This Debt Crisis Is Not Like 2011’s. It’s Worse.

On its surface, the unfolding debt-ceiling crisis looks a lot like the confrontation in 2011 between congressional Republicans and then-President Barack Obama. Once again, a new GOP majority in the House is using the threat of a national default as leverage to force a first-term Democratic president to agree to spending cuts in exchange for lifting the federal borrowing limit. A first-ever default could crash the markets and trigger a recession. But, as in 2011, the two parties remain far apart, with a deadline to act approaching rapidly. Eric Cantor…

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EXCLUSIVE: Biden Bribery Allegation Could Mean Impeachment, Republican Policy Chair Says

Impeachment is the only recourse if a government whistleblower’s allegation that President Joe Biden was part of a bribery scheme is true, said Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Ala., chairman of the Republican Policy Committee.  “You can’t prosecute a sitting president for crimes, so the only recourse—if this document exists, and we believe it does—is for the House to bring articles of impeachment,” Palmer told The Daily Signal in a phone interview Friday.  Palmer stressed that members of Congress need to see an FBI document that the unnamed whistleblower says alleges a…

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Biden Promise to “Finish the Job” Welcomed by Progressives

WASHINGTON – In response to President Biden’s official presidential campaign announcement this morning, MoveOn Political Action Executive Director Rahna Epting issued the following statement: “President Biden has done what our millions of MoveOn members sent him to Washington to do: blunted right-wing MAGA extremism, protected our rights and freedoms, and successfully pursued a people-powered agenda to rebuild our economy and reinvest in our communities. MoveOn members enthusiastically campaigned for Joe Biden in the 2020 election, and we welcome the news that he will run again in 2024 to finish the…

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Biden invites McCarthy to White House for debt talks as new default deadline looms June 1

President Biden reversed course Monday and invited House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other congressional leaders to the White House next week for talks, as the Treasury Department warned the U.S. could default on some of its bills as early as June 1. The Washington Times stories: White House

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OPM’s dual role in talent acquisition poses ‘conflict of interest’

The Office of Personnel Management’s advantageous stake in the talent acquisition space is raising alarm bells in Congress. As both regulator and provider of federal talent acquisition systems, OPM has an unfair advantage against other vendors, said Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the Oversight and Accountability Committee. “OPM sells hiring-related services to those agencies which it oversees via USA Staffing, even though there are many private firms that assist both the private and public sector with hiring and related human capital acquisition activities,” Comer said in a March 22…

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The Kyrsten Sinema Theory of American Politics

Kyrsten Sinema knows what everybody says about her. She pretends not to read the press coverage—“I don’t really care”—but she knows. She knows what her colleagues call her behind her back (“egomaniac,” “traitor”). She knows how many articles The New York Times has published about her wardrobe (five). She feels misunderstood, and she would like to explain herself. We’re sitting across from each other in her “hideaway,” a small, windowless room in the basement of the U.S. Capitol Building. Every senator gets one of these subterranean, chamber-adjacent bunkers, and most…

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