Evening Report

Spending negotiations taking shape

by Amee LaTour 05/17/23 05:16 PM ET

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and President Biden meet along with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) in the Oval Office of the White House on May 9 in Washington, D.C., to discuss the debit ceiling. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

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Evening Report

Wednesday, May 17

Contours of spending negotiations emerging

Potential areas for compromise are emerging amid debt limit talks between President Biden and congressional leaders, though many details remain to be worked out between the parties.

The White House has long said Congress needs to pass a debt limit increase with no strings attached, while House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and other Republicans have said such an increase must be tied to spending cuts.

Biden in recent days “signaled there are spending areas he is willing to negotiate, including unspent COVID-19 relief funds and suggesting additional work requirements for certain government assistance programs,” The Hill’s Alex Gangitano and Brett Samuels wrote.

Biden has said there are limits to what he’ll accept regarding work requirements.

The president said Wednesday, a day after he met with the four congressional leaders, “I’m not going to accept any work requirements that’s going to impact on medical health needs of people. … I voted years ago for the work requirements that exist. But it’s possible there could be a few others, but not anything of any consequence.”

A debt limit bill House Republicans recently passed included increased work requirements for people enrolled in Medicaid as well as those receiving assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. It’s unclear what provisions, if any, the GOP is willing to budge on.

Staffers and White House officials are hashing out details in between the president’s meetings with congressional leaders. Biden said he’ll be in “constant contact” throughout his trip to Japan for the Group of Seven (G-7) summit throughout the rest of the week.

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CATCH UP QUICK

Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) unveiled the Reparations Now resolution, urging the government to provide reparations to descendants of enslaved Africans and people of African descent, The Hill’s Cheyanne M. Daniels reported.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed bills Wednesday banning gender-affirming care for transgender youth, expanding restrictions on classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation, barring transgender individuals from certain facilities consistent with their gender identity and further restricting drag shows.
The Hill’s Adam Barnes looks at how changes in the housing market, work situations and buying behaviors have put boomers and millennials in competition for the same homes.

NEW THIS AFTERNOON

Appeals court hears arguments in abortion pill case

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in the Biden administration‘s appeal of a Texas judge’s decision rescinding the FDA‘s approval of abortion pill mifepristone.

The 5th Circuit court is “widely considered to be the most conservative federal appeals court in the country,” The Hill’s Nathaniel Weixel and Zach Schonfeld wrote. A decision isn’t expected for weeks or months. If the appeals court rules against the administration, the case is expected to go to the U.S. Supreme Court.

INTERNATIONAL

G-7 summit: 5 things to watch

The Hill’s Brett Samuels, Alex Gangitano and Niall Stanage share what to watch for throughout the G-7 summit in Japan in the coming days, as world leaders gather to discuss the Ukraine war, climate change and more. Read the report here

OVERSIGHT

State Department will share dissent cable with McCaul

State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said at a press conference that the department will allow Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) to view a dissent channel cable, with personal information redacted, regarding the U.S.’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, while maintaining the department has provided sufficient information through other means.

Earlier this week, McCaul said the committee would vote on whether to hold Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt of Congress for not sharing the cable.

The State Department has argued sharing the cable could compromise the integrity of the dissent channel, a protected way for diplomats to raise foreign policy concerns. McCaul has argued it’s crucial information for the committee’s investigation into the Afghanistan withdrawal.

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IN OTHER NEWS

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Florida’s shift right and Ron DeSantis’s rise

In Part 3 of The Hill’s five-part series on Florida’s transformation into a solidly red state, Max Greenwood and Amie Parnes look at Gov. Ron DeSantis‘s rise from relatively unknown congressman to one of the best-known figures in the Republican Party nationally.

Andrew Yang pens advice to Vivek Ramaswamy

Andrew Yang, co-chair of the Forward Party and former Democratic presidential primary candidate, wrote out his advice for how Republican primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy can beat Donald Trump, published by Politico.

PUNDIT CORNER

“How a fully automated government could end the debt ceiling debate” — Peter Muennig, MD, MPH, professor of Health Policy and Management at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. (Read here)

“Do advances in AI risk a future of human incompetence?” — Matt Cronin, National Security & Cybercrime Coordinator at the Department of Justice and a Fulbright Scholar researching the policy implications of AI and other emerging technologies. Op-ed reflects Cronin’s own views. (Read here)

⏲️ COUNTDOWN

538 days until the presidential election.

🗓 ON TAP TOMORROW

9:30 a.m.: The Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee holds a hearing examining financial regulators following recent bank failures.

President Biden will be in Japan.

UNDER THE RADAR

There a story you think should be getting more attention? Something people should be talking about? Drop me a line: ALaTour@digital-release.thehill.com

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