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The narrative following Bronny James cardiac arrest during a USC basketball practice in late July was as predictable as it was mind-numbing. Anti-vaxxers came out in full throat, quick to blame the seemingly healthy young adults misfortune on the vaccine. Its easy to find a COVID conspiracy for all of societys ills, and its gotten so lazy that one can readily identify, and then avoid, wading into conversation with Dr. Mantis Stockton.

However, there are performance artists among us who just see things so idiotically, so completely wrong that engaging with them is unavoidable. Out of the most morbid bit of curiosity, you have to look, knowing full well that it will not only leave you speechless, but also severely dumber.

I dont believe LeBron or his family took the vaccine, wrote a silly man with a funny haton X. I believe most elite athletes faked taking the vaxx. No way men in prime physical health injected a rushed vaccine into their bodies. I refuse to believe that. Thats my conspiracy. I dont know what happened to Bronny.

So, to paraphrase, the silly man doesnt know what happened to Bronny because he believes elite athletes faked the vaccine. Look at the big galaxy brain on this guy. Not only are anti-vaxxers wrong, but so is everybody else.

Yes, all of us, the royal us, are the dumbasses, and not the guy who wears fedoras. Perhaps this silly mans signature hat is the same one used by Matt Damon in the time-traveling epic The Adjustment Bureau, and hes 17 million steps ahead of the rest of the world because hes seen every timeline.

That, or hes just a fucking moron.

See the original post:
Britney Spears, Tommy Tuberville, Rand Paul, and more: IDIOT OF ... - Deadspin

With an assist from POLITICOs Hill team

Reps. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) and Mario Daz-Balart (R-Fla.) are co-chairs of the 18-member, all-GOP Congressional Hispanic Conference. | Getty Images

ONLY GOING TO GET STRONGER

A growing group of Latino Republicans on Capitol Hill has spent the last six months trying to send a message the other CHC is on the rise.

Reps. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) and Mario Daz-Balart (R-Fla.) are co-chairs of the 18-member, all-GOP Congressional Hispanic Conference not to be confused with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the Democratic group that has grown into a key power center inside that party since its founding in 1976.

Now Gonzales and Daz-Balart are hoping to do the same for their group, making it a more muscular player inside the House Republican Conference.

Ready to flex: The groups membership is at an all-time high, and its influence is growing thanks to swing-district freshmen members like Reps. Monica De La Cruz (R-Texas), Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.) and Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.). Gonzales told Huddle in an interview that while Hispanic Republicans really havent kind of voted as a bloc or to endorse things historically, he expects that to change.

The Congressional Hispanic Conference is only going to grow, its only going to get stronger, its only going to be more vocal, Gonzales said, adding that he tells other GOP members, This group will be your greatest advocates. And clearly, it can be your greatest detractors if were not on board.

At the Smithsonian: Plans for a Latino museum within the Smithsonian Institution have been in the works for years now. But a preliminary exhibit drew the ire of Hispanic Conference members who complained that it depicted Latinos in a negative light. That exhibit prompted threats to withhold support for museum funding and a meeting last month with Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III to smooth those threats over.

Were not here to tell them what to do. But I am not going to stand by while Latinos in the United States are portrayed as defectors, traitors, cowards, victims, Daz-Balart said in an interview last week. I will not allow our communities to be insulted, and neither will the other members of the Hispanic Conference.

Mayorkas impeachment: The question of impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas pits two conference priorities against one another seeing Latinos in positions of power and securing the nations southern border.

The clash has put the conferences leadership undecided both Gonzales and Daz-Balart told Huddle they want to wait and see if the impeachment inquiry advances before they say if theyll support it. (Though GOP leaders remain short of the votes to impeach Mayorkas, House conservatives continue to pursue it.)

Ill cross that bridge when I get there, Gonzales said.

Future plans: More broadly, Gonzales said, the Hispanic Conference is aiming to think and act more strategically, using its leverage inside the GOPs four-seat majority to advance its aims and potentially add to Speaker Kevin McCarthys headaches. That played out earlier this year during debate on a GOP border security bill, where Gonzales won concessions on asylum language.

While past fights along these lines were led by self-minded individuals, he added, I think youre gonna see us being more organized.

In the campaign realm, Gonzales has been working with the conservative Hispanic Leadership Trust, a political action committee, to fundraise for Latino candidates and lawmakers. Outside groups, he said, are going to help Hispanic Republicans win races and stay in office and keep the conferences clout on the rise.

I am 100 percent committed to doing that, said Gonzalez.

GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Monday, Aug. 7, where college football conferences are a mess but we got you covered on the politics front.

MCCONNELL FANCY FARM VISIT

Just a couple weeks after a health episode sparked alarm among his fellow Senate Republicans, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell delivered about five minutes of remarks to an, at times, hostile crowd at the annual Fancy Farm picnic in Kentucky.

McConnell spent the bulk of his remarks on Saturday hitting incumbent Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D), whos up for reelection this fall. Andy might as well be on the White House payroll, McConnell said to an audience that at times shouted retire, shame on you and lost the Senate.

McConnell shouted out Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) by name and said hes working to make sure Kentucky punches above its weight.

Speaking at an earlier breakfast event, McConnell made only a passing nod to his recent health issues.

This is my 28th Fancy Farm, and I want to assure you its not my last, the Republican leader said after entering to extended applause, according to video of the event.

VIEW FROM OLD DOMINION

Government shutdowns disproportionately affect Maryland and Virginia after all, residents of those states make up a large chunk of Washingtons federal workforce.

So lawmakers from those capital-adjacent states are always a good barometer for how sticky things are looking, shutdown wise. And surprisingly, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) isnt worried.

Sure, the House and Senate are taking highly divergent spending approaches. And yes, no appropriations bills have been signed into law. And well allow that there are only a few congressional work days before the Sept. 30 shutdown deadline. But Kaine sees a continuing resolution as the worst case scenario.

I have been concerned since the 118th Congress started about a CR risk. I knew we would figure out a way around default. I dont believe that theres going to be a legit threat of a shutdown, since we acted a few years ago to guarantee that all federal employees get paid in the event of a shutdown. Why would we lock them out of their office and tell them dont help anyone but youre still going to get paid? Kaine said.

All that being said, even the sunny Kaine is warning of an intense fall and early winter: I am worried about the negotiation around the CR. That could be complicated, although I think thats kind of a year-end thing. Im not making any big plans at Christmas time, between Christmas and New Year.

Burgess Everett

DEMOCRATS OREGON DILEMMA

Progressive Jamie McLeod-Skinners second bid for the Democratic nomination in Oregons 5th Congressional District is stirring quiet consternation among party leaders who fear a primary battle there could cost the party a shot at flipping the blue-tinged seat now held by Republican Chavez-DeRemer.

A handful of top Democrats have already lined up behind Oregon state Rep. Janelle Bynum, whos been endorsed by the Black Caucus PAC and said in June that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries encouraged her to run (though the two talked before McLeod-Skinner entered the race).

The background: McLeod-Skinner was successful last year in her primary bid to unseat seven-term centrist Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.). But McLeod-Skinner lost to Chavez-DeRemer by two percentage points after a campaign where Republicans relentlessly painted the Democrat as too liberal on crime and other issues.

Democrats see the district, which President Joe Biden won by almost nine percentage points in 2020, as a top pickup opportunity in their broader quest to claw back their majority next year. Already, some in the party are weighing in to boost Bynum and implicitly discourage McLeod-Skinner from continuing her campaign.

Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), the chair of the Black Caucus PAC, said he wasnt concerned about a messy primary but added that the PAC s members believe that Janelle is by far the best candidate. Back in Oregon, Bynum has the backing of Rep. Andrea Salinas (D-Ore.) a first-term lawmaker who squeaked through a three-point race last year and a former colleague in the state legislature.

Where are progressives?: Previous McLeod-Skinner backers are also staying out for now. The Progressive Caucus PAC backed her general election bid last time. But the groups co-chair, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), told POLITICO that the race hadnt come up yet in the PACs endorsement process. The McLeod-Skinner campaign, in a statement, said the primary will be decided by the voters in OR-05 and Jamie is proud to have a strong backing of grassroots supporters, early polling that revealed a 40 point lead in the primary, and the support of Kevin Easton, who dropped out of the race to endorse her.

Nicholas Wu

LUCAS INJURED ON HIS FARM

House Science Chair Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) was injured Friday while working on his ranch and admitted to a local hospital in Oklahoma City for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.

Congressman Lucas will be back on the ranch and in the district soon and expects to make a speedy recovery, his office said in a statement.

FIRST IN HUDDLE: SENATE GOP HITS BIDEN

Senate Republicans are out with a new video, narrated by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), hitting the Biden White House and pledging to get the country back on track. Watch that video here.

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, running for the Republican nomination to challenge Sen. Joe Manchin, wished the U.S. Coast Guard a happy birthdaywith a photo of a Turkish Coast Guard boat.

A (bearded) Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) took a float down the Trinity River.

Michigan Democratic state senator Mallory McMorrow, who went viral defending herself last year against unfounded attacks of being a groomer, is endorsing Rep. Elissa Slotkin for Senate.

QUICK LINKS

Comity crumbles on Congress Covid committee, per Alice Miranda Ollstein

The Pelosi Factor: Trumps longtime antagonist played an essential role in his historic indictment, by New York Magazines Ankush Khardori

Congress has paid major campaign cash to score ads in Chinese foreign agent newspaper, by the Washington Examiners Gabe Kaminsky

TRANSITIONS

Got a new gig on the Hill? Leaving for something else? Let us know!

TODAY IN CONGRESS

The House is out.

The Senate is out.

AROUND THE HILL

*crickets*

Your Huddle hosts apologize for Fridays Trivia email address it was incorrect and we have the proper email listed at the end of this section. As always, thank you for playing!

FRIDAYS ANSWER: Corey Ensslin correctly answered that Abraham Lincoln was the presidential candidate who won the popular vote but eked out the smallest plurality of voters.

TODAYS QUESTION: In what year and why did the Secret Service begin protecting the president?

The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your answers to [emailprotected].

GET HUDDLE emailed to your phone each morning.

Follow Daniella and Anthony on X at @DaniellaMicaela and @AnthonyAdragna.

Original post:
How Latino Republicans are building their clout - POLITICO

Nowadays, it's rare that anything of significance in the U.S. Senate passes on abipartisan basis never mind by a 94-4 vote.It's especially rare that anything having to do with the World Trade Center Health Program gets that kind of support.So, the Senate's near-unanimousbacking ofan amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would add $676 million to the health program iscertainly worthapplauding.

The health program provides assistance to more than124,000 first responders and other survivors who have been sickened or still could get sickdue to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. The amendmentimportantly helps to address loomingmonetary shortfalls, whileprovidingfunds to allow all first responders at the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, some of whom previously were omitted,to join.

The four Republicans who voted against the amendment Sens. Rand Paul, Mike Lee, Markwayne Mullin and Tommy Tuberville all promiseyear after yearto "Never forget." And yet,they shamefully did.

For the amendment's many supporters, there's more to do.Come September, the House and Senate will have to reconciletheir versionsof the contentious defense funding bill;hopefully, the WTC amendment will survive. But even if successful, that is still atemporary fix, justanother smallpiece of a still-unfinished puzzle.

The thousands who depend upon the health programare still waiting for Congress to make it fully funded, so that it no longer depends on temporary influxes of money to keep it whole.Efforts failed late last year to fix the funding formula to avoidgaps leftby inflation and, sadly, a higher number of participants than anticipated. Since then, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, along with Rep. Andrew Garbarino,have done what they could, piece by piece, to keep the program going, to buy time.

But time is what our first responders and other survivorsdon't have. And as more time passes, it becomes easier to forget. To forget the acrid stench,that mix of jet fuel and burning steel, concrete and plastic. To forgetthe toxic smoke and soot and debristhat filled the lungs of the residents andworkers running from the burning buildings and the first responders who ran into the fire. To forget the thousands who spent months at Ground Zeroand since became sick and died.

Advocates notethat they're now working with some congressional staffers who were infants or not even born when the attacks occurred. And as more of our 9/11 first responders get sick and die, the fight for those who are left will become more difficult.

The political battles have gone on too long. Come Sept. 11, the federal lawmakers who again will proclaim "Never Forget" should make the needed fixes and end the fight for good.

MEMBERS OF THE EDITORIAL BOARDare experienced journalists who offer reasonedopinions, based on facts, to encourage informed debate about the issues facing our community.

By The Editorial Board

Members of the editorial boardare experienced journalists who offer reasoned opinions, based on facts, to encourage informed debate about the issues facing our community.

More:
Congress should fix the 9/11 health fund for good - Newsday

Acting National Institutes of Health Director Lawrence Tabak has named Jeanne M. Marrazzo, M.D., as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

Shes a really good person, said Dr. Fauci, who held the post from 1984 to 2023. I think shes going to do a really good job.

Marrazzo, currently director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, shares some career experience with the longtime NIAID boss.

Fauci and Marrazzo are both medical doctors, but neither built a career practicing medicine. Like Fauci, Dr. Marrazzos bio shows no advanced degrees in molecular biology or biochemistry, both vital for virology.

Dr. Marrazzo specializes in sexually transmitted infections, especially as they affect womens health. Her research interests include pathogenesis, the management of bacterial vaginosis, sexually transmitted diseases in HIV-infected persons, and the management of antibiotic resistance in gonorrhea.

She is a co-author of the 2022 paper Sexually transmitted infections and female reproductive health, which contends that women are disproportionately affected by sexually transmitted infections (STIs) throughout life. Marrazzo is also known for a commitment to health equity.

In a 2021 interview with Todd Unger of the American Medical Association, Marrazzo said that health equity should be part of every physicians training because most physicians in training are very privileged people. Unger asked Marrazzo about strategies to improve health equity.

I think they can walk the walk, Marrazzo said. All these places are developing policies. Theyre naming chief diversity officers, equity officers. I think those are first steps, but if you dont do the hard stuff and follow up with the meaningful actions that increase representation in the C-suite or in the deans office or whatever you want to call it, then its not going to help.

Marrazzo was also distressed over disparities in outcomes with COVID, claiming, History is going to judge us very, very harshly. During the pandemic, Marrazzo took a high-profile role.

In an April 17, 2020, session on C-SPAN, Dr. Marrazzo lamented the wild fluctuations in the models but said she was not a modeler. She recommended the CDC website for both the public and health professionals. The Washington Post, in her opinion, was another fantastic source.

In a June 2020 video, Marrazzo touted masks as a way to control the pandemic. If physical distancing was also applied, that would help shut down community transmission. In Oct. 2020, Marrazzo contended that wearing a mask is very effective and the single best thing people could do to prevent COVID.

On Halloween, kids could trick-or-treat if they wore masks and practiced social distancing. People could also put out the candy in a container. As Thanksgiving 2020 approached, Marrazzo said, The safest thing is not to gather in groups that you have not been cohorting with. That applied in gyms, bars and churches and singing is a great way, Im sorry to say, to share this virus. The virus was incredibly communicable, and even a negative PCR test was not a passport, not definitive. People could be asymptomatic and still pass on COVID.

In 2021, with the Omicron variant looming, Marrazzo said that COVID vaccines, masking, and social distancing do actually work and, if applied, could help avoid anything looking like a total lockdown. Marrazzo contended that lingering damage from the last lockdown is still tangible, particularly with young kids, families, and schools. Even so, wearing masks was the only way to keep kids in school and keep them safe and, particularly, to keep schools open.

Marrazzos views on the origin of COVID are hard to find. Fauci, who claims to represent science, contended that the virus arose naturally in the wild, but the FBI believes the likely source was a laboratory in Wuhan, China. Dr. Fauci lied about American funding of the Wuhan Institute of Virologys gain-of-function research, which makes viruses more lethal and transmissible. Marrazzos views on the dangerous practice, once banned by the NIH, are likewise hard to find.

As new studies contend, wearing masks can be harmful, particularly for children. Marrazzo has not exactly gone public with any second thoughts she might have on the subject. In a similar style, the subject of vaccine injuries does not appear to interest the new NIAID director. Since NIAID is the NIH division for developing vaccines, that would be an interesting question for a confirmation hearing. Unfortunately, none will take place.

Marrazzo is the pick of acting NIH boss Lawrence Tabak, and that settles it. She will command a budget of $6.3 billion, with 21 laboratories and 133 countries conducting NIAID-funded activities. Despite all that money and influence, there appears to be no limit on the term of the NIAID director.

Fauci, in government for more than half a century, ruled the roost for nearly 40 years. In 2020, Fauci teamed up with NIH director Frances Collins to shut down the scientists of the Great Barrington Declaration (GBD), who argued for a more humane policy on lockdowns.

If we want scientists to speak freely in the future, GDB signatory Jay Bhattacharya, professor of medicine at Stanford, said, we should avoid having the same people in charge of public health policy and medical research funding. That unchecked concentration of power is still in place.

The NIAID director should be limited to a single four-year term and held to account for all actions in office. All NIAID grants should be posted on the internet in real time and in a downloadable form. Absent these reforms, NIAID will be the same as the old boss, a tough act to follow.

Anthony Fauci is now the subject of an official criminal referral by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) for lying about funding gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology

Paul, a medical doctor, charges that viruses that in nature only infect animals were manipulated in the Wuhan lab to gain the function of infecting humans.

See more here:
Fauci-Friendly Jeanne Marrazzo Named New Director of NIAID | K ... - The Beacon

A day after striking a deal in principle with President Biden to suspend the debt limit, Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his leadership team began an all-out sales pitch on Sunday to rally Republicans behind a compromise that was drawing intense resistance from the hard right.

To get the legislation through a fractious and closely divided Congress, Mr. McCarthy and top Democratic leaders must cobble together a coalition of Republicans and Democrats in the House and the Senate willing to back it. Members of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus have already declared war on the plan, which they say fails to impose meaningful spending cuts, and warned that they would seek to block it.

So after spending late nights and early mornings in recent days in feverish negotiations to strike the deal, which would suspend the debt ceiling for two years while cutting and capping some federal programs over the same period, proponents have turned their energies to ensuring it can pass in time to avert a default now projected on June 5.

This is the most conservative spending package in my service in Congress, and this is my 10th term, Representative Patrick T. McHenry, Republican of North Carolina and a lead member of Mr. McCarthys negotiating team, said at a news conference on Capitol Hill on Sunday morning.

House Republicans circulated a one-page memo with 10 talking points about the conservative benefits of the deal, which was still being finalized and written into legislative text on Sunday, hours before it was expected to be released. The G.O.P. memo asserted that the plan would cap government spending at 1 percent annually for six years though the measure is only binding for two years and noted that it would impose stricter work requirements for Americans receiving government benefits, cut $400 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for global health fundingand eliminate funding for hiring new I.R.S. agents in 2023.

Legislative text released Sunday evening also revealed that the bill includes expedited approvals for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a project favored by Senator Joe Manchin III, a key Democratic swing vote, and other West Virginia lawmakers.

The deal also includes some agreements not clearly included in the 99 pages of bill text.

Administration officials said on Sunday that they had agreed to repurpose $10 billion of extra I.R.S. money in each of the 2024 and 2025 fiscal years, which would be a loss of a quarter of the $80 billion the agency received for enhanced services and enforcement as part of the Inflation Reduction Act.

But officials said in a call with reporters that they expected no disruptions whatsoever from the loss of that money in the short term. That is likely because all of the $80 billion from the 2022 law was appropriated at once, but the agency planned to spend it over eight years. Officials suggested the I.R.S. might simply pull forward some of the money earmarked for later years, then return to Congress later to ask for more money.

It doesnt get everything everybody wanted, Mr. McCarthy told reporters on Capitol Hill. But, in divided government, thats where we end up. I think its a very positive bill.

Mr. Biden told reporters that he was confident the deal would reach his desk and that he spoke with Mr. McCarthy on Sunday afternoon to make sure all the Ts are crossed and the Is are dotted.

The agreement prevents the worst possible crisis, a default for the first time in our nations history, Mr. Biden said later in the day, adding, It also protects key priorities and accomplishments and values that congressional Democrats and I have fought long and hard for.

Mr. Biden said it was an open question whether the deal would make it through Congress. I have no idea whether he has the votes, he said of Mr. McCarthy. I expect he does.

Still, the deal was facing harsh criticism from the wings of both political parties.

Terrible policy, absolutely terrible policy, Representative Pramila Jayapal, Democrat of Washington, said on CNNs State of the Union, referring to the work requirements for food stamps and other public benefit programs. I told the president that directly when he called me last week on Wednesday that this is saying to poor people and people who are in need that we dont trust them.

Ms. Jayapal, the chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said she wanted to read the bill before she decided whether to support it.

Some on the right had already ruled out doing so before seeing the details.

No one claiming to be a conservative could justify a YES vote, Representative Bob Good, Republican of Virginia and a member of the House Freedom Caucus, wrote on Twitter. Representative Dan Bishop, Republican of North Carolina, posted his reaction to news of the deal: a vomit emoji.

Russell T. Vought, President Trumps influential former budget director who now runs the Center for Renewing America, encouraged right-wing Republicans to use their seats on the House Rules Committee which Mr. McCarthy granted them as he toiled to win their votes to become speaker to block the deal. Conservatives should fight it with all their might, he said.

Some Senate Republicans, who under that chambers rules have more tools to slow consideration of legislation, were also up in arms.

No real cuts to see here, Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, said on Twitter. Conservatives have been sold out once again!

With Republicans like these, who needs Democrats? asked Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, who has vowed to delay the debt limit deal.

Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, was also critical though for a much different reason. He called the deal too stingy, demanding more robust military funding, particularly for the Navy.

I am not going to do a deal that marginally reduces the number of I.R.S. agents in the future at the expense of sinking the Navy, Mr. Graham said on Fox News Sunday.

But Mr. McCarthy argued that Republican critics were a small faction.

More than 95 percent of all those in the conference were very excited, Mr. McCarthy, who briefed Republicans about the deal on Saturday night, said on Fox. Think about this: We finally were able to cut spending. Were the first Congress to vote for cutting spending year over year.

The deal would essentially freeze federal spending that had been on track to grow, excluding military and veterans programs.

Representative Dusty Johnson, Republican of South Dakota and an ally of Mr. McCarthys, said that House Republicans would overwhelmingly support the debt deal. He played down the right-wing revolt, claiming that leaders never expected certain House Freedom Caucus members to vote for it.

When youre saying that conservatives have concerns, it is really the most colorful conservatives, Mr. Johnson said on State of the Union, pointing out that some Republicans even voted against a more conservative proposal to raise the debt ceiling. Some of those guys you mentioned didnt vote for the thing when it was kind of a Republican wish list.

Still, it was clear Mr. McCarthy would need votes from Democrats to pass the measure through the House and those might not prove easy to deliver, especially from the left wing in the House.

Representative Jim Himes, Democrat of Connecticut, said he was undecided about how to vote but expressed anger at the negotiations, which he compared to hostage-taking on the part of Republicans.

None of the things in the bill are Democratic priorities, Mr. Himes said on Fox. Mr. Himes said the legislation was not going to make any Democrats happy.

But its a small enough bill that in the service of actually not destroying the economy this week may get Democratic votes, he said.

Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the House minority leader, said on CBSs Face the Nation that he expected that there will be Democratic support once we have the ability to actually be fully briefed by the White House.

But he was clear that he did not like the position Democrats were in.

We have to, of course, avoid a market crash. We have to avoid tanking the economy. We have to avoid a default, Mr. Jeffries said. The reason why were in this situation from the very beginning is that extreme MAGA Republicans made the determination that they were going to use the possibility of default to hold the economy and everyday Americans hostage.

Peter Baker, Catie Edmondson, Jim Tankersley and Alan Rappeport contributed reporting.

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With Debt Limit Deal in Hand, McCarthy and Biden Turn to Task of ... - The New York Times