The Hill’s 12:30 Report — Debt ceiling fight escalates after limit reached

by Cate Martel - 01/19/23 12:30 PM ET

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–> A midday take on what’s happening in politics and how to have a sense of humor about it.*

*Ha. Haha. Hahah. Sniff. Haha. Sniff. Ha–breaks down crying hysterically.

NEWS THIS MORNING

Oh no, we’re getting closer to hitting the — *boink*:

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen informed lawmakers this morning that the U.S. has officially hit its debt limit today of $31.4 trillion.

OK, so why hasn’t the U.S. metaphorically imploded?: The Treasury Department will take “extraordinary measures” by reshuffling some investments to buy more time — likely until the summer, according to The Washington Post.

Like?: “Temporarily redeeming existing and suspending new investments of the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund and the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund.”

^ But that can only buy some time — then what?: Eventually, the U.S. will need to either borrow more money or default on the debt.

Where things get tricky: Raising the debt seems like the obvious move, but that measure must pass the House and the Senate and has become a messy partisan fight. Republicans want spending cuts in exchange for a debt ceiling increase.

If you’re wondering how the U.S.’s debt works: “The United States borrows huge sums of money by selling Treasury bonds to investors across the globe and uses those funds to pay existing financial obligations, including military salaries, safety net benefits and interest on the national debt.” Full explainer from The New York Times

REACTIONS, ANALYSIS AND OPINIONS ON THE SITUATION:

‘Every American could feel the pain of Washington’s next showdown’: Analysis from CNN’s Stephen Collinson

‘Republican debt-ceiling madness is about to begin again’: From New Yorker columnist John Cassidy

‘House Republicans are right: No debt limit increase until a balanced budget plan is in place’: Op-ed from Fox News’s Stephen Moore

Explainer on the Capitol Hill political fight of whether to raise the debt ceiling: From NPR’s Susan Davis

An out-of-the-box solution that’s been floated: ’The trillion-dollar coin scheme, explained by the guy who invented it’ from Vox’s Dylan Matthews

Happy Thursday! I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here.

🎥 News this morning

Alec Baldwin will be charged in the ‘Rust’ shooting:

Actor Alec Baldwin is facing involuntary manslaughter charges from the 2021 shooting, which killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on set of his movie “Rust.” Details

Keep in mind: “Baldwin and other ‘Rust’ producers settled a lawsuit with Hutchins’s family — which had accused the team behind the film of ‘reckless conduct and cost-cutting measures’ — last October.” What we know about the settled suit

In Congress

What do Dems, moderate Republicans and hard-line conservatives have in common?

Nahhht much, so GOOD LUCK:

“A bipartisan group of senators attempting to craft an immigration compromise have an arduous task ahead of them: finding a deal that can attract the support of Democrats, moderate Republicans and the hard-line conservatives who have newfound power and influence in the House.”

Last week: 10 senators visited the U.S.-Mexico border, and Biden visited El Paso, Texas.

OK, so let’s say the Senate comes up with a deal: It would require the support of at least nine Senate Republicans and all Democrats to pass. But that deal would also have to jibe with far-right House Republicans. That is extremely tricky.

The Hill’s Al Weaver explains how this could play out

THE ~WHO’S WHO IN THE HOUSE~ IF YOU WILL:
The intraparty dynamics of this new Congress have shuffled a bit since the drawn-out speaker battle.

The Hill’s Mychael Schnell has a useful list of the House GOP power players in this new Congress

🏃‍♂️2024

Is this another 2016 situation? Or more like a 2020?:

The Hill’s Max Greenwood reports that “Republicans are warning not to write off former President Trump’s 2024 White House bid, arguing that he’s still the presumptive front-runner despite signs that some in the GOP are ready to move on.”

From one GOP strategist, Ford O’Connell: “When you’re in Florida at these grassroots meetings, yeah, you hear ‘Ron DeSantis, Ron DeSantis, Ron DeSantis.’ But outside of Florida, it’s still Donald Trump.”

Trump’s biggest saving grace recently: Classified documents were found at President Biden’s Delaware residence and Washington, D.C., office. That took away some of the political pressure of the classified documents found at Trump’s Florida home.

On the other hand — some Republicans think Trump’s 2024 campaign has been uninspired so far: “If you’re running for president, you do your announcement, you go to Iowa and have a rally. You go to New Hampshire,” one veteran Republican strategist said. “It just doesn’t seem like he has that planned out. He hasn’t done that yet.”

More on the competing arguments about Trump’s 2024 strategy

Happening on Thursday — it’ll be ‘uuuuge:

Former President Trump announced this morning that he plans to deliver a “big political speech” on Thursday — and promised “wild and exciting” campaign events for supporters.

Trump posted on Truth Social — here’s an excerpt: “The Fake News says I am not campaigning very hard. I say they are stupid and corrupt, with the Election still a long time away. But do not fear, MANY GIANT RALLIES and other events coming up soon. It will all be wild and exciting.” Read Trump’s full post

The conservative government watchdog group Judicial Watch announced that Trump was slated to be the keynote speaker at the organization’s annual roundtable, a private event, Thursday evening.

🦠 The COVID-19 numbers

Cases to date: 101.5 million

Death toll: 1,095,149

Current hospitalizations: 32,348

Shots administered: 666 million

Fully vaccinated: 69.1 percent of Americans

CDC data here.

🐥Notable tweets

The biggest news of the day:

The Washington Post’s John Hudson tweeted, “big news for font freaks: Times New Roman is being phased out at the State Department & replaced by Calibri. [Secretary of State Antony Blinken] sent a cable to all embassies today directing staff not to send him any more papers with Times New Roman. Subject: ‘The Times (New Roman) are a-Changin.’” Screenshot

⏱On tap

The House and Senate are out. President Biden is in California. Vice President Harris is in Arizona.

7:30 a.m.: Biden received his daily briefing.
9:05 a.m.: Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff left for Tonopah, Ariz.
9:25 a.m.: Biden left for California.
3:25 p.m.: Biden surveys the storm damage in Santa Cruz County, Calif.
4 p.m.: Harris receives a briefing on the transmission line project with IBEW workers.
4:50 p.m.: Biden meets with business owners, first responders, residents and local officials to discuss federal support from the recent storms.
6:50 p.m.: Harris greets servicemembers at Luke Air Force Base.
7:35 p.m.: Harris and Emhoff leave Arizona and fly to Los Angeles.
12:20 a.m. Friday: Biden returns to the White House.

All times Eastern.

📺What to watch

2 p.m.: State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel gives a press briefing. Livestream
4:25 p.m.: Harris delivers remarks on a clean energy economy. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm also attend. Livestream
6 p.m.: Biden delivers remarks on the damaging storms in California. Livestream