The White House's secret message to Democrats suggests who actually won the debt ceiling negotiation



The White House is circulating a private message to Democrats: President Joe Biden actually won debt ceiling negotiations by keeping most Republican requests out of the agreement.

White House officials are selling the agreement to Democrats as one in which Biden successfully staved off the "extreme demands" of Republicans and one in which Democrats can continue advancing their policy goals, Politico reported.

In fact, the White House is celebrating that major social safety spending programs — Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare — and Biden's legislative achievements, like the Inflation Reduction Act (which doesn't actually reduce inflation) and the CHIPS act, among others, are "all being preserved and funded."

More from Politico:

White House officials argue the spending figures ultimately favor Democrats, even if [House Speaker Kevin] McCarthy gets to take a victory lap talking about spending cuts. The permitting reforms advance their climate agenda.

That's right. According to Politico, the agreement essentially allows McCarthy to declare victory in public. But the real winners are Democrats.

The reporting aligns with what Biden said after the deal was announced. Asked what he says to his allies that fear he conceded too much ground to Republicans, Biden responded, "They'll find I didn't."

So what did Republicans achieve?

If the White House believes Democrats ultimately won negotiations, what concessions did House Speaker Kevin McCarthy earn from Democrats?

Republicans agreed to raise the debt ceiling in exchange for a limit on government spending through January 2025 while negotiating work requirements for SNAP and TANF. The agreement also claws back some of the money earmarked last year for IRS expansions, permits some increases in defense spending, and ends the pause on student loan payments.

Political spin from the White House is not unexpected. But criticism from conservative Republicans gives credence to messaging from the Biden camp.

\u201cThis new analysis from my friend @RepChipRoy breaks down why I\u2019m a hard NO on the disastrous debt ceiling deal.\n\nJust look at what House Republicans passed last month\u2014compared to what they\u2019re settling for now.\n\nDisappointing is an understatement.\u201d
— Rep. Andrew Clyde (@Rep. Andrew Clyde) 1685394176

What happens next?

The House will act first. If and when it passes — despite holdouts on both sides — the bill will then go to the Senate.

The agreement will likely take several days to pass through the Senate, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has told members to expect the possibility of weekend votes. Once approved there, it will go to Biden's desk for his signature.

The entire process will likely be carried out before the June 5 deadline.

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Parents of loved ones lost to fentanyl poisoning ask government to take action against drug crisis



On Thursday, parents shared personal stories of losing children to fentanyl at a roundtable organized by the Republican Study Committee. The advocates urged the government to help curb the crisis impacting young people nationwide.

Ten parents and loved ones spoke about losing a family member to fentanyl during the roundtable event led by chairman Rep. Jim Banks (R) of Indiana this week.

\u201cToday, Chairman @RepJimBanks led a roundtable with members of RSC and advocates who have lost a loved one to fentanyl. Congress must act now to stop this deadly crisis! \n\n@RepPfluger @RepKatCammack @RepLisaMcClain @RepTiffany @RepChipRoy @RepMikeCarey @RepTimBurchett\u201d
— RSC (@RSC) 1663284147

The advocates argued that fentanyl-related deaths should not be considered overdoses, the Daily Caller reported. The founder of Lost Voices of Fentanyl, April Babcock, stated during the meeting, “This is not an overdose. Overdose implies there’s a safe dose to take. There is no safe dose of fentanyl.”

Babcock called for top-down action from the White House. She said, “I want a COVID-like response to fentanyl. Everyone knew after three months of COVID, social distance, wear a mask, wash your hands. Where is that for fentanyl?”

According to Customs and Border Protection, the United States seized over 11,200 pounds of fentanyl in the 2021 fiscal year. In the 2022 fiscal year, authorities confiscated approximately 10,600 pounds.

The CDC reported 107,375 overdose deaths in the 12-month period ending in January 2022. Of those deaths, 67% involved synthetic opioids like fentanyl.

The DEA recently recognized National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day on August 21. As part of the announcement, the DEA also launched an exhibit titled "The Faces of Fentanyl," which features photographs of lost loved ones.

“Drug traffickers are driving addiction, and increasing their profits, by mixing fentanyl with other illicit drugs. Tragically, many overdose victims have no idea they are ingesting deadly fentanyl until it’s too late,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram.

At the RSC round-table, parent Theresa Juillerat called the drug problem a “red, white, and blue crisis that needs immediate attention.”

Another parent at the meeting, Lori Ashenfelde, called for lawmakers to take action. She stated, “Fentanyl is killing our youth. Something has to be done to shut the border down.”

On Thursday, Rep. Jim Banks proposed an amendment to the Controlled Substances Act that would provide harsher penalties for drug traffickers when narcotics have the appearance of candy or are combined with beverage products. The legislation would designate the crime a felony punishable by a maximum of 10 years in prison for a first offense and a maximum of 20 years for a second offense.

\u201cEvery 8.5 minutes, an American dies from fentanyl. \n\nThank you to my colleagues and constituents for joining me yesterday to discuss how Congress can address this deadly crisis. \n\n@RepPfluger @RepKatCammack @RepLisaMcClain @RepTiffany @RepChipRoy @RepMikeCarey @RepTimBurchett\u201d
— Jim Banks (@Jim Banks) 1663330826

Chip Roy explodes at DHS secretary over border crisis: 'You're ignoring the actual truth'



Texas Congressman Chip Roy unloaded on Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Thursday, accusing the secretary of failing his duties to uphold the law and maintain "operational control" of the southern border.

Roy, a border state Republican, is part of a group of lawmakers planning to impeach Mayorkas should the GOP regain the House majority after the midterm elections. When the secretary testified before the House Homeland Security Committee Thursday, Roy pressed him to state, under oath, whether the U.S. has "operational control" of the southern border in accordance with federal law.

"Yes, we do," Mayorkas answered.

But an incredulous Roy read the statutory definition of "operational control," which according to the Secure Fence Act of 2006 means, "the prevention of all unlawful entries into the United States, including entries by terrorists, other unlawful aliens, instruments of terrorism, narcotics, and other contraband."

He also read from federal law that says any alien making an asylum claim with a "credible fear of persecution ... shall be detained for further consideration of the application for asylum."

Roy asked if migrants making asylum claims are currently being detained as required by federal law, and Mayorkas said they are not.

"As a matter of fact congressman, that is an issue that is before the United States Supreme Court," the secretary said, but again Roy interrupted him.

"The fact of the matter is our law says they should be detained and your agency is releasing people on purpose in order to flood the zone and make sure that more people can come to the United States," Roy charged.

"Congressman, are you actually interested in the facts and the law?" Mayorkas asked after Roy berated DHS for the department's catch-and-release policy.

"I'm reading you the law and I'm actually talking to you about the facts about who's entering this country," Roy said, while Mayorkas shook his head, looking resigned.

As Roy continued, a Democratic congresswoman asked if the secretary would be permitted to answer his questions and committee chairman Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.J.) attempted to tell Roy his time was up, but the Republican from San-Antonio was not finished.

He held up pictures showing the cost in human life brought by the U.S. government failing to secure the border, including a mobile morgue carrying 27 dead bodies, more dead bodies discovered by Texas ranchers living near the border, a little girl who was branded by human traffickers, and photos of Americans who died from overdoses from fentanyl smuggled into the country by transnational drug cartels.

Yelling, Roy asserted that DHS policies were "encouraging cartels, encouraging people to come here, harming Texans, and harming this country."

"You know it!" he thundered, pointing a finger at Mayorkas. "And you're ignoring the actual truth!"

"The time for the gentlemen has expired, he no longer has time to slander the secretary," Nadler interjected, which prompted an angry reaction from Roy.

.@RepChipRoy goes NUCLEAR on DHS Secretary Mayorkas when he claims that the United States has "operational control" over the southern border.\n\nChairman Nadler then accuses Rep. Roy of "slandering" Secretary Mayorkas.pic.twitter.com/o2L4rCqrTD
— Townhall.com (@Townhall.com) 1651165067

Nick Saban’s support for the Senate filibuster was purposefully cut out of controversial letter to Joe Manchin ahead of vote



An open letter addressed to Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) from Alabama coach Nick Saban and other prominent West Virginia sports figures was edited before publication to remove a footnote clarifying that Saban does not support nuking the Senate filibuster.

Former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue told AL.com that the footnote was left out of the final letter with Saban's agreement after they decided it would be inappropriate.

“Coach Saban and I agreed that since the letter focused on the merits of the Freedom to Vote Act and the filibuster had not been discussed with everyone signing the letter, it was unnecessary to include the filibuster footnote in the letter to be publicly distributed,” Tagliabue said. “As a result, our press statement along with the letter released publicly did not address the filibuster issue.”

Tagliabue was a signatory on the Jan. 13 letter, joined by NBA legend Jerry West, former West Virginia University athletic director and NFL Houston Oilers player Oliver Luck, and former Buffalo Bills linebacker Darryl Talley. They had urged Manchin to support passage of the Freedom to Vote Act, a federal overhaul of U.S. elections that would override election security laws passed by Republican legislatures in several states and create federal standards for U.S. elections.

Democrats sought to change the Senate rules in order to remove the 60-vote threshold to overcome a legislative filibuster and pass their election bill. But Manchin, along with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), would not support any changes to the filibuster, frustrating their colleagues and stalling any piece of President Joe Biden's legislative agenda that lacks bipartisan support.

On Tuesday, CNN's Kaitlan Collins reported that Saban had initially asked to include a footnote stating his opposition to eliminating the filibuster to pass the Freedom to Vote Act.

“Coach Saban is not in favor of getting rid of the filibuster in the Senate. He believes this will destroy the checks and balances," the footnote said.

But when the letter was made public ahead of a Senate vote to end the filibuster, Saban's footnote was gone.

On the voting rights letter to Manchin that Saban & other West Virginia sports figures signed, I am told that he asked to include this footnote:\n\u201cCoach Saban is not in favor of getting rid of the filibuster in the Senate. He believes this will destroy the checks and balances..."pic.twitter.com/kHgtMeMOSj
— Kaitlan Collins (@Kaitlan Collins) 1642532737

Asked about the letter and the filibuster Tuesday, Manchin bristled at the exclusion of Saban's footnote.

“Nick Saban at the bottom of his letter -- which they didn’t put, Paul Tagliabue didn’t put what Nick Saban wrote at the bottom, his footnote, he supports the filibuster,” Manchin told reporters. “Do not get rid of the filibuster. Now why did he automatically leave that out?”

He reiterated that he supports Democratic efforts to reform elections but not by nuking the filibuster.

“Nick Saban’s letter was straight on. They all [the co-signers] want the right to vote, right? We all want the right to vote,” Manchin said Tuesday. “I think everyone — we should all support the right to vote. But not breaking the rules.”

On Thursday, after Democrats failed to kill the filibuster and pass their election bill, Manchin publicly thanked Saban, his longtime friend and supporter, for agreeing with him.

"Coach Saban is exactly right: you cannot throw the filibuster out and expect the legislative process to work better," Manchin tweeted, highlighting the footnote.

Coach Saban is exactly right: you cannot throw the filibuster out and expect the legislative process to work better. I wholeheartedly agree with the coaches that "Our democracy is at its best when all Americans are encouraged to participate."pic.twitter.com/a3xAtrbGhh
— Senator Joe Manchin (@Senator Joe Manchin) 1642716683

Saban's support for the Democrats' election bill drew harsh criticism from congressional Republicans, who oppose the bill.

“Nick Saban should focus on winning National Championships instead of destroying our elections,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) said in a since-deleted tweet.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) roasted Saban and the others who signed the letter in a video posted by FreedomWorks, a conservative and libertarian grassroots organization.

TORCHED: @RepChipRoy drags "famed history and election law experts" Jerry West and Nick Saban for their support of the Democrats' radical bill to federally takeover our elections. #VoterID #ampFWpic.twitter.com/nq6uzIrm1c
— FreedomWorks (@FreedomWorks) 1642697397

“They use that term on purpose, ‘voting rights,’ because who could possibly be against voting rights?” Roy said, commenting on the Democrats' bill.

“For example, allow me to quote from acclaimed election history and law experts Jerry West, Nick Saban, Paul Tagliabue, and company, quote, ‘In the last year, some 20 states have enacted dozens of laws that restrict voting access and allow local officials or state legislatures to interfere inappropriately with federal election outcomes, motivated by the unanticipated outcomes of recent close elections conducted with integrity,’ they say. ‘These state laws seek to secure partisan advantage by eliminating reliable practices with proven safeguards and substituting practices ripe for manipulation,'” he said.

“No doubt these famed election law experts spent the weekend reading the federal legislation for which they were lobbying, because, I mean, I got the 700-page bill at 11:30 last Thursday night before voting on it on Friday,” he continued.

“I assume they read it thoroughly over the weekend, as my staff stayed up into the middle of the night doing, to actually see what was in the bill. I assume, too, that they know, for example, that the bill would lead to completely outlawing or eliminating voter identification.

“Do they know that four in five Americans, 80%, support requiring voters to show photo identification in order to cast a ballot? I know my colleagues are sure fine with everybody having to show a voter identification with vax cards all across this country, including the nation’s capital. Do they know that Delaware and Connecticut require photo or non-photo ID?"

Concluding, Roy sardonically said he was "certain that they have studied the intricacies of Texas law before disparaging it."

"I’m sure they spent time looking at that. Or, say, studied the Georgia election law, at least a little better than studying the University of Georgia’s, say, defense," he added.

The Georgia Bulldogs defeated Saban's Crimson Tide in the College Football Playoff National Championship earlier this month.