Hanover has presented a radical plan to create an ‘almost car-free’ centre, with on-street parking and traffic lights banished from the northern German city.

Green mayor Belit Onay, elected on a ‘car-free’ ticket in 2019, presented his new vision for the city of 500,000 yesterday. It envisages gradually eliminating some 4,000 on-street parking spaces and ushering incoming cars through dead-end streets into 11 public garages.

‘Car-free means for us not one car too many,’ explained the Green Party mayor, who said he wanted the project to be completed by 2030. He hopes Hanover will be a ‘place to party and stroll about’. 

Works are expected to begin in the middle of next year on several key thoroughfares.

Residents of Hanover’s centre, of which there are some 4,000, will still be able to park their cars in private parking. 

The plans will be presented to Hanover city council on Tuesday.

‘The impression is often that we want to restrict movement,’ Mr Onay said. ‘The opposite is the case – there will be more movement, with less traffic in the city centre.’

City councillor Thomas Vielhaber explained the plans were intended to make Hanover more walkable. 

While most streets of the historic old town will no longer be accessible to most cars, taxis, delivery vans, and disabled drivers will still be able to access the city centre. Through traffic will be totally eliminated.

Speed limits of either 20km/h (12mph) or 30km/h (19mph) will be put in place on streets that remain accessible to cars.

Hanover is also working on 12 cycle routes and adding thousands of spaces for bicycle parking.

The project, which has been in the works for two and a half years, also envisages making central Hanover ‘largely free of traffic lights’ so that pedestrians and cyclists spend as little time waiting at red lights as possible.

‘The time for experiments is over, now is the time for implementation,’ Mr Onay told the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung.

Hanover, which was almost entirely destroyed by Allied bombing raids during the Second World War, was rebuilt in the decades that followed as a model car-friendly city ringed by motorways. 

Mr Onay says that he wants Hanover to be a role model for other German cities that wan to transition to become more pedestrian-friendly.

‘For those who rely on a car, it will be easier to get into the city in the future because there will be less competing car traffic,’ Mr Onay promised. 

It is envisaged that the city centre will become better connected to surrounding areas by expanding routes across the Hanover ring road.

The ambitious plans are expected to cost millions of euros, but there is not yet an exact cost projection. Mr Onay said Hanover had already secured funding from state and federal governments worth upwards of €20million.

He said the city had gained ‘acceptance for this approach’ with experiments and consultations over the past few years. ‘We are not starting from scratch,’ he added, describing the changes as a ‘huge opportunity’ for the city.

Hanover’s high streets have been suffering from competition with online retailers, and the city hopes that a redesigned urban plan could help jump-start its economy. 

Mr Onay promised that Hanover would be turned into a ‘resilient retail hub’ through his vision.

The future of the car has become politically sensitive in a number of German cities over recent years. In Berlin, the Greens lost a re-election race to a pro-car candidate from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) after seeking to discourage their use in the German capital.

Mr Onay’s plans have already received criticism from Right-wing opponents. Felix Semper, a CDU councillor, said the Greens were ‘taking an axe to the future viability of the city.’

Mr Semper claimed that restricting vehicle traffic would damage local businesses and leave more buildings lying empty in central Hanover.

The White House has opened the door to an audacious plan to block sunlight from hitting the surface of the Earth in a bid to halt global warming. 

Despite some scientists warning the effort could have untold side effects from altering the chemical makeup of the atmosphere, President Joe Biden‘s administration have admitted they’re open to the idea, which has never been attempted before. 

In a report released Friday by the White House, officials suggested limiting sunlight to rapidly cool the planet, a process known as solar radiation modification (SRM). 

The administration added a note of skepticism to the report by noting that Congress ordered it, insisting it has not made any decision on ‘geoengineering’ policy. 

The report noted several ways authorities could look to achieve SRM, all of which come with potentially devastating consequences if they backfire. 

One method would be to significantly increase the amount of aerosols in the stratosphere, which would reflect the sun’s rays from the planet. 

Other ideas floated included increasing cloud coverage over oceans, or reducing the amount of cirrus cloud formations, which reflect solar radiation back to the Earth. 

The report noted that undertaking the mammoth task could have severe ramifications weather patterns and food supplies, which would in turn impact biodiversity, geopolitics, and health. 

It also suggested that committing to the idea then backtracking and changing course could lead to abrupt warming as the suns rays suddenly heat the Earth once more. 

While insisting that it was not definitively moving ahead with the plan, the Biden administration insisted in its report that the idea appeared promising.

It said a ‘program of research’ into the practice would ‘enable better-informed decisions about the potential risks and benefits’ of blocking the sun. 

The White House added that exploring the idea would also allow a better understanding of ‘the foundational elements of greenhouse gas emissions mitigation and adaptation.’ 

‘SRM offers the possibility of cooling the planet significantly on a timescale of a few years,’ the report claimed. 

In a statement accompanying the report, the administration said ‘there are no plans underway to establish a comprehensive research program focused on solar radiation modification.’ 

Scientists have been split over the potential benefits of the risky plan, with some warning it could result in a catastrophic change in the earth’s atmosphere. 

Others, however, claim it could be used as a last resort if fears over climate change are realized in the coming years and decades. 

‘The fact that this report even exists is probably the most consequential component of this release,’ said Shuchi Talati, the executive director of the Alliance for Just Deliberation on Solar Geoengineering, to Politico. 

‘This report also signals that the U.S. government is supportive of well-governed research, including outdoor experimentation, which I think is quite significant.’

The Biden administration made climate policy one of its central policy platforms in recent years, inserting the issue into other sectors including infrastructure and transportation. 

This marked a significant shift in policy from Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, who famously once described climate change as a hoax created by the Chinese. 

In its report, the White House doubled down on its commitment to tackling climate issues. 

‘Climate change is already having profound effects on the physical and natural world, and on human well-being, and these effects will only grow as greenhouse gas concentrations increase and warming continues,’ the report stated. 

‘Understanding these impacts is crucial to enable informed decisions around a possible role for SRM in addressing human hardships associated with climate change.’ 

New York City‘s air quality is more than 56 times over the World Health Organization‘s safety limit, making it the world’s most polluted.

The air quality index (AQI) is at 353 – 500 is the highest – compared to 15 on June 3. 

These measurements are taken by converting measured pollutant concentrations to a uniform index based on the health effects associated with a pollutant.

New York City, experiencing its worst air quality in recorded history, is ahead of the typical frontrunners like Dubai, Lahore, Pakistan and Delhi, India. 

Mayor Eric Adams also announced Wednesday, urging residents to remain indoors after hazardous smoke from Canadian wildfires bellowed across the border.

However, parts of the nationwide, the Northeast to the Great Lakes, are braced for several more days of smog while Canadian officials battle over 400 wildfires.

Swaths of wildfire smoke came blowing into New York City this week, but on Wednesday the sky turned an ominous orange from toxic nanoparticles. 

Swiss air quality tech firm, IQAir, shares a live ranking of countries with the worst air quality. And numbers are updated live, so they are subject to change.

The company captures this data using PM2.5 measurements.

PM2.5 is defined as particles that are 2.5 microns or less in diameter and are dangerous and prevalent air pollutants.

The health impact of a particle concentration of 22μg/m3 per 24 hours is equivalent to about one cigarette.

And data shows breathing in the air in New York City for 24 hours is like smoking 22 cigarettes.

New York City, which has a population over 8.4 million, is currently 56.3 times the WHO’s annual air quality guideline value.

While Dubai, home to 3.33 million people, is 18.9 times over the limit, Lahore with 11 million is 19 times and Delhi, home to more than 32 million people, is 16 times over the safety threshold.

And all three nations have been nearly half the measurement of New York in the past month.

The fifth country with the worst air pollution is Baghdad, Iraq, followed by Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel and Kolkata, India – all are nearly half of the American city.

And Canada, where the fires are a blaze, only ranks eighth.

IQAir shows Toronto has a 149 AQI, making it 11.1 times the WHO annual air quality guideline value. 

Jakarta, Indonesia and  Santiago, Chile are ranked ninth and tenth with 146 and 138 AQI.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses the Air Quality Index on AirNow to report air quality.

It varies from zero to over 300, with levels 50 and below considered the healthiest.

An AQI value over 100 is considered unhealthy for sensitive groups.

When levels exceed 150, the general population may experience symptoms.

Anything over 300 is hazardous, where New York City currently sits.

Dr Mark Shapiro, a practicing Hospitalist and Medical Director in Santa Rosa, California, tweeted recommendations on staying safe in the hellscape of New York City.

He suggests wearing an N-95 mask, minimizing time outside, washing your hands and face, keeping headlights on when driving and quickly opening the door if necessary.

Adams urged vulnerable residents to be cautious amid the crisis and blamed climate change for the yellow skies.

‘This may be the first time we’ve experienced something like this on this magnitude,’ he said. ‘Let me be clear, it’s not the last.’

New York City’s health advisory warning has since been extended until 8 pm ET Thursday, as officials warned residents to avoid outdoor exposure and stay indoors when possible. 

Much of the smoke has been from Quebec, where over 400 wildfires are burning as Canadian officials warn they are in the midst of their worst fire season on record.

Throughout the nation, Canadian officials have deemed more than 240 of the blazes to be ‘out of control.’

Many of the fires that sparked the smoke crisis have been burning for weeks, but were forced south in recent days due to a storm system blowing in over Nova Scotia.

The weather pushed much of the smoke across the East Coast, and is expected to continue for the next several days.

US officials agree deal ‘in principle’ to raise country’s debt limit in last-minute dash to avoid a default

• Joe Biden and Kevin McCarthy announce agreement 
• Biden says deal represents a ‘compromise’ 
• McCarthy: Agreement contains ‘historic reductions in spending’ 

By Calum Muirhead For The Daily Mail

Updated: 16:53 EDT, 28 May 2023

Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.

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U.S. President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy have reached a deal to raise the federal government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, ending a months-long stalemate.

The deal would avert an economically destabilizing default, so long as they succeed in passing it through the narrowly divided Congress before the Treasury Department runs short of money to cover all its obligations, which it warned Friday will occur if the debt ceiling is not raised by June 5.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy came out of negotiations to address the press on Saturday night at 9:15pm.

‘We have reached agreement in principle – a deal worthy of the American people to lift people out of poverty with no new taxes or government overreach programs,’ McCarthy explained.

‘I expect to finish the writing of the bill and then post the text of it tomorrow for it to be voted upon on Wednesday,’ he said without taking any questions from reporters.

‘Big, thorny issues remain,’ one of the top negotiators, Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., told reporters in the evening. Some of those outstanding issues, McHenry said then, ‘the president and speaker have to resolve at that level.’

President Biden also released a statement late on Saturday night.

‘Earlier this evening, Speaker McCarthy and I reached a budget agreement in principle. It is an important step forward that reduces spending while protecting critical programs for working people and growing the economy for everyone. 

‘And, the agreement protects my and Congressional Democrats’ key priorities and legislative accomplishments,’ Biden said.

‘The agreement represents a compromise, which means not everyone gets what they want. That’s the responsibility of governing. And, this agreement is good news for the American people, because it prevents what could have been a catastrophic default and would have led to an economic recession, retirement accounts devastated, and millions of jobs lost. 

‘Over the next day, our negotiating teams will finalize legislative text and the agreement will go to the United States House and Senate. I strongly urge both chambers to pass the agreement right away,’ the president said.

McCarthy also tweeted on Saturday evening in which he couldn’t resit a dig at Biden: ‘I just got off the phone with the president a bit ago. After he wasted time and refused to negotiate for months, we’ve come to an agreement in principle that is worthy of the American people.’ 

Republicans who control the House of Representatives have pushed for steep cuts to spending and other conditions, including new work requirements on some benefit programs for low-income Americans and for funds to be stripped from the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. tax agency.

The GOP later held a members call at 9:30pm after McCarthy and Biden spoke on the phone earlier in the night for about 90 minutes, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.

With the outlines of a deal in place, the legislative package could be drafted and shared with lawmakers in time for votes early next week in the House and later in the Senate. 

McCarthy said once a deal is reached, he will give legislators 72 hours before bringing the bill to a vote. He noted on Saturday morning that the bill would not be lengthy, likely around 150 pages.

The dreaded June 5 deadline is four days later than a previous X-date, but still guarantees that – even with a deal this weekend – it will be a frantic race to get a bill through Congress in less than 10 days.

Republicans said they want to slow the growth of the U.S. debt, which is now roughly equal to the annual output of the country’s economy.

Exact details of the final deal were not immediately available, but negotiators have agreed to cap non-defense discretionary spending at 2023 levels for two years, in exchange for a debt ceiling increase over a similar period.

The two sides have to carefully thread the needle in finding a compromise that can clear the House, with a 222-213 Republican majority, and Senate, with a 51-49 Democratic majority.

Their new discussion Saturday by phone came after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Congress that the United States could default on its debt obligations by June 5 – four days later than previously estimated – if lawmakers do not act in time to raise the federal debt ceiling. 

Economists have spent months raising the prospect of economic catastrophe should the government default, but both the White House and Republican leadership insist they are negotiating in good faith and are confident a deal will be reached in time.

The debt ceiling raise is an annual accounting maneuver that usually passes with little notice. It simply allows the government to keep borrowing money to pay for bills already incurred through the budget.

This year, the increasingly hard-right Republican Party has decided to turn the debt ceiling into leverage to force Biden to roll back favorite Democratic spending priorities.

The extended ‘X-date’ gives the two sides a bit of extra time as they scramble for a deal. But as another day dragged on with financial disaster looming closer, it had appeared some of the problems over policy issues that dogged talks all week remained unresolved. 

Both sides said one of the main holdups was a GOP effort to expand existing work requirements for recipients of food stamps and other federal aid programs, a longtime Republican goal that Democrats have strenuously opposed.

The White House said the Republican proposals were ‘cruel and senseless.’ 

There was also some laboring over a compromise on federal permit changes that would ease regulations for developing oil, gas and renewable energy projects and foster new transmission line connections. 

The long standoff spooked financial markets, weighing on stocks and forcing the United States to pay record-high interest rates in some bond sales. 

A default would take a far heavier toll, economists say, likely pushing the nation into recession, shaking the world economy and leading to a spike in unemployment.

Failure to lift the borrowing limit, now $31 trillion, to pay the nation’s incurred bills, would send shockwaves through the U.S. and global economy. 

Yellen said failure to act by the new date would ’cause severe hardship to American families, harm our global leadership position and raise questions about our ability to defend our national security interests.’ 

Anxious retirees and others were already making contingency plans for missed checks, with the next Social Security payments due next week. 

Biden for months refused to negotiate with McCarthy over future spending cuts, demanding that lawmakers first pass a ‘clean’ debt-ceiling increase free of other conditions, and present a 2024 budget proposal to counter his issued in March. Two-way negotiations between Biden and McCarthy began in earnest on May 16.

Democrats accused Republicans of playing a dangerous game of brinksmanship with the economy. Republicans say recent increased government spending is fueling the growth of the U.S. debt, which is now roughly equal to the annual output of the economy.

The last time the nation got this close to default was in 2011, when Washington also had a Democratic president and Senate and a Republican-led House.

Congress eventually averted default, but the economy endured heavy shocks, including the first-ever downgrade of the United States’ top-tier credit rating and a major stock sell-off.

This time around, House Speaker McCarthy had strengthened his hand by overseeing passage of an April bill that paired $4.8 trillion in spending cuts with a $1.5 trillion debt-ceiling hike. 

The bill had no chance of passing the Democrat-controlled Senate, but showed that McCarthy had the ability to hold together his thin majority just four months into his top leadership role.

Biden and McCarthy had seemed to be narrowing on a two-year budget-cutting deal that would also extend the debt limit into 2025 past the next presidential election.

 The contours of the deal have been taking shape to cut spending for 2024 and impose a 1% cap on spending growth for 2025.

The Republican proposal on work requirements would save $11 billion over 10 years by raising the maximum age for existing standards that require able-bodied adults who do not live with dependents to work or attend training programs.

Current law applies those standards to recipients under the age of 50. The GOP plan would raise the age to include adults 55 and under. It would lower the number of exemptions that states can grant to some recipients subject to those requirements.

Biden has said the work requirements for Medicaid would be a nonstarter. He initially seemed potentially open to negotiating minor changes on food stamps, now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, but his position has appeared to harden.

Toxic metals are lurking in cheap vapes puffed by schoolkids, a shock investigation revealed today. 

Tests on e-cigarettes confiscated from youngsters found they contained dangerous levels of lead, nickel and chromium.

Some were almost 10 times above safe limits. 

Exposure to lead can impair brain development, while the other two metals can trigger blood clotting. 

One expert claimed the results of the probe, carried out on e-cigs collected from students at a college in Worcestershire, were the ‘worst I’ve ever seen’. 

It comes amid spiralling vaping rates in teens, in a trend that has prompted warnings that Britain is ‘sleepwalking into an existential crisis for children’. 

Although widely accepted as safer than smoking, the long-term effects remain a mystery and doctors fear there could be a wave of lung disease, dental issues and even cancer in the coming decades in people who took up the habit at a young age. 

David Lawson, co-founder of Inter Scientific — the lab that analysed 18 different e-cigs — said: ‘In 15 years of testing, I have never seen lead in a device.

‘None of these should be on the market — they break all the rules on permitted levels of metal. They are the worst set of results I’ve ever seen.’

He was speaking to BBC News, which was given the full results of the investigation at Kidderminster’s Baxter College.

Most of the e-cigarettes were illegal and hadn’t been tested before being sold in the UK.

Brightly-coloured ‘highlighter vapes’, sold in child-friendly flavours like bubble gum and strawberry, contained 12 micrograms of lead per gram. 

This is 2.4-times the stipulated safe exposure level. 

The gadgets, which can cost as little as £5 and sold in shops across the country, were also over 9.6 times the safe level of nickel and 6.6 times the safe level of chromium.

The metals were thought to come from the heating element inside vapes, but the tests showed they were actually in the e-liquid inhaled directly into the lungs.

Scientists also found compounds called carbonyls at 10 times the level in legal vapes.

These break down into chemicals like formaldehyde and acetaldehyde — which studies have found can increase the risk of certain types of cancer — when the e-liquid warms.

Dr Salim Khan, head of department for public health at Birmingham City University, told MailOnline: ‘We know there are a lot of people manufacturing vapes and vaping liquids who aren’t regulated.

‘Now we are seeing the impact. If there is no regulation, there is the potential for a lot of harmful toxins to end up in vapes and these can cause a lot more harm than good.

‘Sadly, the providers who sell these illegal vapes and liquids are most likely oblivious to the harm they cause as may assume [the devices] are manufactured according to quality control standards.’

He added: ‘Australia has brought in tough regulation to ban vaping products, unless given on prescription.

‘This move will be viewed with interest by other governments, particularly if it results in a reduction in vaping.

‘However, it may also have an adverse effect, pushing people back towards tobacco products.’

It comes as shock data last week revealed a record 11.6 per cent of 11-17 year olds in Britain have now tried vaping. 

This is up on 7.7 per cent last year and twice as high as rates seen a decade ago — before the UK’s kid vaping epidemic blew up.

A damning MailOnline expose last month laid bare the true scale of the problem and the predatory marketing tactics of vape retailers. 

E-cigs are already illegal for under-18s to buy, yet shops have been caught flouting the rules.

‘Puff bars’, as they are known, are popular among teens. Brands include Elf Bars, Geek and Crystal.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which polices the safety of medical products used in the UK, has a notification scheme for vapes so that any harm caused by the devices can be logged.

The watchdog’s head of e-cigarettes, Craig Copland, said the results of the BBC investigation would be reviewed to assess whether the vapes posed a health risk.

In efforts to curb the UK’s teen vaping crisis, some secondary schools — including Baxter College — have already taken to installing devices to detect whether children are vaping. 

Its headteacher, Mat Carpenter, told BBC News: ‘It’s been part of youth culture for a long time and we are a long way behind the curve in influencing children’s behaviour around this, which is why we need such a strong message.’ 

Data released in March revealed some sensors are being set off up to 22 times a day. 

Last month health minister, Neil O’Brien, confirmed the Government’s ambition to crackdown on the sale of e-cigarettes to under-18s and colourful packaging and candy flavours they use to lure kids in.

He announced that policymakers would listen to experts from all corners on how best to tackle the crisis. At the same time, he also revealed a £3million taskforce would be established to enforce the current rules of selling of vapes.

Almost every high street in the country now has a designated shop, where e-cigs are paraded.

However, despite the warnings surrounding vaping, health chiefs insist it is a safer alternative to smoking cigarettes.

Around 6million people smoke in the UK and it is estimated to cause 64,000 deaths every year.

It also costs the NHS £2.4billion every year to treat smoking-related conditions.

Rates have plunged over the past decade, but experts say it is still not close enough to reach the smoke free goal.

Vaping rates have exploded over the same time, however.

President Biden will sit down with congressional leaders on Tuesday, going toe-to-toe with Speaker Kevin McCarthy over the debt ceiling in their first talks on the matter in over three months. 

The meeting of the two leaders, together with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate leaders Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell, will take place at 4 p.m. after the markets close.  

Both sides are entrenched as ever in their opposing demands over the nation’s borrowing limit – even as the Treasury Department says there could be just three weeks before the nation runs out of funds to pay its bills. 

McCarthy, with the weight of House and Senate Republicans behind him, insists there will be no clean debt ceiling bill that passes through Congress. 

Democrats just as staunchly insist there must be a clean lift the the nation’s borrowing limit/

Here’s what both sides are demanding ahead of the crucial White House meeting on Tuesday afternoon: 

White House holding cards close to its chest, still demanding unrealistic clean debt ceiling raise as past administrations had gotten out of Congress  

Biden insists he will not negotiate over raising the nation’s $31.4 trillion borrowing limit.

While he has stood his ground, the White House have publicly attacked the Republicans with various allegations over the impact their proposed debt plans will have over aspects of American life.

In a memo on Tuesday, Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates said the GOP plan would make the fentanyl crisis at the border worse.

He says talks over budget cuts should be a separate conversation – and the debt ceiling must be raised before fiscal year 2024 budget cuts are discussed in a separate appropriations conversation that has a later deadline of September. 

‘The two are totally unrelated,’ Biden said on Friday. ‘They’re two separate issues, two. Let’s get it straight.’

Describing the upcoming meeting, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said: ‘I wouldn’t call it debt ceiling negotiations. I would call it a conversation between the four leaders and the president.’

‘They have to do their job. They have to pass a clean debt ceiling,’ she said of Congress, noting the debt ceiling has been raised 78 times since 1960. 

Biden had long insisted he would not speak to McCarthy until Republicans had released a budget in writing. 

After the House passed a party-line debt ceiling bill and the Treasury revealed the nation could run out of funds sooner than expected the president called up the ‘Big Four’ congressional leaders to set up a meeting. 

When the federal government can’t borrow any more money and the nation’s bills pile up hire than its tax receipts, the U.S. could plunge into a catastrophic default – potentially triggering a recession and soaring unemployment. 

Republicans demand White House outline spending cuts it can accept 

After heavy political wrangling, House GOP leadership passed its Limit Save Grow Act – legislation that lifts the debt limit by $1.5 trillion in exchange for $4.5 trillion in spending cuts over time. 

The package passed on a party line and is dead on arrival in the Senate, but Republicans are demanding Democrats spell out what it is they don’t like in the bill to see where both sides can meet in the middle. 

‘If you don’t like something in it, if you have ideas of your own, our speaker is more than willing, I’m sure, to listen to those,’ Majority Whip Tom Emmer said last week. 

Their proposal includes a wide-ranging host of priorities– it would rescind unspent Covid-19 funds, and undo some Biden priorities – banning student loan forgiveness and getting rid of some green tax credits, instituting stricter work requirements for social programs. Republicans also want to include their sprawling energy package, the House-passed H.R. 1, and the regulation-cutting REINS Act. 

After the usually amenable Republicans from farmland districts threatened to vote no over the bill’s provisions that removed ethanol subsidies, those tax credits were added back in. 

Work requirements for benefits like SNAP and TANF were also tightened after conservative hardliners wanted them to start sooner — now they will start in 2024 rather than 2025.

Other ideas floating around, but Democrats insist clean, long-term debt limit raise is the way to go

As Treasury Sec. Janet Yellen said Monday, if no agreement is made Biden will have a ‘variety of different options, but there are no good options.’

‘Every option is a bad option, and i really don’t want to get into discussing them and ranking them,’ she said on CNBC. 

White House officials are reportedly eyeing whether they can invoke the 14th Amendment. A rarely-used provision states: ‘The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.’

But that option is politically and economically risky, advisers believe.  

Schumer tamped down that idea last Tuesday. ‘The way to go is a clean debt ceiling,’ he said.

On Monday the National Association of Government Employees sued to get Yellen and Biden to stop them from complying with the debt limit. They argued the debt ceiling is unconstitutional on its face because it forces the president not to carry out spending already approved by Congress. 

‘This litigation is both an effort to protect our members from illegal furloughs and to correct an unconstitutional statute that frequently creates uncertainty and anxiety for millions of Americans,’ NAGE National President David J. Holway said in a statement. 

Another idea being toyed with is a short-term extension of the debt limit. Some Senate Republicans have tossed out the idea of raising the debt limit for 30 days to give both sides more time on budget talks, but the majority of the GOP conference said it was too soon to talk about a short-term extension. 

‘Well, I don’t think the responsible thing to do is to kick the can down the road,’ House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on NBC Sunday, echoing similar comments Schumer made last week. 

 

 

Democrats met behind closed doors Thursday evening as they plan to ramp up a pressure campaign on congressional Republicans to get behind a clean debt limit deal with only 27 days left until the country defaults on its debts on June 1.

Democrats are insisting on lifting the debt ceiling with a ‘no strings attached’ clean bill, while Republicans say they won’t allow the nation to plunge further into debt without spending cuts. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries reportedly held a private call Thursday night with other Democratic members and key stakeholders as they attempt to strategize a way to avoid blame for the rapidly-approaching debt default.

According to reporting from Punchbowl News, Jeffries is working with liberal advocacy groups in order to bolster Democratic support for a clean bill and also try and secure the backing of ‘some more reasonable Republicans.’

The groups include: League of Conservation Voters, Climate Power, SEIU, VoteVets, Center for American Progress, UnidosUS, the National African American Clergy Network and others.

Schumer is convinced that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy won’t be able to keep his GOP conference in line with a small four vote margin. 

‘A whole bunch of hard right congressmen have told McCarthy they are not negotiating, that it’s this proposal or nothing,’ Schumer reportedly said. ‘And of course, that’s unacceptable. That leads to default.’ 

It all comes as a new Washington Post / ABC News poll show the public is split on who to blame for the impasse, with 39 per cent blaming Republicans, 36 per cent blaming President Biden, and 16 per cent split evenly. 

However, McCarthy has insisted that everyone keeps underestimating him.

At the end of last month, he was able successfully pass the Save, Limit and Grow Act, which would raise the $31 trillion debt ceiling in exchange for government spending cuts.

It lifts the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion in exchange for saving $4.5 trillion by capping spending at fiscal year 2022 levels in 2024. It will also limit growth to 1 percent per year. 

‘Now as the president continues to not negotiate what what I know is I’m confident that one party has taken care of the debt ceiling. We have lifted the debt ceiling so nobody could worry about whether the debt ceiling is gonna get lifted,’ the speaker has said. ‘We did. The Democrats have not. The president wants to make sure the debt ceiling is going to be lifted, sign this bill.’ 

With the passage of the House bill, it appears as though Republicans are not planning to fold and back a Democrat-led clean bill anytime soon. 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has expressed strong support for the House Republican plan, and is planning to take a sideline approach to any upcoming negotiations. 

In addition, the standoff between President Biden and Republicans has turned ugly as both sides blame the other for not committing to take default off the table.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Wednesday that Biden won’t negotiate on the debt ceiling because ‘his mental faculties are too diminished right now to do what he did in 2011, to sit down and actually work together on a solution to the problems.’

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, tweeted Friday morning that Biden is ‘running out of time and excuses’ on debt ceiling.

‘It is baffling how clueless President Biden is about the #BidenBorderCrisis and the end of Title 42, and the threat to our fragile economy from his stubborn and irresponsible refusal to negotiate a resolution to the debt limit. He is running out of time and excuses.’

The Treasury Department announced earlier this week that it now believes the nation could default on its debts as early as June 1. 

Sec. Janet Yellen wrote to Congress on Monday with the new default date. Previously, the Congressional Budget Office had predicted the nation’s timeline for default was between July and September. 

‘In my January 13 letter, I noted that it was unlikely that cash and extraordinary measures would be exhausted before early June. After reviewing recent federal tax receipts, our best estimate is that we will be unable to satisfy all of the government’s obligations by early June, and potentially as early as June 1,’ Yellen wrote.

Just after Yellen’s letter was made public it was revealed President Biden had called McCarthy’s team to set up a meeting on how to move forward with the nation’s $31.4 trillion borrowing limit, three months after their last meeting.

A meeting with Biden and the ‘Big Four’ congressional leaders – Kevin McCarthy, Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries – will take place on May 9.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries signaled he would try to force a vote on a clean debt ceiling raise using a parliamentary tactic known as a discharge petition even as Republicans continue to insist the president must negotiate.

With financial markets eyeing the potential blowback should Republicans and Democrats fail to make a deal, it offers a prospect for moving a solution – but one with low chances of working. 

The Republican bill, which would slash some of President Joe Biden’s favorite programs, is dead on arrival in the Democrat-led Senate. Now Jeffries is using a rarely used procedural tactic where the minority can force a clean debt ceiling bill to the floor. 

The discharge petition allows a sizable group of members to go around leadership to get legislation directly to the floor.

‘We will be in direct contact next week upon our return to Washington in connection with the discharge effort,’ Jeffries wrote in a Dear Colleague letter. 

But Jeffries, of New York, would need the signature of five GOP moderates in the House to bring the bill forward, in addition to all of his members, and he would need 60 votes in the Senate to get it through. 

Only two discharge petitions have ever gotten through the House – in part because party leaders drill into their caucuses not to let the minority party seize control of the agenda and undermine their leverage.

Both Democrats and Republicans are feeling a new sense of urgency after the Treasury announced Monday the nation could run out of money to pay its bills as early as June 1. 

President Biden has convened a meeting with McCarthy for May 9, after three months of refusing to meet with the GOP leader – though he insists he still will not negotiate on the debt ceiling. 

He’s also invited Jeffries, Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell – who will all attend the meeting. 

Biden’s insistence that he won’t negotiate is proving unpopular with Americans – a majority in both parties and 74 percent of all respondents to an Echelon Insights poll  insist the president ‘should agree to negotiations and try to find common ground around the debt ceiling, including some reductions in government spending.’

Though McConnell said he would be witness to the negotiations, he stressed the Senate had no central role in striking a deal. 

‘The president and the speaker need to reach an agreement,’ he said. ‘There is no solution in the Senate.’ 

Meanwhile Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer insisted the Senate pass a clean debt ceiling package — throwing cold water on the idea floated by some Republicans of a short-term 30-day debt ceiling extension. 

He put a vote for a clean debt ceiling bill on the Senate floor calendar.

‘We should not kick the can down the road. We should go for a full two year [extension],’ he said.

He plans to bring a bill increasing the debt limit until December 21, 2024 and insists the time to talk about budget cuts is not until after the debt limit is increased. 

Schumer also tamped down the possibility of invoking the 14th Amendment – as one idea thrown around cites a little-used provision that states: ‘The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.’

It offers a potential workaround in case negotiations collapse completely leading to a potential default scenario, but the move would be full of uncertainty, both politically and for markets. 

‘The way to go is a clean debt ceiling,’ Schumer said. 

Senate Republicans backed up Speaker McCarthy in saying no debt ceiling bill would happen unless Democrats agreed to budget cuts.  

‘A clean debt ceiling is not going to happen,’ said Senate GOP Whip John Thune of South Dakota. 

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday that in the meeting Biden won’t negotiate the GOP’s demands for raising the debt limit, but ‘will discuss initiating a separate process to address the budget and appropriations.’ 

‘The only practical path is to suspend the debt limit without conditions,’ Jean-Pierre said. 

Last week House Republicans passed a party-line bill that would raise the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion in exchange for $4.5 trillion in spending cuts. Biden had long insisted he would sit down with the speaker once Republicans had a plan in writing.