Biden and McCarthy to meet again on debt ceiling with time running short
CBSN
President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are huddling in the White House once again on Monday at 5:30 p.m. ET as time is running short for them to strike a debt ceiling deal.
Mr. Biden cut his trip to Asia short, returning from Japan late Sunday night so he could work toward a deal in the final days before the June 1 deadline. The president and McCarthy spoke on the phone while Mr. Biden was aboard Air Force One en route back to Washington, and negotiators designated by the president and speaker have been trying to reach an agreement on a framework.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said the U.S. could be unable to pay its bills and could default on its debt as soon as June 1, but that date could slide in either direction. And it will take time to pass any legislation through both chambers of Congress, even once the president and McCarthy reach an agreement.
More employees of the Environmental Protection Agency were informed Wednesday that their jobs appear in doubt. Senior leadership at the EPA held an all-staff meeting to tell individuals that President Trump's executive order, "Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing," which was responsible for the closure of the agency's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion office, will likely lead to the shuttering of the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights as well.
In her first hours as attorney general, Pam Bondi issued a broad slate of directives that included a Justice Department review of the prosecutions of President Trump, a reorientation of department work to focus on harsher punishments, actions punishing so-called "sanctuary" cities and an end to diversity initiatives at the department.
The quick-fire volley of tariffs between the U.S. and China in recent days has heightened global fears of a new trade war between the world's two largest economies. Yet while experts think the battle is likely to escalate, they also say the early skirmishes offer hope for an agreement on trade and other key issues that could head off a larger conflict.