Man arrested after crashing truck near White House

Police have arrested a Missouri man they believe intentionally crashed a truck into a security barrier near the White House. The incident took place Monday night around 10pm when a U-Haul truck smashed into a security barrier near the north side of Lafayette Square, which is across the street from the White House. A Secret Service spokesman identified the driver as a 19-year-old from the St. Louis suburb of Chesterfield. The U.S. Park Police said the man was arrested on multiple charges, including threatening to kill, kidnap or inflict harm on a president, vice president or member of their family; assault with a dangerous weapon; reckless driving; destruction of federal property; and trespassing.

No debt ceiling deal after latest Biden-McCarthy meeting

President Biden and House Speaker McCarthy described their latest round of debt limit talks as “productive,” but there’s still no deal. The two leaders met in the Oval Office for 90 minutes in search of a budget agreement in order to raise the debt ceiling. Both sides described Monday evening’s talks as “productive,” but neither side appeared to be budging much ahead of a looming default deadline. With time growing short, the president and speaker agreed to continue discussing “the path forward.”

GOP Sen. Tim Scott launches 2024 presidential campaign

GOP Sen. Tim Scott to launch 2024 presidential campaign

Republican Senator Tim Scott formally is launching his 2024 presidential campaign. Scott is the Senate’s only Black Republican and he’s been promoting an optimistic vision of America’s future, as well as conservative ideas. The 57-year-old senator is deeply religious and has scheduled a formal announcement at Charleston Southern University, a Baptist school where he attended. Scott already has scheduled TV ads to begin airing in the early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire this week.

Biden, McCarthy to resume debt limit talks at White House

President Biden and House Speaker McCarthy will resume debt ceiling talks on Monday. After cutting short his foreign trip, the president will meet in person at the White House with McCarthy in search of a deal to avert a federal default. The two leaders spoke by phone Sunday afternoon as the president was returning home on Air Force One from Japan. The speaker described the call as “productive.” They face an upcoming deadline when the government could run out of cash to pay its bills. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says June 1st is a “hard deadline.”

GOP 2024 presidential field to expand this week

The field of Republican presidential contenders is about to get bigger this week. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina made it official Friday when he filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission. He has scheduled a formal announcement on Monday at the private Baptist college where he attended. Meanwhile, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is close to formally launching his 2024 White House bid. An announcement could come on Wednesday in Miami. There are a few more Republicans still considering whether or not to enter the race.

Majority of Americans disapprove of Biden’s job performance

Debt limit discussions hit a snag

Debt limit discussions have hit a snag. The talks between Republican and White House negotiators were halted on Friday, just hours after the Biden administration had claimed “steady progress.” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said there wasn’t any movement by the White House, so they paused negotiations. A White House official acknowledged there are “real differences” as the two sides race to reach a deal that would raise the debt ceiling in hopes of preventing a government default.

Biden supports Ukraine training on F-16 fighter jets

White House: “steady progress” in debt talks with GOP

Biden to visit Japan, but cancels Australia on upcoming trip

President Biden is leaving for Japan, but he’s cutting short his week-long foreign trip. After he attends the G-7 summit in Tokyo, the president had been scheduled to travel on to Papua New Guinea to meet with Pacific Island leaders, and then to Australia for a meeting of the leaders of the Quad partnership. But those last two legs of the trip have been canceled so that Mr. Biden can return to Washington for talks with Congress on raising the debt ceiling.

No debt breakthrough for Biden, McCarthy; sides to keep talking

President Biden and congressional leaders are pledging to keep searching for a resolution to their debt limit standoff. There was no breakthrough in the latest Oval Office talks between the president and House Speaker McCarthy. However, both sides have agreed to keep talking. McCarthy emerged from the White House meeting and said a deal is still possible by the end of the week. However, the president will cut short his foreign trip to return to Washington this weekend for more discussions ahead of an early June deadline to avert a default.

Debt standoff forces Biden to cancel part of upcoming foreign trip

President Biden is canceling part of his upcoming foreign trip because of the debt limit standoff. The president leaves Wednesday, as scheduled, for the G7 summit in Japan. But the White House announced that he will not make planned stops in Papua New Guinea and Australia. Mr. Biden will cut short the trip and return to Washington on Sunday. Officials say he’s returning early in order to continue debt ceiling talks with congressional leaders before the approaching deadline — and to avert a government default.

Debt ceiling talks to continue at White House

President Biden and congressional leaders will resume their debt limit talks in the Oval Office. Heading into this afternoon’s high-profile meeting, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said there’s been “no progress” in staff-level talks that took place last week and over the weekend. President Biden expressed hopefulness on Sunday, but McCarthy said lack of progress was “very concerning.” Today’s White House meeting comes as lawmakers must soon raise the government’s legal borrowing limit or risk an unprecedented default.

Special counsel faults FBI for its Trump-Russia probe

A special prosecutor is faulting the FBI for its handling of the Trump-Russia investigation. Special counsel John Durham has ended his four-year investigation with a harsh assessment of the FBI. In his report, he concludes there were a series of missteps by the FBI and Justice Department as investigators looked into possible Trump campaign collusion with Russia in 2016. Durham criticizes the FBI for opening a full-fledged investigation based on “raw, unanalyzed and uncorroborated intelligence,” saying the speed at which it did so was a departure from normal procedures.

Supreme Court to review Dem lawmakers’ suit over Trump hotel lease

Biden, Congress debt talks likely to resume Tuesday

President Biden and congressional leaders will likely resume talks tomorrow [TUE] at the White House over the debt limit. No meeting has been finalized, but the president said talks are likely to resume this week ahead of his Wednesday departure for the G7 summit in Japan. Mr. Biden and the top four lawmakers were supposed to meet on Friday, but that meeting was abruptly postponed so staff-level talks could continue. The president said he’s hopeful Congress can raise the debt ceiling and avoid a government default.

White House defends upcoming India state visit

The White House is defending its decision to host India’s prime minister for a state visit next month. Press freedom in India has declined in recent years and Prime Minister Modi’s government routinely denies criticism of its human rights record. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says the administration regularly engages with other countries, including India, on human rights concerns. The state visit is scheduled for June 22nd.

Tax credits clarified for solar energy companies

The Biden administration is adjusting the “made in America” requirements for solar energy projects. The so-called Inflation Reduction Act signed by President Biden offers billions of dollars in tax credits for solar developers that use American equipment. Now, the Treasury Department says that companies can claim a new subsidy for facilities built with American-made products even if the system’s solar panels contain cells made entirely with Chinese materials. The solar industry welcomes the news, while U-S manufacturers have said that requiring solar cells to be made in America was key to producing goods that today are almost exclusively made in China.

Biden to resume debt limit talks with lawmakers next week

President Biden plans to meet with congressional leaders next week to discuss raising the debt ceiling.
Friday’s meeting was postponed as staff members from the White House and congressional leaders continue their private talks on how to increase the nation’s borrowing authority. Lawmakers are facing a deadline as soon as early June to raise the debt ceiling or risk default.

U.S. sees southern border surge and strain on resources

The U-S government says there’s a surge of migrants at the southern border. Despite declaring “our borders are not open,” Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas said the U-S is already seeing a high number of border encounters in certain areas. The Biden administration has enacted a new asylum regulation that replaces the Title 42 pandemic-related restriction that expired at midnight.

White House debt limit meeting postponed until next week

President Biden’s scheduled meeting with congressional leaders on the debt ceiling has been postponed until next week. Even though Republicans and Democrats weren’t budging from their opposing positions in the debt debate this week, the postponement is not viewed as a breakdown. Private talks have been underway at the Capitol as staff from the White House and the congressional leaders work to try to find a solution. And those discussions will continue through the weekend.

U.S. tells China it wants to ‘move beyond’ spy balloon

The Biden administration tells China it wants to “move beyond” the recent spy balloon controversy. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan met a Chinese foreign policy adviser in Vienna this week. According to a senior official, Sullivan told him the administration is “looking to move beyond” tensions spurred by the shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon that flew across the continental United States. The meeting was not publicized ahead of time and the White House described the discussions as “candid” and “constructive.”

Delay in Biden’s debt limit meeting with lawmakers

Friday’s debt limit meeting between President Biden and congressional leaders has been postponed.
After Tuesday’s meeting with House Speaker McCarthy and other top lawmakers, a follow-up meeting was announced for Friday. But late in the day Thursday, the White House said the meeting was postponed to next week. Administration officials described the news as positive with staff members planning to continue discussions through the weekend. The White House and Congress face an approaching deadline to raise the nation’s borrowing authority or risk default.