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WASHINGTON, April 19 (Reuters) - Republican U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday unveiled a plan to raise the nation's debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion and cut federal spending by three times that amount, laying out an opening position in what is likely to be a tense partisan debate over government borrowing.

McCarthy's proposal, which he unveiled on the floor of the House of Representatives, would cut the total amount of domestic and military spending to 2022 levels and cap growth at 1% annually in years to come. It would not touch retirement and health programs that are projected to expand dramatically as the population ages.

President Joe Biden and the Democratic-controlled Senate are likely to reject the proposals, but McCarthy said they would serve as the basis for negotiations between the two parties over raising the federal government's $31.4 trillion debt limit in the coming weeks. Failure to raise the debt ceiling would lead to default that would shake the U.S. and world economies.

McCarthy's plan would also repeal green-energy incentives signed into law by Biden last year, boost domestic oil and gas production and scrap his $400 billion student-loan forgiveness effort.

It would claw back unspent COVID-19 relief money, cancel a recent budget increase for the Internal Revenue Service and impose stiffer work requirements for some benefit programs.

Congress would gain greater power to block Biden administration regulations under the proposal as well.

McCarthy said the package would lower spending by $4.5 trillion over the coming 10 years. That would not be enough to eliminate budget deficits that are projected to add more than $20 trillion to the national debt over that time period.

"President Biden has a choice: 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," McCarthy said on the House floor.

He did not say when the House of Representatives, which his Republicans control by a narrow 222-213 majority, would vote on the plan.

[1/2]U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) shares a laugh with Whip Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) during a press conference about the Republican partys upcoming legislative agenda and accomplishments in the first one hundred days of holding the majority in the House of Representatives on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., April 17, 2023. REUTERS/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/File Photo

Biden reiterated his position that Congress should raise the $31.4 trillion debt limit without conditions, as it did three times under his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump.

"Take default off the table, and let's have a real serious, detailed conversation about how to grow the economy, lower costs and reduce the deficit," he said at an appearance outside Washington.

Biden's budget, released last month, would save $3 trillion over 10 years largely through tax hikes.

The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget praised McCarthy's plan as a "realistic and extremely welcome first step." But Democratic Representative Richard Neal dismissed it as "not serious."

The U.S. federal government has already reached the borrowing limit and by this summer is expected to hit a point where it will no longer be able to meet its financial obligations without action by the divided Congress.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned the federal government could run out of ways to cover its debts by as soon as early June.

The $1.5 trillion increase proposed by McCarthy could cover the government's needs until early next year, setting the stage for another debt ceiling fight in the midst of the 2024 presidential election campaign.

It was unclear whether McCarthy's plan would unite House Republicans. A sizeable contingent of hardline members have dismissed the risks of failure to act, while others might balk at its limits on military spending.

A lengthy 2011 standoff over the debt ceiling led to a first-ever downgrade of the federal government's credit rating, which rattled markets and raised borrowing costs.

Reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Scott Malone

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Thomson Reuters

Andy covers politics and policy in Washington. His work has been cited in Supreme Court briefs, political attack ads and at least one Saturday Night Live skit.

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Republican McCarthy unveils plan to lift US debt ceiling, cut spending - Reuters

Craft has bought herself into a two person race, said Scott Jennings, a well-known Republican operative in the state who has remained neutral in the contest. The question is is there enough runway left?

But the brutal primary between the two could also come at a cost. The Kentucky governorship is a prime target for Republicans this year with Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear occupying the governorship in a state Trump won by 26 points in 2020. The circular firing squad now unfolding in the GOP primary is giving an already popular Democratic incumbent an opening to peel off at least a sliver of Republican voters turned off by the in-fighting.

Public polling for the primary has been incredibly sparse in the race a recent poll from Emerson College/Fox56 released last week had Cameron at 30 percent and Craft at 24 percent but Republicans believe the race has tightened since the beginning of the year, when Cameron was broadly believed to have a yawning lead.

(Left to right) Somerset Mayor Alan Keck, State Auditor Mike Harmon, Agricultural Commissioner Ryan Quarles and Attorney General Daniel Cameron at the Kentucky Gubernatorial GOP Primary Debate in Louisville on March 7, 2023.|Pool photo by Timothy D. Easley

Republicans point to two big inflection points left on the calendar: The lone debate where all three of the top-tier candidates will share a stage a May 1 faceoff hosted by Kentucky Educational Television and arguably the biggest event all year in the state: The Kentucky Derby. It falls just 10 days before the primary election.

Craft has loaned her campaign $7 million since the start of the year, according to campaign finance reports filed on Tuesday night, with an additional $260,000 coming from other donors. Cameron, by comparison, raised just over $400,000 in that same time period.

Ryan Quarles, the state agriculture commissioner, is a possible viable third candidate in the race especially if the fight between Cameron and Kelly becomes hotter. Quarles was at 15 percent in the Emerson poll, the only other candidate sniffing double digits, and has touted a deep bench of endorsements from across the states 120 counties.

Crafts campaign and Commonwealth PAC, a super PAC supporting her bid, have been throwing most of the haymakers, with Craft until relatively recently having the TV airwaves all to herself.

A pair of ads from her campaign looked to tie Cameron to President Joe Biden, Beshear and Obama on the future of a West Virginia coal plant a deep blow in a state that has historically been the home to the coal industry.

And in a series of ads, the super PAC has used an extended motif of Cameron being a soft establishment teddy bear, literally transforming Cameron into a stuffed bear in a suit at the end of the ads. The most recent one is the Bragg ad, going after Cameron for at one point supporting cash bail reform. (Prosecuted Trump! the ad declares as a video of Bragg talking about bail reform plays.) It ends by morphing the two men into teddy bears.

Camerons backers have just started hitting back on the airwaves. On Tuesday, a pro-Cameron super PAC Bluegrass Freedom Action launched a new ad saying a desperate Kelly Craft falsely attacks Cameron, while noting that Trump has endorsed Cameron, not Craft. And in a statement to POLITICO, the super PACs general consultant Aaron Whitehead questioned if she was eligible to run for office under the states residency requirement.

Absentee Ambassador Kelly Craft was a no show for her previous job and now shes pulling the same trick on Kentuckians by trying to buy her way out of a scandal, Whitehead said. No one knows if she actually lives in Kentucky or still lives in Oklahoma which could disqualify her from the ballot.

The groups charge relies on reporting from POLITICO in 2019 that found she spent roughly a third of her time as U.S. ambassador to Canada in Kentucky or Oklahoma, along with federal and state political donations she has made through the 2022 cycle with an Oklahoma address. State law requires gubernatorial candidates to be a citizen and resident of Kentucky for at least 6 years next preceding his [sic] election.

Crafts campaign was dismissive of the broadside from the super PAC. The only thing more palpable than the momentum behind Kelly Craft is the Cameron teams desperation, Kristin Davison, a senior adviser for Craft, said in a statement.

Then-President Donald Trump smiles as Craft, then the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., speaks at a luncheon with members of the United Nations Security Council at the White House on Dec. 5, 2019.|Andrew Harnik/AP Photo

Cameron could also lean more into Trump who endorsed his campaign last summer, shortly after Craft and her husband, coal magnate Joe Craft, were prominently pictured with the former president at the Kentucky Derby but months before her own campaign launch.

Kentuckys most powerful Republican in Washington, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, meanwhile, has not publicly weighed in on the race. But he has close ties to both candidates.

Craft and her husband have been longtime financial supporters of McConnell and the Republican Party more broadly. The then-Senate majority leader was instrumental in getting Craft nominated and confirmed to be U.N. ambassador.

Cameron has perhaps even deeper ties. He worked in McConnells office for two years and was widely assumed to be the successor-in-waiting for McConnells seat in the Senate when he eventually retires. Camerons decision to run for governor caught many by surprise, both in Washington and Kentucky.

Davison, the adviser to Craft, took a swipe at that close relationship between the two men in her statement, saying Camerons team was having a bad morning after finding out their Mitch McConnell-groomed candidate has fallen a net 19 points over the last few weeks.

Madison Fernandez contributed to this report.

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Republican in-fighting gets heated in the most important governor's race in 2023 - POLITICO

George Santos

The disgraced Republican congressman, who is the subject of a House ethics panel inquiry, is expected to face many challengers

Disgraced Republican congressman George Santos, who has admitted to fabricating parts of his rsum in his successful bid for a seat in the House of Representatives, has announced he will stand for a second term representing his New York district.

Santos, whose district is focused on New York Citys suburbs, is the subject of an inquiry by the House ethics committee, as well as complaints alleging sexual harassment and campaign finance violations.

Shortly after he admitted to lying during his election campaign last year, Santos stepped down from all House committees. He is expected to face many challengers in the Republican primary for the district, which leans Democratic.

Santos was characteristically forthright in his re-election announcement, ignoring the multiple scandals that have repeatedly emerged in the US media that range from puppy theft to lying about being a producer on a Broadway musical about Spider-Man and making claims to have lost family in the Holocaust.

Since the left is pushing radical agendas, the economy is struggling, and Washington is incapable of solving anything, we need a fighter who knows the district and can serve the people fearlessly, and independent of local or national party influence, he said in a statement.

He added: Good is not good enough and I am not shy about getting the job done.

Santos has long faced calls to quit from fellow New York Republicans and voters in his Queens and Long Island district. Democrats are hopeful they will be able to grab the seat.

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George Santos, Republican who lied in his first election, announces second run - The Guardian US

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican, told GOP donors that the party's future political success is tied to Fox News, which faces a $1.6 billion defamation trial set to begin this week in Delaware. Getty Images/Scott Olson; AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura hide caption

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican, told GOP donors that the party's future political success is tied to Fox News, which faces a $1.6 billion defamation trial set to begin this week in Delaware.

At the Republican National Committee's spring retreat in Tennessee over the weekend, a swing-state GOP governor told major donors the party's future political success depended in part on Fox News.

In a speech about attracting independents and young people to the Republican Party, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said he had urged Fox News to break out of its "echo chamber" for Republicans to prosper.

Sununu's remarks echo a consistent theme found unvarnished in the private communications of Fox's stars and executives by Dominion Voting Systems in its $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against the network: That Fox is an integral player in Republican politics and the conservative movement.

"We have to start thinking about the long game," Sununu told Republican donors at the Four Seasons Hotel in Nashville. "We get ourselves tied up in issues. I'm not saying they're not important, but they ain't making the team bigger."

He said the party had an appealing "product" for voters, including younger voters, with an emphasis on low government regulation, low taxes and local governmental control.

Then he started to talk about Fox News.

"I was on with [Fox News business anchor and senior vice president Neil] Cavuto this morning, and I talk to the leadership at Fox all the time," Sununu said.

"I go, 'Look guys, I saw a panel discussion with four panelists on Fox and they all were literally agreeing with each other. ... They're talking in an echo chamber. What are you doing to grow the team?'"

"If you don't do it," he said, "we're going to lose."

Sununu said cable networks MSNBC and CNN were run by Democrats, and that Republicans should appear on their shows and own them.

That was the thrust of the governor's message, his communications director told NPR.

"He was telling Republicans they should be going on other media channels, not just Fox," Ben Vihstadt said. "Republicans watch those channels too."

NPR obtained an audio recording of an excerpt of the talk from Lauren Windsor, a liberal activist and consultant, who acquired them from an attendee. Vihstadt authenticated the governor's remarks.

Sununu's remarks come at a delicate moment for Fox. Its lawyers are simultaneously girding for a six-week trial, set to begin Tuesday morning after a one-day delay, and negotiating over a possible settlement with Dominion's legal team.

Dominion's case stems from baseless assertions on Fox that the voting tech company's machines threw votes from then-President Donald Trump to Democratic challenger Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. Dominion alleges that Fox tried to win back Trump voters alienated by Fox's projection before any other television network on election night that Biden would win Arizona. One way the network appealed to Trump loyalists was to broadcast the lies of election fraud promoted by Trump and his allies. (The network says it was reporting on newsworthy allegations from the nation's top elected official and its allies.)

It's long been known that Fox News founder Rupert Murdoch has sought to influence elections in his native Australia, the U.K. and the U.S., both in his news pages and programs and behind the scenes. Former Republican vice presidential candidate and U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan sits on the corporate board of Fox Corp., the network's corporate parent. (He was among those who argued that Fox had to release its embrace of election conspiracy theories.)

And Trump drew from a roster of Fox personalities for appointments to his administration. Fox stars Hannity, Jeanine Pirro, Lou Dobbs and others advised him off the air. (Dobbs would be forced out a day after another election tech company, Smartmatic, sued Fox in a $2.7 billion defamation claim.)

In response to a request for comment, a Fox spokesperson noted that surveys suggest its audiences which are far larger than its peers include the most Democrats and independents watching.

Back in November 2020, NPR reported that Hannity invited RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel on his show on the night before Biden would be projected to win the presidency.

An internal GOP memo to prepare McDaniel reflected full knowledge of what would be asked, setting out the specifics of the show's lengthy opening segment including its guests and subjects and Hannity's main points. They focused on suspicions of voter fraud.

But, in case there was any doubt, the material gathered by Dominion's legal team cements the image of Fox as an institution with a deeply ingrained conservative outlook and whose leaders are closely interwoven with Republican politics.

In late September 2020, Murdoch warned Trump's son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, that the Biden campaign ads were better. The next day, the media magnate, whose former wife had helped reconcile Kushner with his wife Ivanka Trump after a brief split, followed up with another email.

"Your adv at 1.0 pm this Sunday an improvement, but Biden in same football [game] is extremely good. Or I think so! Will send it," Murdoch said in an email made public through legal proceedings.

On Nov. 10, a few days after Fox projected Biden's win, star host Maria Bartiromo texted former Trump former chief political adviser Steve Bannon, "Omg I'm so depressed. I can't take this"

She continued, "I am watching the world move forward. & it's so upsetting steve."

Bannon had no plans to stand still. He laid out a multi-point plan that included delegitimizing Biden as president, Republicans' winning both U.S. Senate seats in Georgia, and getting Bartiromo elected to the U.S. Senate in New York all while prepping Trump for a 2024 White House bid.

On Nov. 14, 2020, Fox Corp. executive chairman Lachlan Murdoch, Rupert's son, warned chief executive Suzanne Scott about the tone of Fox's coverage of a pro-Trump rally.

"News guys have to be careful how they cover this rally," Lachlan Murdoch wrote. "So far some of the side comments are slightly anti, and they shouldn't be. The narrative should be this is a huge celebration of the president."

On Nov. 16, Rupert Murdoch affirmed his interest in aiding the Republican drive to win the Senate in an email to Scott: "Trump will concede eventually and we should concentrate on Georgia, helping any way we can."

Despite his criticisms of Fox, Sununu does not appear to disdain the network. He appeared on its news program "America's Newsroom" Monday morning, less than 48 hours after his pointed remarks in Nashville.

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Fox News' ties to Republican Party on display in governor's remarks to donors - NPR

House Republicans released sweeping immigration legislation on Monday that would tighten asylum eligibility, expand migrant family detention and crack down on the employment of undocumented workers.

The 137-page proposed bill represents the legislative response to high levels of migration on the U.S.-Mexico border from House Republicans, who have made border security a focal point of their new majority. The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to mark up the bill Wednesday.

But the legislation may still face hurdles to make it through the House, given internal disagreement within the House Republican caucus over border security. Its also unlikely to gain traction in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

The committee action will follow previous delays on a border security measure, and the newest bill reflects some of the behind-the-scenes negotiations that have occurred over the past several weeks.

For example, the new legislation includes only some of the language from a border security bill introduced by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas. Last December, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., had included Roys bill in a list of so-called ready-to-go legislation that would be brought to the House floor for a vote in the first two weeks of 2023.

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House Republicans release sweeping immigration bill - Roll Call