What The Debt Ceiling Fight Achieved

Rep. Garret Graves, one of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's closest allies, told CNN that he's fed up with conservative critics dangling the threat of McCarthy's ouster, saying that he's prepared to put the debate to rest by forcing a vote on the threat.

Conservative lawyer George Conway discusses what he thinks about Rudy Giuliani following Cassidy Hutchinson's allegations against the former Trump attorney. Hutchinson, the former Trump White House aide, claims in her new book that Giuliani groped her backstage at the rally that preceded the insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

“Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Saturday he still lacks support from a handful of GOP hardliners to put a Republican stopgap measure on the floor next week, making a government shutdown likely with just one week until the deadline,” CNN reports. Said McCarthy: “I’ve been trying to put (a continuing resolution) on for quite some time.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) called for Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) to resign from the Senate on Saturday, making him the first senator to call for his resignation, Politico reports.

“Speaker Kevin McCarthy is backtracking on his plan to remove Ukraine aid from a massive military spending bill as Republicans scramble to find a way forward on funding the government,” Politico reports. “The California Republican’s U-turn comes a day after he told reporters he would remove the roughly $300 million from the Pentagon bill and give it a separate vote as he faced GOP pushback on its inclusion.” “But in the Capitol on Saturday, McCarthy said the bill will move forward with the Ukraine aid included, arguing it would be too complicated to remove because of the Republicans’ funding strategy of bringing the Defense bill to the floor with other measures.

Within hours of Sen. Robert Menendez’s indictment Friday on bribery charges, prominent members of his party were already calling on the New Jersey Democrat to resign. “These are serious charges that implicate national security and the integrity of our criminal justice system,” Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement. “The alleged facts are so serious that they compromise the ability of Senator Menendez to effectively represent the people of our state.” Democratic politicians and party officials from across the state concurred.