default

A voter makes his choices in at a New Orleans Garden District polling place on Election Day, Nov. 8, 2022. (Greg LaRose/Louisiana Illuminator)

Bipartisan former members of Congress call for boost in funding to secure elections

BY: - March 24, 2023

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of former U.S. lawmakers on the National Council on Election Integrity called on Congress on Friday to spend $400 million on election integrity to insulate the system from foreign interference.  “The Department of Homeland Security designated our election system as critical infrastructure in 2017,” the four wrote in a letter. […]

Democratic members of Congress present a report on the economic impact of a possible default on the nation's debt.

Democratic report on U.S. debt default predicts disrupted benefits for seniors, veterans

BY: - March 23, 2023

WASHINGTON — Congress’ Joint Economic Committee released a report Thursday detailing the economic repercussions of defaulting on the nation’s debt, adding fuel to the fire as Democrats pressed Republicans to address the nation’s borrowing limit without tying action to spending cuts. The report, from Democratic staff on the bipartisan Joint Economic Committee, says that a […]

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy answers questions from reporters at the U.S. Capitol about debt limit talks at the White House, on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

Bipartisan group predicts U.S. debt default as soon as summer, depending on tax receipts

BY: - February 22, 2023

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan think tank expects that the United States will default on its debt in the summer or early fall, if Congress doesn’t take action to address the debt limit before then.  The timeline is similar to one the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released last week, saying lawmakers have until sometime between July […]

The facade of the U.S. Treasury Department in Washington, D.C.

U.S. hits debt limit and Treasury Department begins ‘extraordinary measures’

BY: - January 19, 2023

WASHINGTON — The nation reached its debt limit Thursday, beginning the uncertain process known as extraordinary measures, in which the U.S. Treasury Department uses accounting maneuvers to avoid defaulting on the debt.  The often-used practice is intended to give the Republican House, Democratic Senate and Biden administration time to negotiate a bipartisan agreement to raise […]

U.S. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) (right) Rep.-elect Ralph Norman (R-SC) (center) and Rep.-elect Majorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) in the House Chamber during the fourth day of voting for Speaker of the House on Jan. 06, 2023. McCarthy failed to earn more than 218 votes on 13 ballots. The House plans to reconvene at 10 p.m. Eastern to vote again. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

McCarthy flips GOP holdouts as his campaign for U.S. House speaker gathers speed

BY: and - January 6, 2023

WASHINGTON — Kevin McCarthy’s campaign to become speaker of the U.S. House will stretch into at least Friday night, as the California Republican inched ahead in his struggle to unite his divided party around his candidacy and an overhaul of rules under which the chamber will operate. “We’ll come back tonight, and I believe at […]