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COMMENTARY
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy outside the White House following a meeting on the debt limit with President Joe Biden, on May 22, 2023. (Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)

What House Republicans got in return for pushing the US to the brink

BY: - May 30, 2023

House Republicans pushed the U.S. to the edge of a fiscal crisis because they wanted deep cuts in government spending. So, based on the tentative deal announced on May 27, 2023, how did they do? In broad strokes, the deal would suspend the debt limit until January 2025, freeze nondefense discretionary funding at current levels […]

Louisiana GOP Rep. Garret Graves, left, and North Carolina Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry speak with reporters about debt limit and government spending negotiations outside the Republican National Committee in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, May 23, 2023. (Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

Treasury secretary pinpoints June 5 as earliest date for U.S. debt default

BY: - May 26, 2023

This story was updated to include Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s latest estimates on a debt limit deadline. WASHINGTON — Republicans in Congress and the Biden administration have until at least June 5 to broker and enact a debt limit bill under new estimates from the Treasury Department, giving negotiators a few more days before the […]

Rep. Nikema Williams of Georgia speaks along with other members of the Democratic Women’s Caucus outside the U.S. Capitol about negotiations on the debt limit on May 25, 2023. (Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

With debt default as soon as a week away, U.S. House jets off for holiday break

BY: - May 25, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. House members walked down the steps of the Capitol building Thursday morning to head back to their districts for a Memorial Day recess exactly one week before the country could default on the debt. House Democrats took to the floor after the final vote of the week to give a series of […]

President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference following the Group of Seven (G-7) leaders summit on May 21, 2023, in Hiroshima, Japan. Biden called Republican demands for sharp spending cuts unacceptable and said he'll talk with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy about debt-ceiling and budget negotiations on his flight back from Japan. (Kiyoshi Ota-Pool/Getty Images)

Biden says he’s offered $1 trillion in spending cuts but GOP won’t budge on debt limit

BY: - May 21, 2023

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Sunday his administration has offered $1 trillion in spending cuts as part of the ongoing talks with Republicans around a budget agreement, but he said no deal has yet been reached.  Biden, speaking from Japan during a press conference following the G7 summit, said his administration wants House Speaker […]

Close-up of a nurse pushing patient on wheelchair in hospital. Healthcare worker hand pushing sick patient on wheelchair.

A default on the U.S. debt would be far worse than a government shutdown. Here’s how.

BY: , , and - May 19, 2023

WASHINGTON — A U.S. default on its debt would have a significantly broader impact on federal operations, financial markets and the global economy than recent government shutdowns that have left ordinary Americans largely untouched. While the two have been confused frequently during debate over the debt limit, the federal government has had considerable practice with […]

Biden vows debt ceiling talks will continue while he’s overseas at G7 summit

BY: - May 17, 2023

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will remain in “constant contact” with debt ceiling negotiators and promised to update the nation Sunday upon his return from a shortened trip to Asia for the G7 economic summit. Biden delivered brief remarks Wednesday before departing on a scheduled trip to Japan that will no longer include stops in […]

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 […]