President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif. ) remain in a stalemate over proposals to raise the debt ceiling and prevent a national default, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y. ) describing McCarthy's proposals as "vague" and "amorphous". The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll shows that a majority of Americans favor reducing government spending, while House Republicans try to use the debt limit as a tool to do so. In order to combat corruption, support media independence and ensure fair and free elections worldwide, Biden has promised up to $690 million in funding to the Presidential Initiative for Democratic Renewal.
Despite legal issues and other controversies, former President Trump's candidacy for the Presidential election of 2024 is gaining traction among Republicans. The Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is struggling in the polls, with only Trump and Nikki Haley and the businessman Vivek Ramaswamy formally announcing their campaigns.
Sen. The Rand Paul (R-Ky. ) Staffer Phillip Todd was seriously injured in a stabbing incident over the weekend and is undergoing surgery for injuries to the skull, brain and lungs. Glynn Neal, the suspect, was released from prison just one day before the incident and investigators believe that the attack was random.
China has warned of "resolute countermeasures" if House Speaker Kevin McCarthy meets with Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen on their way to Central America.
The recently concluded trial of six Oath Keeper affiliates, which saw four of the accused convicted of felony obstruction of Congress in Jan. One of the jurors in a 90-minute interview with C-SPAN discussed the attack on Capitol on June 6th, 2021 and two of the accused convicted of trespassing misdemeanor charges.
Following a shooting which killed three children and three adults at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, president Biden called on Congress to pass an assault weapons ban. Democrats, who hold a small majority in the Senate, are reluctant to push gun-related legislation unless a significant number of Republicans support it. Sen. Edward J. J. Markey (D-Mass. ) and Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich. ) proposed a bill to direct $50 million each year over five years towards the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study gun violence, but the proposal has virtually no Republican support. Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La. ) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex. ) argued that Democrats are politicizing the issue, while Rep. Andrew Ogles (R-Tenn. ) suggested the focus should be on mental health issues rather than limiting access to guns. Despite the House Democrats passing an assault weapons ban for the first time in decades, the measure lacked enough support to be brought up in the Senate, with a majority leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y. ) not committing to placing it on the Senate floor. Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D. ) said it was "premature" to discuss legislation, citing grieving families in Nashville and an ongoing investigation. Senate Chaplain, retired Rear Adm. Barry C. Barry C. Black, urged lawmakers to move beyond "thoughts and prayers"