kicking off the buggy campaign was just one blow in what should be a heated primary race for DeSantis’ highly anticipated campaign. In the first 24 hours of the announcement, his campaign said it had raised $8.2 million – a whopping sum that makes DeSantis a leading contender to overthrow Trump and lead the GOP. .
Twitter issues. No rally. No advantage: 3 surprises on the rollout of the DeSantis campaign
The 2024 Republican presidential primary heats up
DeSantis’ entry into the 2024 GOP primary wasn’t the only major news for the race this week.
Tim Scott announced his presidential campaign on Monday after a month of consideration. Scott, the only black Republican in the Senate, is seeking to be the first African American to win the GOP nomination.
Scott 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, be merciful to us. I believe the next American century begins today,” Scott told supporters Monday in his hometown of North Charleston, South Carolina.
CNN also announced two town halls with Haley and Pence in Iowa following her 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 things’: How a Ten Commandments Fight Shaped Tim Scott
Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes sentenced to 18 years in prison for his role in the Capitol attack on January 6, 2021
Rhodes, founder of the right-wing Oath Keepers militia, was sentenced Thursday to 18 years in prison and 3 years of probation for his role in the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Rhodes was convicted of seditious conspiracy last year in November in a trial in which prosecutors described Rhodes and the oath keepers as the ringleaders behind the pro-Trump mob that raped the Capitol.
“I have never said this to anyone I have convicted: you pose a permanent threat and peril to our democracy and the fabric of this country,” said Judge Amit Mehta, who oversaw the case. THURSDAY.
Related: The Oath Keepers are convicted for the Capitol Riot. What to know about the members of the far-right group
Supreme Court rules against EPA, limits government power to tackle water pollution
The Supreme Court issued a landmark decision Thursday limiting the federal government’s ability to tackle water pollution.
The court sided with a couple who were fighting the Environmental Protection Agency over a real estate development plan in Idaho. The case centered on the Clean Water Act of 1972 and what the EPA could and could not regulate with respect to “United States waters”.
In an opinion written by Judge Samuel Alito, joined by four other conservative judges, the court ruled that the Clean Water Act’s vagueness about the types of water it covered was too confusing for homeowners.
The advisory has major implications for the 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 sided with grandmother who lost home and equity 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 nears debt deal, DeSantis shakes up 2024