On Tuesday, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris emerged from a meeting with top congressional leaders at the White House, hoping to avoid a government shutdown ahead of a Saturday deadline to approve more funding.
Biden and Harris met in the Oval Office to discuss the attempt to keep the government open beyond March 1 with House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Biden, Harris Met With Top Congressional Leaders
MANASSAS, VIRGINIA - JANUARY 23: U.S. President Joe Biden and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris stand onstage and wave to the crowd at a ”Reproductive Freedom Campaign Rally" at George Mason University on January 23, 2024 in Manassas, Virginia. During the first joint rally held by the President and Vice President, Biden and Harris spoke on what they perceive as a threat to reproductive rights.
The top Democrats described the discussion as "intense" and "productive," saying they tried to figure out how to go forward with government funding and a supplemental foreign aid package.
Schumer said after the meeting that they were making good progress and hopeful they could finish it quickly.
Although the government shutdown fiasco has been brewing for months, the March 1 deadline is different from the many similar instances that came before in that it would only signal a partial shutdown, with the legislation funding departments, including agriculture, transportation, and veteran affairs expiring on Friday. The rest of the shutdown is set on March 8.
Biden warned before the meeting that the country's economy, which witnessed strong growth last year despite persistent inflation and high-interest rates, would be "significantly" harmed by a government shutdown.
The group pushed Johnson to back additional help to Ukraine. Schumer noted that the meeting on Ukraine was one of the most intense he has ever encountered in his many meetings in the Oval Office.
Top Democrats in Congress, including McConnell and Biden, favor helping Ukraine. However, Johnson hesitated, rejecting strict immigration policy changes that Democrats had agreed to win Republican support for Kyiv.
Meanwhile, Johnson said the meeting was "frank and honest" and focused on immigration and border plans. This occurred after House Republicans, a move that has been attributed to Donald Trump's pressure to deny Democrats any wins in an election year, tanked bipartisan legislation that included border funding as well as Ukraine and Israel aid.
The House reconvenes on Wednesday.
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Harris Announces Biden Team's Plans
Harris announced on Tuesday, in an apparent attempt to thwart GOP attempts to limit voting, that the Biden administration is collaborating with voting rights groups to increase participation among important voting blocs in November.
The move was taken in response to House Republicans' refusal to consider Democratic proposals to increase voting access after conservative state lawmakers nationwide introduced more than 300 bills last year that included voting restrictions.
Erica Songer, counsel to the vice president, said that the president and vice president are doing everything they can to protect democracy, including by calling on all federal agencies to do what they can to protect the right to vote.
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