This week in politics: McCarthy unveils debt limit proposal; Feinstein substitute plan foiled
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How the federal government spends your money and pays the country's bills will be the main event in Washington for the next several weeks now that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has revealed a Republican debt ceiling plan.
The proposal calls for $4.5 trillion in cuts through multiple avenues and sets up a showdown with President Joe Biden, who immediately blasted the idea.
But the first hurdle is the speaker mustering up enough votes by balancing the demands of his conservative flank and concerns of GOP moderates.
Senate Democrats were foiled in their plan to find a substitute for Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California on the powerful Judiciary Committee. The 89-year-old lawmaker's health is at the center of a partisan tug-of-war over the Biden administration's judicial nominees, which could escalate.
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Meanwhile, House Republicans trumpeted how they are defending women and girls by passing a bill that experts say is all about widening a new cultural war ahead of the 2024 election.
The measure would make it a violation of Title IX for federally funded education programs to allow trans student athletes to participate in athletic programs designated for women.
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Justice Clarence Thomas continues to be hounded by reports that question his ethics, which has renewed demands by critics that he resign. But the conservative justice's allies dismiss the concerns and say the high court can handle this without Congress.
And this time the quake in the 2024 presidential races is coming from the Democratic side, where Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is launching a long-shot campaign to snatch the party's nomination from President Joe Biden.
What happened this week in politics?
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy revealed a plan to raise the debt ceiling, which was immediately rebuked by the White House.
Senate Democrats fell short of the needed votes to temporarily replace Sen. Dianne Feinstein on the Judiciary Committee as she recovers from the shingles at home.
As the 2024 election comes more into focus, transgender rights will likely be the next culture war that Republicans seek to ignite.
Justice Clarence Thomas and his finances have raised ethical questions as progressive Democrats demand his resignation.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., scion to a storied political family, is challenging President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination
McCarthy v. Biden on debt limit
The long-awaited debt limit fight is here.
Among McCarthy's $4.5 trillion in cuts are taking back funding for 87,000 IRS agents; reallocating unspent COVID-19 relief money; and eliminating Biden's student loan forgiveness plan.
"President Biden has a choice," McCarthy said in a House floor speech this week. "Come to the table and stop playing partisan political games or cover his ears, refuse to negotiate and risk bumbling his way into the first default in our nation's history."
But Biden isn't backing down after his administration dared Republicans to release their spending plan weeks after the president proposed a $6.9 trillion budget in March.
"He’s threatened to be the first one to default on the debt, which would throw us into a gigantic recession and beyond unless he gets what he wants in the budget," Biden said. "Folks, you’ve got to ask yourselves, what are MAGA Republicans in Congress doing?"
Politics: Biden says McCarthy risking default on national debt. 'What are MAGA Republicans doing in Congress?'
More: McCarthy, GOP debt limit plan proposes $4.5 trillion in cuts, eliminates student loan forgiveness
What we don't know is if McCarthy's bill has enough votes to pass the Republican-controlled House. What we do know is it has little chance in the Democrat-controlled-Senate.
Eventually the speaker and the president—who are miles apart right now—will have to negotiate a compromise.
Dems fail to substitute Feinstein
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer needed 60 votes to pass a resolution naming a substitute for Democratic Sen. Diane Feinstein on the judiciary committee, who remains at home from shingles.
But Republicans said "nah" when they blocked that effort this week.
"The American people reject that kind of scorched-earth behavior or approach to governing,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.
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But the reason is obvious, even if it is partisan gamesmanship.
Feinstein's absence means the Democrat's razor-thin majority cannot advance Biden's more liberal-leaning judicial nominees. There are currently 38 federal court nominees still awaiting votes in committee or the full Senate.
Trans rights could define 2024
Along a party-line vote House Republicans ushered a bill blocking transgender girls and women from joining athletic programs for women.
The legislation—dubbed the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act—won't get far in Washington, but it mirrors the various state level proposals banning transgender students from participating on sports teams that align with their gender identity.
It also underscores how the GOP wants to frame the 2024 election, especially around social issues.
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"(Anti-trans messaging) is successful on the social level," Alithia Zamantakis, a post-doctoral fellow at Northwestern University's Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing told USA TODAY. "On a political level, it's not paying off as well."
RFK Jr. joins 2024 presidential race
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is hoping that Democrats disheartened with Biden will give him a shot at the White House as he seeks the party's nomination.
It's an unlikely candidacy, even for the son of Robert F. Kennedy—who was assassinated during the 1968 presidential campaign—who is also the nephew of President John F. Kennedy and Sen. Ted Kennedy.
The hill is even steeper when considering his controversial anti-vaccine activism.
Yet an exclusive USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll finds RFK, Jr., starting with 14% support among a sample Biden voters, which pollsters say "can't be ignored."
Thomas's gifts, income divide D.C.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas remains in the news this week following reports that he has been disclosing income from a now-defunct real estate company.
This comes after an investigative piece by ProPublica outlining that Thomas, who has been on the high court since 1992, accepted lavish trips and gifts from a friend who is also prominent GOP donor for more than 20 years without disclosing them.
Democrats, as you might expect, are livid.
In the Senate, liberal lawmakers are looking to hold a hearing on the need to “restore confidence” in the court’s ethical standards. On the House side, progressive members have demanded Thomas resign.
None of this seems to move Republicans, who have punted the issue to Chief Justice John Roberts.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: This week in politics: McCarthy reveals debt ceiling plan
