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☆ Feinstein Suffered More Complications From Illness Than Were Publicly Disclosed
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Annie Karni | Carl Hulse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When she arrived at the Capitol last week after a more than two-month absence recovering from shingles, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, 89, appeared shockingly diminished. Ms. Feinstein’s frail appearance was a result of several complications after she was hospitalized for shingles in February, some of which she has not publicly disclosed. The shingles spread to her face and neck, causing vision and balance impairments and facial paralysis known as Ramsay Hunt syndrome. Characterized by swelling of the brain, post-shingles encephalitis can leave patients with lasting memory or language problems, sleep disorders, bouts of confusion, mood disorders, headaches and difficulties walking. And even before this latest illness, Ms. Feinstein had already suffered substantial memory issues that had raised questions about her mental capacity.

☆ House Democrats Move Forward With Petition to Force Debt Limit Vote
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Carl Hulse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“Given the impending June 1 deadline and urgency of the moment, it is important that all legislative options be pursued in the event that no agreement is reached,” Mr. Jeffries wrote. The strategy faces long odds given the complexity of the maneuver and the partisan divide in the debt talks. Democrats also see the petition as a way to demonstrate that their party is doing all it can to prevent an economic debacle. “I don’t think we are in any trouble,” Mr. Cole said in an interview. “I don’t think anybody wants to be one of about a half a dozen that hands victory over to Biden.”

☆ The Speaker Gets His Chance to Go Toe-to-Toe With the President
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Carl Hulse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

After insisting for months that he would never do so, the president appears ready to discuss a potential ransom. Republicans believe that Democrats have not afforded Mr. McCarthy the same standing and respect as his predecessors John A. Boehner and Paul D. Ryan, who had stronger policy chops. At a news conference last week, Mr. McCarthy refused to say he was offended or angered by the president’s regard for him. “If you believe the debt ceiling is as important as I think it is, why would you go silent for 97 days?” Mr. McCarthy asked. Democrats believed that failure by the House Republicans would then set up a scenario where members of both parties would race to increase the debt ceiling without accompanying spending cuts to avert a catastrophic default.

☆ Senate Democrats Seek Accounting of Gifts to Thomas and Other Justices
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Carl Hulse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

He refused to take part in a recent Judiciary Committee hearing on possible new ethics rules, citing separation of powers issues. In the letter, the Democrats said the information they were seeking from Mr. Crow would help the committee correct shortcomings in the court’s current ethics and disclosure framework. “We’re seeking information on whether individuals with interests before the Supreme Court were able to gain access to Justices through gifts, lodging, and travel from Harlan Crow and his companies,” Mr. Durbin said in a tweet on Tuesday. Mr. Durbin has so far held back from threatening subpoenas to obtain information or compel testimony from the justices or others. Ms. Feinstein signed the new letter to Mr. Crow, but her unavailability could prevent the committee’s Democrats from winning approval of a subpoena, given Republican opposition.

☆ House Democrats Move to Force a Debt-Limit Increase as Default Date Looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Carl Hulse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

With the possibility of a default now projected as soon as June 1, Democrats on Tuesday began taking steps to deploy the secret weapon they have been holding in reserve. They started the process of trying to force a debt-limit increase bill to the floor through a so-called discharge petition that could bypass Republican leaders who have refused to raise the ceiling unless President Biden agrees to spending cuts and policy changes. “House Democrats are working to make sure we have all options at our disposal to avoid a default,” Representative Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, wrote in a letter he sent to colleagues on Tuesday. “The filing of a debt ceiling measure to be brought up on the discharge calendar preserves an important option. It is now time for MAGA Republicans to act in a bipartisan manner to pay America’s bills without extreme conditions.”

☆ Daines Endorsement Reflects Senate G.O.P.’s Uneasy Alliance With Trump
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Jonathan Swan | Carl Hulse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON — When Senator Steve Daines, the leader of the Senate Republican campaign arm, quietly informed Senator Mitch McConnell, the minority leader, that he intended to endorse former President Donald J. Trump, Mr. McConnell was fine with the idea. Mr. McConnell, the Kentucky Republican, is not on speaking terms with the former president, having abruptly turned against him after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Mr. Trump has publicly savaged the senator and repeatedly demeaned his wife with racist statements. But the minority leader, according to a person familiar with his thinking, believed that somebody in the Senate G.O.P. leadership ranks should have a working relationship with the party’s leading presidential contender — and it might as well be the man charged with winning back the Senate majority.

☆ The Real Debt Limit Fight Is Yet to Come
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Carl Hulse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON — House Republicans on Wednesday did what many of them vowed they never would: They voted to raise the federal debt ceiling. “It sucks,” said Representative Lauren Boebert, a hard-right Republican from Colorado whose vote was carefully watched as party leaders squeezed recalcitrant lawmakers. “But you gotta do what you gotta do.”As a reward for their begrudging support of Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s call for legislation he said would strengthen his bargaining power against President Biden, right-wing conservatives earned the chance to take another debt limit vote sometime this summer. But the next one could be on legislation lacking the budget cuts and policy rollbacks that many Republicans demanded to barely nudge this doomed plan over the top. It also made clear that some combination of Democratic and Republican votes would ultimately be required to raise the debt limit to avert a fiscal catastrophe.

“See, this is the great part,” Mr. McCarthy told reporters who questioned how — if he could barely get his colleagues to elect him — he would ever be able to govern his slim and unruly House Republican majority. Mr. McCarthy is set as early as Wednesday to bring to the floor his proposal to lift the debt ceiling for a year in exchange for spending cuts and policy changes. That includes soliciting “yes” votes from right-wing members who have never before voted to increase the debt ceiling and take pride in that fact. But after late-night wrangling on Tuesday, Mr. McCarthy appeared to have acquiesced at least in part, moving up the imposition of stricter requirements by a year, to 2024. “The last five votes, you’re standing there begging,” Mr. Gingrich said he has told Mr. McCarthy of his own experience with tough bills.

☆ House Republicans, Grasping for Votes, Alter Debt Limit Plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Catie Edmondson | Carl Hulse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON — House Republican leaders on Wednesday were scrounging for the votes to pass legislation to raise the debt ceiling while cutting spending and unraveling major elements of President Biden’s domestic agenda, after a late-night haggling session in which they revised their fiscal plan in an effort to win over holdouts in their ranks. The measure, which would cut federal spending by nearly 14 percent over a decade, would undo some of Mr. Biden’s clean energy tax credits and his student loan cancellation plan and impose stricter work requirements for federal nutrition and health programs. It would be dead on arrival in the Democratic-led Senate and at the White House, where Mr. Biden’s advisers have warned that it would draw his veto. But Speaker Kevin McCarthy, whose reputation and influence were on the line in the steepest test he has faced since winning his post, has described the plan as a way to strengthen his hand as he seeks to force a debt confrontation with the president. In a closed-door meeting with Republicans in the basement of the Capitol on Wednesday morning, Mr. McCarthy pleaded with his conference to back the measure so he could open negotiations with Mr. Biden, according to a person who attended the session and described his remarks on the condition of anonymity.

The Supreme Court temporarily halted court orders that would have impacted the availability of an abortion drug. A Supreme Court decision Friday to keep available — for now — the widely used abortion pill mifepristone was met with relief from one side of the debate, disappointment from the other and a vow from both to keep fighting. Maura Healey of Massachusetts called the court’s decision a “victory” for abortion patients and providers. While statements of muted celebration poured in from elected Democrats and groups supporting abortion rights, comment from Republicans and anti-abortion groups was noticeably sparser. Attorney General Andrew Bailey of Missouri, who opposes abortion, said through a spokesman that the decision was a disappointment.

☆ Democrats Didn’t Just Win Georgia. They Secured a Firmer Grip on the Senate.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Carl Hulse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Having an edge on the committees will allow Democrats to overcome Republican opposition, if they can hold together. Mr. Manchin, however, has said that he would welcome a wider margin because it would take some of the attention and pressure off him as he weighs another run in 2024. Such a situation would “make it easier for me,” Mr. Manchin told reporters last week on Capitol Hill. Mr. Warnock’s win also secured for Democrats the authority to subpoena witnesses before Senate committees without the cooperation of Republicans, which could be hard to come by if the G.O.P. With House Republicans planning an onslaught of investigations when they assume control in January, the ability of Senate Democrats to mount their own investigations could allow them to counterpunch.

Two of his revenge picks to knock off House Republicans who voted to impeach him lost critical general election races in Michigan and Washington. To Mr. Trump, none of that had any bearing on his desire to return to power. “A perfect call.” Absconding with classified documents from the White House? “I think the question is who is the current leader of the Republican Party. In light of what unfolded at Mar-a-Lago, that felt more like the wishful thinking of a born optimist than the judgment of a seasoned student of Mr. Trump.

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