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The Biden administration on Tuesday announced that the U.S. would send a $325 million weapons package to Ukraine after the country earlier this month launched a counter-offensive in the war against Russia.Driving the news: The latest aid comes as Russian missile strikes hit the south and east of the country, Axios' Dave Lawler writes.Ukraine claims to have liberated at least seven villages since launching the counter-offensive.But those gains appear to have come at a heavy cost in terms of casualties and equipment.By the numbers: The aid package includes 15 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and 10 Stryker armored personnel carriers, CBS...

The Senate voted late into the night on Thursday to approve a House-passed bill to suspend the debt limit with just days to go until Monday’s fast-approaching deadline to prevent a first-ever default. After hours of discussion and debate, lawmakers considered and voted down 11 amendments to the bill — 10 from Republicans and one from a Democrat — before finally passing the bill, sending the measure to President Joe Biden's desk with just days to spare ahead of Monday's default deadline. "No one gets everything they want in a negotiation, but make no mistake: this bipartisan agreement is a...

WASHINGTON (AP) — House conservatives staged a mini-revolt Tuesday in retaliation for Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s leadership on last week’s vote to raise the debt ceiling, the right wing banding together to block progress on a mixture of bills and vent their frustration. Led by outspoken members of the House Freedom Caucus, a group of 11 Republicans broke with their party on an otherwise routine procedural vote that threw the day’s schedule — and the rest of the week — into disarray. It’s the first such procedural rule vote to fail in nearly two decades. The group is among some of...

During this week’s broadcast of FNC’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) insisted the debt ceiling deal reached by House Republicans and the Biden White House was the “beginning of turning the ship.” “Mr. Speaker, thanks so much for joining us this morning,” FNC host Maria Bartiromo said. “Congratulations to you after all of this work you have put into this. How are you feeling this morning after the president signed the bill into law?”

A CNN poll revealed that 60 percent of Americans wanted meaningful cuts before a debt limit rise. Another 15 percent wanted the United States to default. Only 25% wanted the debt ceiling raised unconditionally.The concern was that the United States would default on its debt. This was a fearmongering falsehood. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen never produced actual numbers, and she changed the default date several times. The truth of the matter is that the federal revenue cash flow easily would easily have covered all debt payments while temporarily delaying some contact payments.Nonetheless in an overwhelming bipartisan vote (the House --...

You probably could have predicted that Joe Biden would take a victory lap after the debt deal finally went through on Thursday. Indeed, I predicted earlier in the day how it would go when I was talking to a family member — Biden would claim what a great bipartisan achievement he’d shepherded while attacking the Republicans over Social Security and Medicare (saying he saved it for Americans). Then he would take no questions.Damn, if I wasn’t right on the money. Of course, it wasn’t anything special — it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to game out their plan. I’ve just...

The Senate voted to overturn President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program Thursday in a symbolic rebuke of the plan that would partially forgive debts of an approximately 40 million borrowers—but despite picking up a few Democratic supporters, the GOP-backed legislation is doomed to fail as Biden has vowed to veto it. The Senate voted 52-46, with Democratic Sens. John Tester (Mont.) and Joe Manchin (W.Va.), along with independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.), joining Republicans. The vote came less than a week after the GOP-controlled House passed the same measure 218-203, with moderate Reps. Jared Golden (D-Maine) and Marie Gluesenkamp...

Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer pushed through legislation on Thursday waiving the nation’s debt limit until January 2025, overcoming obstacles put up by defense hawks, deficit hardliners, and even environmentalist Democrats. Late in the evening, the Senate comfortably passed the debt limit deal struck by President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, mostly doing so with Democratic votes. The 63-36 vote came only days before the June 5 deadline by which Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had warned the debt limit must be raised to avert a first-ever default on the nation’s ability to pay its debts. “America can breathe...

Section 102 of the debt limit bill will discourage Congress from considering spending bills through an open process involving committee markups and amendments.Did you enjoy the massive, more than 4,000-page omnibus spending legislation that lawmakers passed days before Christmas last year without having time to read — and which the people who wrote it apparently didn’t have time to read either?If so, you’ll love the debt limit deal House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., negotiated with the Biden administration. Lawmakers’ claims to the contrary, provisions in the legislation practically guarantee another train wreck omnibus this coming December.Flawed Reason to Vote for...

In all the sturm und drang about the debt ceiling deal, how this passed under the outrageous outrage radar, I have no idea, but it tickles me to death. Now, I had only heard the bloviating about how the agreement did nothing to truncate Biden’s student loan give-away and snarl snarl snarl. But, in and of itself, that would seem like a waste of negotiating ground to me as there’s a fair chance SCOTUS will deep-six it in any event. What I think is really nifty is what McCarthy and his fellows got in this package as far as the...

BREAKING: House overwhelmingly passes Biden-McCarthy debt limit deal 314-117 On to the Senate

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) announced Tuesday that he will introduce the "conservative alternative" to the debt ceiling agreement reached by President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. What are the details? Like other Republicans, Paul believes that McCarthy made significant concessions that essentially kick the can down the road and do not solve the problem of government spending. Paul, therefore, said he will propose an amendment to the so-called "Fiscal Responsibility Act" that would raise the debt ceiling only $500 billion in order to return to the negotiating table. His proposal thus solves the immediate problem of the U.S....

Discussing the debt ceiling deal currently on the table, Scarborough spun a tale of how, back when Mark Meadows was a congressman back in 2017, Joe had emphatically instructed him to get spending under control. As Scarborough described it: "I remember talking to Mark Meadows, going to him I think in 2017, going, "Dude! You guys are spending too much money!" Instead of doing all your stupid virtue signaling, you need to start focusing on spending. "I told Meadows this twice while we were having lunch at the Capitol! I said, "you have got to use your position to actually...

🇺🇸Travis🇺🇸 @Travis_in_Flint 🚨 BREAKING🚨 Speaker McCarthy has given the J6 tapes to @jsolomonReports and they will begin reporting on what they find. According to Congresswoman MTG Solomon along with others have been given unfettered access to the tapes and will report what they find

Just hours before the House is set to meet for a vote to raise the debt ceiling, several progressive Democrats have come out in opposition to the bill and say they won’t assist House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in pushing the legislation across the finish line. Congressional Progressive Caucus Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) announced she would be voting against the bill on Wednesday, setting the stage for several other progressive lawmakers to fall in line behind her. Jayapal told Axios that a “majority of the caucus” opposes the bill, which “could be” enough for them to actively whip against the...

Analyst and financial writer John Rubino says this time, the so-called debt ceiling fight could end in a systemic failure. Rubino points out, “In a well-run society, the debt limit would be zero. Governments should not borrow money in the first place. The amount of money we are borrowing is catastrophic. Historians are going to look back at this era, and they are just going to wonder why we allowed it to happen and what were we thinking. We are destroying the global financial system by allowing governments to borrow this much money. The debt limit thing is being called...

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) faces the challenging task of having to help steer crucial legislation to raise the debt ceiling past Senate conservatives who are calling for amendments to the bill and threatening to delay it for days on end. The bill is expected to get more than 40 Senate Democratic votes, which means it would likely need at least 10-20 “yes” votes from Senate Republicans to get to President Biden’s desk before the June 5 deadline set by Treasury Department Secretary Janet Yellen. McConnell on Sunday came out strongly in favor of the deal negotiated between Biden...

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a key member the House Freedom Caucus (HFC), indicated Tuesday that if Republicans do not stop the debt deal in committee he would consider ousting Kevin McCarthy from leadership as House speaker. In an interview with Glenn Beck on "BlazeTV" Tuesday morning, Roy called the debt limit deal that McCarthy, R-Calif., struck over the weekend with the White House a "betrayal of the power-sharing arrangement that we put in place" – that is to say, the promises McCarthy made to the HFC to give him the votes needed to secure him the speakership after a 15-voting-round...

The debt-ceiling deal negotiated by President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy will reduce the U.S. government’s debt by $1.5 trillion over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office estimated Tuesday. In a letter to Rep. McCarthy (R-CA), CBO director Phillip Schwagel said the agency projected the deal’s caps on discretionary spending in 2024 and 2025 would reduce outlays by $1.3 trillion over the next 1o years. Mandatory spending would fall by $10 billion. Revenues are projected to fall by $2 billion due to cuts to funding for enforcement by the Internal Revenue Service. Interest on the public debt would decline...

It appears righteous conservative fury over McCarthy caving to Joe Biden over the debt ceiling has reached a new boil. Earlier today, Cristina Laila reported that the House Freedom Caucus left open the possibility of filing a motion to vacate and get rid of McCarthy if the Speaker pushes through the garbage debt deal. Following the press conference, Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.), a member of the Freedom Caucus, became the first House Republican to explicitly signal support for ousting McCarthy according to Politico. Politico asked Bishop in an interview whether he would support a motion to vacate the chair. He...