President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, are set to meet Wednesday in a highly anticipated one-on-one discussion of the debt ceiling and spending cuts demanded by Republicans as the deadline looms over Washington.
Also, the Republican presidential race is getting some new competition. Nikki Haley, the former United Nations ambassador and governor of South Carolina, will announce she is running for president on Feb. 15. A source familiar with the situation confirms reportts about her plans that were first published in The Washington Post and The Post Courier & Journal.
Here’s what else is going on in politics Wednesday:
- Kamala Harris to attend Tyre Nichols’ funeral. The vice president will be at the service with four other White House officials.
- Democrat faces House vote over seat on Foreign Affairs Committee. The House GOP is laying the groundwork for a vote on Rep. Ilhan Omar, as one of its own has stepped aside from panel seats for now.
- Republican-led House Judiciary Committee is set to hold the first of several hearings to examine Biden’s border policies. The hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m.
Biden schedule today
President Joe Biden will meet at 1:15 p.m. with his so-called Competition Council, which is targeting corporate consolidation and coordinating anti-trust actions. As part of that meeting, he will discuss his administration’s new push to cap most credit card late fees at $8 for a missed payment.
Federal regulators will propose a rule on capping credit card late fees today, and Biden will also urge Congress to crack down on “excessive” junk fees, or the additional fees ticket brokers, airlines and resorts tack onto customers’ bills, the White House said in a call previewing the announcement.
Biden’s meeting with McCarthy is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. And at 5 p.m., he hosts a sendoff for his outgoing chief of staff Ron Klain and welcomes his new one, Jeff Zients.
Biden, McCarthy to meet amid high-stakes debt ceiling standoff
In his meeting with McCarthy, Biden is expected to ask whether he can commit that the U.S. will never go into default, which would occur if the debt ceiling were not raised. He will also press the speaker for an answer on when Republicans will release a budget proposal, according to the White House.
Republicans want to use action on the debt ceiling to eliminate “wasteful spending in Washington,” but they’ve not specified which programs they want cut. The White House, which argues the debt limit should be raised without conditions, has called on McCarthy and Republicans to detail their plan.
The Treasury Department took “extraordinary measures” in January to ensure the government’s borrowing capacity until at least early June after the U.S. reached its $31.8 trillion debt limit. Economists fear failure to raise the debt limit could result in an economic catastrophe and plunge the U.S. into a deep recession.
– Joey Garrison
Vice President Kamala Harris to attend Tyre Nichols’ funeral
Vice President Kamala Harris will attend Tyre Nichols’ funeral Wednesday, the White House announced.
In early January, Nichols was brutally beaten by five Memphis police officers who have been charged with murder.
In addition to Harris, four other White House officials are attending. They are: Keisha Lance Bottoms, director of the White House Office of Public Engagement; Tara Murray, deputy director of the White House Office of Public Engagement; senior adviser Mitch Landrieu; and Erica Loewe, White House director of African American media.
– Maureen Groppe
GOP-led House Judiciary Committee set to examine Biden’s border policy
The House Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing Wednesday and putting Biden’s border policies, as well as the flow of fentanyl into the United States, under a microscope.
The hearing, entitled “Biden’s Border Crisis – Part One,” is the beginning of planned hearings and investigations into the border, as House Republicans prepare to haul Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas up to Capitol Hill.
Biden has long faced criticism from both Republicans and Democrats over his handling of immigration and border security.
– Rebecca Morin
House GOP preparing vote to remove Omar from Foreign Affairs Committee
House Republicans are preparing to hold a vote Wednesday on whether to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., from the House Foreign Affairs Committee – a political move that was planned months before the GOP narrowly won the majority.
The House Rules Committee on Tuesday night was pushing through a resolution to remove her, using an expedited, emergency procedure.
The final preparations regarding Omar come hours after embattled Republican Rep. George Santos resigned from his committee seats, saying he didn’t want to be a distraction from a potential Omar vote. Republicans were facing criticism for seating Santos, who has admitted to lying to voters about his personal and professional resume, on panels while trying to oust Omar from committees for comments she made in 2019 that were viewed as anti-Semitic.
– Candy Woodall
Swalwell on committee assignments :Speaker McCarthy engaged in ‘weaponizing’ of ‘political abuse’
House Transportation & Infrastructure set to examine effects of supply chain issues
The House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure is set to hold a hearing Wednesday about the state of the country’s rail, road and port systems in the wake of supply chain issues, which helped drive inflation to 40-year highs.
The committee is scheduled to hear from a range of witnesses, including Ian Jefferies, the Association of American Railroads president and CEO.
– Sarah Elbeshbishi
More:Grandmothers, grandchildren separated at border, despite U.S. move to reunite migrant families
House Oversight and Accountability Committee to hold COVID-19 spending hearing
The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is holding a hearing Wednesday morning entitled, “Federal Pandemic Spending: A Prescription for Waste, Fraud and Abuse.”
The House hearing will focus on fraud and abuse of COVID-19 relief programs and examine policies to ensure federal funds reach the intended recipients.
Those testifying include: Michael Horowitz, chair of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee; Gene Dodaro, comptroller general in the U.S. Government Accountability Office and David Smith, assistant director of the U.S. Secret Service Office of Investigations.
– Rachel Looker
Amid debt ceiling standoff:Why Joe Biden is refusing to negotiate with Republicans
Related:Tyre Nichols case reignites conversations among lawmakers on federal police legislation