At meeting, Biden to challenge McCarthy to avoid default, release detailed budget, per White House memo

Official White House Photo by Hannah Foslien

(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden is expected to pose two questions to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during a Wednesday meeting and will challenge him to commit to avoiding a catastrophic default and unveil a specific, detailed and comprehensive budget, according to a White House memo obtained first by ABC News.

The highly anticipated meeting comes amid an ongoing standoff over the debt limit.

According to the memo, the president is expected to ask McCarthy if he will “commit to the bedrock principle that the United States will never default on its financial obligations” and whether he agrees with “former presidents, including Presidents Trump and Reagan, that it is critical to avoid debt limit brinksmanship.”

The memo — written by senior advisers Brian Deese and Shalanda Young — notes President Biden will release a budget on March 9 and challenges McCarthy to do the same.

“It is essential that Speaker McCarthy likewise commit to releasing a budget, so that the American people can see how House Republicans plan to reduce the deficit – whether through Social Security cuts; cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Affordable Care Act (ACA) health coverage; and/or cuts to research, education, and public safety – as well as how much their Budget will add to the deficit with tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and large corporations, as in their first bill this year.”

McCarthy responded to the memo in a statement on Tuesday, writing: “Mr. President: I received your staff’s memo. I’m not interested in political games. I’m coming to negotiate for the American people.”

Republicans in the House have insisted on deep spending cuts in exchange for their cooperation on raising the debt ceiling.

The Republican Study Committee, which represents the largest group of Republicans in the House, previously called for revisions to Social Security and Medicare including raising the age for Medicare to 67 and Social Security to the age of 70 for younger workers.

But McCarthy recently said any cuts to Social Security and Medicare would be “off the table.”

McCarthy pointed to the “Commitment to America” plan presented by Republicans before the midterms, which he said “strengthens” Medicare and Social Security. The White House has accused McCarthy of being “evasive” on his plan for government spending.

Pressed on what he meant by “strengthen” and whether he would seek to raise the retirement age — McCarthy said: “No, no, no. What I’m talking about Social Security, Medicare, you keep that to the side.”

“I want to find a reasonable and a responsible way that we can lift the debt ceiling but take control of this runaway spending,” McCarthy said.

Meanwhile, the White House has repeatedly said Biden will not negotiate or compromise by tying a debt limit increase to spending cuts, with the administration pointing to the bipartisan history of the ceiling being increased by both parties over the years.

“Attempts to exploit the debt ceiling as leverage will not work,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters earlier this month. “There will be no hostage taking.”

Earlier this month, McCarthy made it clear he was holding firm.

“For the president to say he wouldn’t even negotiate — that’s irresponsible. We’re going to be responsible. We’re going to be sensible, and we’re going to get this done together. So the longer he waits, the more he puts the fiscal jeopardy of America up for grabs,” McCarthy told ABC News’ Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott earlier this month. “We should sit down and get this done and stop playing politics,” he added.

The debt limit doesn’t allow government spending on new programs — instead it allows the U.S. to borrow any money it needs to pay for the nation’s existing bills.

The federal government hit the current debt ceiling, about $31.4 trillion earlier this month prompting the Treasury Department to step in with “extraordinary measures” which will allow the nation to avert a catastrophic default until June.

“President Biden will ask Speaker McCarthy to publicly assure the American people and the rest of the world that the United States will, as always, honor all of its financial obligations,” the memo states.

Editor’s note: This article has been revised to reflect an updated memo released by the administration.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Santos tells House Republicans he’d recuse himself from committee assignments: Sources

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(WASHINGTON) — Embattled GOP Rep. George Santos told House Republicans during a closed door meeting on Tuesday that he would recuse himself from sitting on any committees, multiple sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.

Santos was recently assigned two committees — the House Small Business Committee and the House Science, Space and Technology Committee.

Leaving the House Republican meeting, Speaker Kevin McCarthy confirmed that Santos said he would recuse himself from committees but indicated if he were to fill the committee seats, it would be on a temporary basis.

“If I fill them it will be on a temporary basis. He’ll be able to get committees back once he’s cleared,” McCarthy said.

A spokesperson for Santos’ office told ABC News, “The congressman is reserving his seats on his assigned committees until he has been properly cleared of both campaign and personal financial investigations.”

Santos was elected in November to represent New York’s 3rd Congressional District but by the time he was sworn in, he was under a cloud of controversy for fabricating much of his resume. He now also faces several investigations into his campaign’s finances.

McCarthy reiterated that the House Ethics Committee will have questions about many of those concerns and once he answers those questions he may be able to be seated on committees.

“I think it was an appropriate decision that until he can clear everything up he’s off the committees,” McCarthy said, adding that they discussed the matter during a meeting on Monday.

McCarthy wouldn’t say explicitly whether he encouraged Santos to step aside from his committee assignments but told reporters, “I think we had a good discussion inside the meeting” and said Santos found this decision was the best way forward.

Santos was assigned to the two House panels earlier this month despite calls for his resignation by Democrats and at least seven Republicans.

McCarthy has declined to join calls for Santos to step down, stating he will treat him like any other member of the House.

“I will hold him to the same standard I hold anyone else elected to Congress,” McCarthy told reporters last week. “If he has broken the law then we will remove him, but it is not my role. I believe in the rule of law.”

Santos’ committee assignments were also the subject of scrutiny given McCarthy blocked Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell from serving on the House Intelligence Committee. McCarthy is also seeking to remove Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Santos himself has remained defiant against stepping down.

When asked by ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott Tuesday if he was now considering resigning, he replied, “No, I’m not.”

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Biden to challenge McCarthy to avoid default and release detailed budget in meeting, per White House memo

Official White House Photo by Hannah Foslien

(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden is expected to pose two questions to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during a Wednesday meeting and will challenge the speaker to commit to avoiding a catastrophic default and unveil a specific, detailed and comprehensive budget, according to a White House memo obtained first by ABC News.

The highly anticipated meeting comes amid an ongoing standoff over the debt limit.

According to the memo, the president is expected to ask McCarthy if he will “commit to the bedrock principle that the United States will never default on its financial obligations” and whether he agrees with “former presidents, including Presidents Trump and Reagan, that it is critical to avoid debt limit brinksmanship.”

The memo — written by senior advisors Brian Deese and Shalanda Young — notes Biden will release a budget on March 9 and challenges McCarthy to do the same.

“It is essential that Speaker McCarthy likewise commit to releasing a budget, so that the American people can see how House Republicans plan to reduce the deficit – whether through Social Security cuts; cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Affordable Care Act (ACA) health coverage; and/or cuts to research, education, and public safety – as well as how much their Budget will add to the deficit with tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and large corporations, as in their first bill this year,” the memo states.

Republicans in the House have insisted on deep spending cuts in exchange for their cooperation on raising the debt ceiling.

The Republican Study Committee, which represents the largest group of Republicans in the House, previously called for revisions to Social Security and Medicare including raising the age for Medicare to 67 and Social Security to the age of 70 for younger workers.

But McCarthy recently said any cuts to Social Security and Medicare would be “off the table.”

McCarthy pointed to the “Commitment to America” plan presented by Republicans before the midterms, which he said “strengthens” Medicare and Social Security. The White House has accused McCarthy of being “evasive” on his plan for government spending.

Pressed on what he meant by “strengthen” and whether he sought to raise the retirement age — McCarthy said: “No, no, no. What I’m talking about Social Security, Medicare, you keep that to the side.”

“I want to find a reasonable and a responsible way that we can lift the debt ceiling but take control of this runaway spending,” McCarthy said.

Meanwhile, the White House has repeatedly said Biden will not negotiate or compromise by tying a debt limit increase to spending cuts, with the administration pointing to the bipartisan history of the ceiling being increased by both parties over the years.

“If Speaker McCarthy is prepared to rule out default — and once he releases a specific and detailed Budget that has the support of his Caucus — the President is prepared to engage in a conversation about economic and fiscal priorities as part of the normal budget process,” the White House memo states.

The memo calls the credit of the United States a “non-negotiable” insisting Biden “will not allow anyone to take the U.S. economy hostage.”

Earlier this month, McCarthy made it clear he was holding firm.

“For the president to say he wouldn’t even negotiate — that’s irresponsible. We’re going to be responsible. We’re going to be sensible, and we’re going to get this done together. So the longer he waits, the more he puts the fiscal jeopardy of America up for grabs,” McCarthy told ABC News’ Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott earlier this month. “We should sit down and get this done and stop playing politics,” he added.

The debt limit doesn’t allow government spending on new programs — instead it allows the U.S. to borrow any money it needs to pay for the nation’s existing bills.

The federal government hit the current debt ceiling, about $31.4 trillion, earlier this month prompting the Treasury Department to step in with “extraordinary measures” which will allow the nation to avert a catastrophic default until June.

“President Biden will ask Speaker McCarthy to publicly assure the American people and the rest of the world that the United States will, as always, honor all of its financial obligations,” the memo states.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Biden administration will end COVID-19 emergencies on May 11

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(WASHINGTON) — The Biden administration will end both the COVID-19 national emergency and public health emergency on May 11, the White House informed Congress on Monday night.

The current public health emergency is in place through April, while the national emergency is in place until March. They began in 2020, soon after the onset of the pandemic.

“At present, the Administration’s plan is to extend the emergency declarations to May 11, and then end both emergencies on that date. This wind down would align with the Administration’s previous commitments to give at least 60 days’ notice prior to termination of the PHE,” the administration wrote in a letter to Congress.

“To be clear, continuation of these emergency declarations until May 11 does not impose any restriction at all on individual conduct with regard to COVID-19,” the administration wrote. “They do not impose mask mandates or vaccine mandates. They do not restrict school or business operations. They do not require the use of any medicines or tests in response to cases of COVID-19.”

The impact of the public health emergency ending will come into clearer focus over the next three months, as different agencies in the federal government determine which related programs can be continued without the order in place — and how to unwind programs that can’t.

One potential impact will be on hospitals and doctors’ offices, which have come to rely on higher rates for Medicare patients and more flexibility around bed capacity rules when there’s a surge of patients.

States will also soon be exempt from sharing data with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has mandated information like case counts and COVID-19 deaths during the public health emergency — a change that could lead to a cloudier future picture of COVID-19 in the U.S.

A senior administration official told ABC News that the CDC will reach out to states in the coming months to encourage them to continue sharing that information voluntarily.

The public health emergency also affects the health care coverage Americans have come to rely on for free COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and tests. While vaccines will remain largely free for people with insurance even after the emergency ends — so long as they’re administered by an in-network provider — free treatment and tests could be less of a guarantee.

A senior administration official predicted the change will be relatively minor, and that instead the larger change in COVID-19 coverage will come later this year, when the government stops buying and distributing vaccines, tests and treatments for free for all Americans and insurance companies begin to take up the cost, moving the whole system to the private market.

People on Medicaid may also face changes in their health care coverage after April 1, when states will once again be able to remove enrollees who no longer qualify for the program.

States have so far been barred from ending people’s Medicaid coverage for the duration of the pandemic, even if enrollees’ circumstances change and they no longer qualify, as a tenet of the public health emergency. According to a group of Republican governors, who in December pressured the Biden administration to end the public health emergency, the Medicaid expansion has led to an increase of approximately 20 million people on the program’s rolls since the start of the pandemic.

At least 13% of Medicaid recipients could get removed from their coverage once the rules change, according to research compiled by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) from around 20 states.

The end of the public health emergency could also bring the end of Title 42 — the order that has allowed the Trump and Biden administrations to turn many migrants away at the border by citing the potential spread of the virus.

The Biden administration supports “an orderly, predictable wind-down of Title 42, with sufficient time to put alternative policies in place,” the government said in Monday’s announcement.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Lawmakers denounce police in Tyre Nichols’ death but split on potential for new police laws

ABC News

(NEW YORK) — Bipartisan outrage continued following the Friday release of graphic footage of police officers beating Tyre Nichols after a traffic stop in Memphis, Tennessee, earlier this month — with lawmakers saying such a brutal reaction was “unconscionable.”

“Justice for Tyre Nichols must be swift and complete,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., wrote in a tweet, calling Nichols’ death “brutal and violent.”

“A dangerous culture of violence has permeated far too many police departments in this country. Time and time again, it is lethal,” Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., said in his own statement. “Tyre Nichols should still be here today. We must change the culture that perpetuates these tragedies and bring those accountable to justice.”

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., a past negotiator in Congress on potential policing reform, called for punishments for those involved.

“We have been here too many times before. We cannot continue down this path. America cannot stand silent,” Scott said in a statement. “This was a man beaten by the power of the state. We must unite against this blatant disregard for human life especially from those we trust with immense power and responsibility.”

Nichols, who was 29, died three days after being attacked by police. Seven officers have since been fired or relieved of duty and five of those officers have been charged with second-degree murder and other crimes. Attorneys for two of them have said they will plead not guilty.

The video, from both police and area cameras, showed officers deploying pepper spray and a stun gun on Nichols and repeatedly hitting him. One officer was heard on his body camera video saying twice, “I hope they stomp his a–.”

The video has also renewed discussions on Capitol Hill about a compromise on federal legislation to change policing in America — a goal lawmakers in both parties have sought since George Floyd’s murder in 2020 in Minneapolis.

The Congressional Black Caucus is in talks about a meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House as early as this week to discuss reform, two sources familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News.

Senators have also reignited negotiations, but there’s little optimism from either side that any solution could garner the necessary support to pass.

Nonetheless, Biden has urged Congress to act.

“I think we should do it right now. We should have done it before. As you know, I did it by executive order for the federal side, but I can’t do it otherwise without the help of the rest of the Congress,” he said Monday.

The House in the last Congress passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and the president has said repeatedly that he would sign it, though it never made it through the Senate — and neither did similar proposals.

Negotiations among Sens. Scott and Cory Booker, D-N.J., and others faltered over qualified immunity, which shields police from lawsuits, and how officers should be prosecuted, ABC News reported at the time.

“We need a national conversation about policing in a responsible, constitutional and humane way,” Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said on ABC’s This Week on Sunday. “These men and women with badges put them on each day and risk their lives for us. I know that. But we also see, from these videos, horrible conduct by city officers and unacceptable situations. We’ve got to change.”

Durbin, the Senate Judiciary Committee chair, called the discussions between Scott and Booker the “right starting point.”

Durbin said Monday that he’s entering into talks with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on a proposal that could change the laws that protect officers from lawsuits. Graham, in a tweet on Sunday, proposed changing the qualified immunity statutes so that officers remained protected but departments could be sued.

According to Durbin, Graham planned to reach out to Scott, and Durbin said he would bring in Booker.

“I want to rekindle this conversation,” Durbin said Monday. “And if others want to participate, they’re welcome as far as I’m concerned.”

Scott, who had said in his statement that America needed to act, pledged in a floor speech on Monday that he stood ready, as he always had. But he suggested partisan divides were preventing any agreement and faulted Democrats for disagreeing with his earlier plan.

“We should have simple legislation that we can agree upon that has been agreed upon in the past, but too often too many are too concerned with who gets the credit,” he said. “I know that when a conservative Republican starts talking about policing in America some people seem to just turn the channel. That’s wrong.”

However, some other leading Republicans have said new legislation is not necessarily the answer.

“I’m not sure there’s any law you can pass that would prevent what happened,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who serves on the Senate’s Judiciary Committee, said Monday.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, echoed that on Sunday: “I don’t know that there’s any law that can stop that evil that we saw.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Biden touts $6 billion rail tunnel replacement, highlighting infrastructure law

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(BALTIMORE) — President Joe Biden on Monday traveled to Baltimore, Maryland, to kick off a $6 billion rail tunnel reconstruction project primarily funded by his bipartisan infrastructure law — an improvement he said would make a big difference to Amtrak commuters like himself.

The new tunnel will replace the aging Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel, and remove what the White House says is the largest bottleneck between New Jersey and Washington, D.C.

“This tunnel is nearly, as I said, 150-years-old. It’s a Civil War era — Ulysses S. Grant was president. The structure is deteriorating, the roof is leaking, the floor is sinking. This is the United States of America, for God’s sake. We know better than that,” Biden said, standing next to an Amtrak Acela train.

Recounting how, in his daily trips between Washington and Delaware as a senator, he’d “been through this tunnel a thousand times,” he added, “when folks talk about how badly the Baltimore tunnel needs an upgrade, you don’t need me to tell you. I’ve been there and you’ve been there, too.”

Once completed, Biden said, tunnel capacity is expected to triple and trains traveling through it will be able to go up to 110 miles per hour instead of the current 30 miles per hour.

The new tunnel will be named after Frederick Douglass, who, Biden said, “boarded this train to freedom right here in Baltimore.”

“He escaped slavery, he traveled the country by rail, fighting for abolition and civil rights,” Biden said. “So, that’s fitting we honor him in this way.”

Biden’s visit to Baltimore on Monday was the first in his a series of trips this week highlighting the infrastructure law. He will travel to New York City Tuesday to talk about the Hudson Tunnel Project and to Philadelphia on Friday to discuss removing lead pipes.

The new Baltimore tunnel will be equipped with two tubes along an alignment with softer curves; ventilation and emergency egress facilities; new signaling systems, overhead catenary and track; five new roadway and railroad bridges in the area surrounding the tunnel; and a new ADA-accessible West Baltimore MARC station, according to the White House.

“The Frederick Douglass Tunnel will be all electric,” Biden said. “This can be game changing for the environment.”

The president also announced the signing of different project agreements.

“Today we’re announcing this project, we’re gonna build on our project labor agreement,” Biden said. “These agreements are agreements that contractors and unions put in place before the construction begins.”

The Baltimore-Potomac Tunnel Replacement Program is expected to generate 30,000 jobs, including approximately 20,000 direct construction jobs. An additional $50 million investment from Amtrak will go towards local workforce development and community investments, including pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs to ensure that local workers in West Baltimore can access these jobs, according to the White House.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Senators renew call for investigation of smaller AR-15 rifle they claim is targeted toward children

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(WASHINGTON) — Seven U.S. senators are renewing calls for the Federal Trade Commission to open an investigation into the marketing of assault-style rifles after the unveiling of the JR-15, a long rifle the manufacturer advertises as a smaller AR-15 geared towards younger users.

Illinois-based WEE 1 Tactical unveiled the JR-15 in early 2022, advertising the weapon as a .22 caliber long rifle with the look and feel of an AR-15. The website for WEE1 Tactical advertises the gun as an ideal weapon to “teach a younger enthusiast.”

After originally writing a letter to the FTC in May 2022, a group of Senators held a press conference Thursday doubling down on their demand for intervention from the FTC.

“The last thing we need to be doing is shrinking deadly weapons of war and marketing them to young children,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said at the press conference.

An AR-15 is a type of semi-automatic rifle, Variants of the weapon have been linked to several high-profile mass shootings, including the recent massacres in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas.

“What we have here is a scaled-down 20% scaled down 22 long rifle that looks and feels and operates just like mom or dad’s gun,” said Eric Schmid, the owner of Schmid Tool & Eng. Corp, the manufacturer of the JR-15, in an interview with organizers of The Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show in 2022.

The ammunition and safety features of the JR-15 also differ from the AR-15. While the AR-15 generally uses .223 Remington and 5.56 NATO ammunition, the JR-15 uses .22 caliber ammunition, according to gun experts.

According to Sam Sang, the co-owner of Equilibrium Firearms in Mineola, New York, the .22 ammunition generally has less recoil than .223 or 5.56 and is easier to control while shooting, however, he said it’s still lethal.

WEE 1 Tactical also advertises the gun as having a unique “tamper resistant safety” mechanism, which it claims requires the strength and dexterity of an adult to disengage.

“Parents and guardians wanting to pass on this American tradition have been purchasing small caliber, lighter youth training rifles for decades,” WEE 1 Tactical said in a statement to ABC News. “The JR-15 incorporates a patented safety mechanism that provides an added level of safety available on no other rifle in production.”

A group of 11 Democratic U.S. Senators initially penned a letter in May 2022 to Lina Khan, the chair of the Federal Trade Commission, requesting the commission open an investigation into “the marketing of highly lethal firearms, including assault-style rifles, to impressionable young people.”

The letter took aim at WEE 1 Tactical for its “JR-15” marketing materials showing children shooting the gun and its former logo, depicting a skull and crossbones with a pacifier.

Since its initial launch, the branding of the weapon on WEE1 Tactical’s website does not include the original skull and crossbones logo; instead, their website prominently shows an image of a child aiming the rifle with the assistance of an adult.

In their letter, the senators accused WEE1 Tactical of being “just a single actor in a long line of unscrupulous gun manufacturers that have worked for years to market their products to a young audience.” They asked the FTC to take action against WEE1’s “unfair” marketing that could lead to harm or death.

The Federal Trade Commission declined ABC News’ request for comment.

Mark Olivia, the managing director of public affairs for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, disputed that the rifle is being targeted to minors, adding that the rifle would have to be purchased by an adult who undergoes an FBI background check.

“It’s a misnomer that this product is being targeted and advertised to children,” he said. “Children can’t buy it.”

The senators said even if WEE1’s marketing did not contain any false statements, they could still result in harm, referring to the litigation between Remington Company and the parents of victims of the deadly Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012 that killed 26 people. In that lawsuit, relatives of nine victims alleged that Remington targeted troubled young men in their marketing materials.

Those parents ended up settling with Remington for $73 million after a nearly-decade-long legal battle in Connecticut court.

Less than a year after initially writing their letter, the senators renewed their calls for FTC action this week, reiterating that while the JR-15 is a particularly egregious example, the shift towards marketing to children is an “industry-wide practice.”

“This is an open and shut case. This particular company is obviously marketing to kids. That’s the entire intention of the gun,” Sen. Chis Murphy, D-Conn., whose district includes Sandy Hook, said at the press conference. “But let’s just be clear, makers of AR-15s that are being sold today that we think of as being marketed primarily to adults are also being marketed to kids.”

The senators claim the JR-15 is marketing “weapons of war” to children and might yield another mass shooting. According to the Gun Violence Archive, America has had more mass shootings than days in 2023.

The senators’ renewed calls come days after multiple shootings involving semi-automatic pistols including two deadly mass shootings in California and weeks after a 6-year-old student in Virginia brought a gun to school and allegedly shot a first-grade teacher.

“Because every minute that we let parasitic companies like this try to trick our babies into buying lethal weapons, we risk witnessing another classroom turning into a massacre,” Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., said on Thursday at the press conference.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill added that the marketing bears similarity to the tobacco industry’s marketing to the youth. He said the Senate Judiciary Committee would look into the matter.

WEE 1 Tactical claims on its website that the JR-15 adds “a level of safety found on no other firearm of any size.” The company is currently taking orders for the JR-15 from gun dealers.

It also advertises a connection to Project Child Safe, a National Shooting Sports Foundation program aimed at “promoting genuine firearms safety through the distribution of safety education messages and free firearm safety kits to communities across the U.S.”

Federal law requires that any handgun legally purchased in the United States from a licensed dealer would be sold with a lock. As a trade association, NSSF provides gun locks through law enforcement on behalf of the entire gun industry, according to Olivia.

“Any firearm, period, misused negligently or criminally can certainly be capable of lethal damage,” Olivia said. “And that’s why it is so important for any youth that is going to be learning the shooting sports to be under the close and direct supervision of an adult.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

McCarthy and Biden to meet on spending and debt ceiling; McCarthy says there will be no default

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(WASHINGTON) — Speaker Kevin McCarthy says he is set to meet with President Joe Biden on Wednesday to discuss the Republican House majority’s views on federal government spending and raising the country’s borrowing limit in order to avoid a debt default.

“I know the president said he didn’t want to have any discussions, but I think it’s very important that our whole government is designed to find compromise,” McCarthy said during an appearance on Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

“I want to find a reasonable and a responsible way that we can lift the debt ceiling but take control of this runway spending,” McCarthy said, later adding, “I don’t think there’s anyone in America who doesn’t agree that there’s some wasteful Washington spending that we can eliminate.”

The White House has repeatedly said that Biden will not negotiate or compromise by tying a debt limit increase to spending cuts, with the administration pointing to the bipartisan history of the ceiling being increased by both parties over the years.

The debt limit doesn’t allow government spending on new programs; rather, it allows the U.S. to borrow any money it needs to pay for what Congress has already authorized.

“Attempts to exploit the debt ceiling as leverage will not work,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters earlier this month. “There will be no hostage taking.”

The president and his aides have also argued Republicans want to use spending talks to push for cuts to Medicare and Social Security, which McCarthy said on Sunday was “off the table.”

“If you read our ‘Commitment to America,’ all we talk about is strengthening Medicare and Social Security,” McCarthy said, referring to a plan he unveiled for his party before the 2022 midterms.

Pressed on what he meant by strengthen — and whether he saw that as including changes to the programs like raising the retirement age — McCarthy said: “No, no, no. What I’m talking about Social Security, Medicare, you keep that to the side.”

He insisted that he wants to work with Democrats to pass a budget but that government spending needs to come “under control.” He did not completely take defense cuts off the table, saying he wants to “make sure it’s effective and efficient.”

“I want to look at every dollar no matter where it’s being spent,” he said. “I want to eliminate waste wherever it is.”

The speaker also did not say if he would support a short-term debt limit extension to buy more time for negotiations but said that he intended to see the government continue to be funded.

“There will not be a default. But what is really irresponsible is what the Democrats are doing right now, saying we just raise the limit. … They won’t even negotiate. We have now till June,” he said.

The federal government hit the current debt ceiling, about $31.4 trillion, earlier this month.

Since then, the Treasury Department has employed “extraordinary measures” along with its usual cash flow to keep its bills paid, though that is expected to be depleted by June, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said.

“I want to sit down together, work out an agreement that we can move forward, to put us on a path to balance,” McCarthy said Sunday, “[and] at the same time, not put any of our debt in jeopardy.”

In a statement after his interview, the White House accused him of being “evasive” on his conference’s plan for government spending.

“For years, congressional Republicans have advocated for slashing earned benefits using Washington code words like ‘strengthen,’ when their policies would privatize Medicare and Social Security, raise the retirement age, or cut benefits. It’s like saying, ‘you’re not being laid off – we just want to make a change,'” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said.

“House Republicans refuse to raise revenue from the wealthy, but insist they will ‘strengthen’ earned benefits programs. You do the math. They have – they just won’t show you,” Bates said.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Biden climate law spurred billions in clean energy investment. Has it been a success?

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(WASHINGTON) — When President Joe Biden signed the $369 billion Inflation Reduction Act in August, supporters hailed the measure as the largest climate investment in the nation’s history — but questions remained about what the spending would ultimately achieve.

The majority of the funding took the form of tax credits meant to incentivize private investment in clean energy, such as wind and solar, and in theory, boost U.S. production of renewables as the nation pursues ambitious carbon emissions goals and a supply chain less dependent on China.

The success of the strategy, however, in a large part hinged on the willingness of companies to pursue those tax credits. So far, dozens of firms have announced projects that qualify for government relief, totaling more than $40 billion in clean energy investment and adding nearly 7,000 jobs, according to a report from Clean Power America, an industry group representing green energy companies.

New plans range from a battery manufacturing plant in Georgia to a solar complex in Alabama to the expansion of a wind turbine facility in Colorado, the report found.

As the global supply chain struggles to recover from the pandemic, the early wave of investment proves the wisdom of the landmark energy law, foretelling significant growth for U.S. clean energy and easing the sector’s reliance on China, some industry representatives and analysts said.

But some climate experts cautioned that the tens of billions in investment makes up a fraction of the scale required, leaving the effectiveness of the environmental measure in question. The law left out key parts of the climate change fight that could imperil carbon emissions goals regardless of the amount of investment, they added.

“Friction in the global economy is causing difficulties getting solar panels and lithium batteries,” David Victor, a professor of innovation and public policy at the University of California, San Diego, told ABC News. “It’s hard to deploy the commitments we’ve made, let alone bring a radical expansion.”

“This is a massive amount of money behind that ambition that we’ve never seen before in American history,” he added.

To be sure, a host of industry groups and economists opposed the Inflation Reduction Act altogether, warning that the billions in spending would exacerbate inflation rather than alleviate it. Congressional Republicans tried to obstruct the law with a party-line “no” vote.

“We share the goal of addressing climate change,” the American Petroleum Institute, a trade group representing about 600 companies in the oil and natural gas industry said in a letter to House leaders before the law’s passage. “The considerable tax increases and new government spending in the IRA amount to the wrong policies at the wrong time.”

Last decade, the use of renewable electricity in the U.S. skyrocketed. Between 2011 and 2020, the U.S. quadrupled the share of electricity it gets from wind and solar, according to a report from the nonprofit Environment America Research and Policy Center and the nonpartisan research organization Frontier Group.

Over the first six months of 2022, nearly a quarter of U.S. electricity generation came from renewable sources, according to the Energy Information Administration, a government agency. But the progress falls well short of the Biden administration’s goal of 100% clean electricity by 2035.

The need for additional U.S. clean energy capacity has drawn attention to the nation’s renewables manufacturing sector, which pales in comparison to China, the source of more than 80% of components in all of the key stages of solar production, the International Energy Agency said in July.

As global supply chain bottlenecks amid the pandemic have weighed on China’s economy and hindered U.S. access to key parts, the need for a fix has gained added urgency, some analysts said.

“Frankly, we’ve seen a slowdown,” John Hensley, vice president for research and analytics at American Clean Power, told ABC News. “The inability to source solar modules is front and center.”

The three-month period ending in September marked the slowest quarter for renewable energy growth in three years, a report from American Clean Power found. Wind installations fell 78% compared with the previous quarter, while solar installations dropped 23%, the report showed.

By dramatically expanding U.S. clean energy production, the Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, will help the nation circumvent a fragile global supply chain and return it to a trajectory of robust growth, industry representatives and some analysts said.

A pronounced impact is expected in the solar market. The law will lead to over $600 billion in new investment over the next decade, bringing 50% more solar investment than the country would’ve drawn without the measure, the Solar Energy Industry Association found.

Hanwha Qcells, a Korean solar company, announced earlier this month more than $2.5 billion in new investment to build a manufacturing facility about 50 miles northwest of Atlanta. The company said it will also expand an existing plant in Dalton, Georgia, bringing a total of 2,500 new jobs.

“The U.S. solar manufacturing industry has really struggled over the last couple decades,” Scott Moskowitz, senior director, head of market strategy and public affairs at Qcells North America, told ABC News. “The IRA marks a turning point in the history of the industry.”

The Republican party, whose members on Capitol Hill uniformly opposed the energy law, retains one-party control of Georgia’s state legislature. But government officials in the state have backed the solar project, Moskowitz said.

“We’ve had nothing but support from our elected officials,” he said. “We’ve found there’s universal support for manufacturing jobs and pretty wide support for a diversified and cleaner energy mix.”

Despite signs of success, some analysts warned that the investment so far remains far short of what the country will require to achieve its climate goals.

“It’s definitely good,” Mark Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University, told ABC News. “The issue is we need much more.”

The law hamstrings itself, Jacobson said, since it includes tax credits for what he says are unproven technologies like carbon capture, a way of reducing emissions at their source by trapping and storing carbon before it releases into the air. Such tax credits are “basically taking money away from real solutions,” he said.

The market will limit the use of credits for technology that proves ineffective, limiting that potential waste, said Hensley, of American Clean Power.

“If you have a project that doesn’t have great economics, that doesn’t have a great production profile, that isn’t delivering on goals and benefits, not many of those projects are going to get done,” he said.

While improving the output of clean energy, the IRA doesn’t address the issue of fossil fuel consumption, Jacobson said. As long as cars, homes and offices use fossil fuels, the benefits of clean energy will prove limited, he said.

“The IRA isn’t addressing that problem of getting rid of fossil fuels,” he said. “The big problem is we need to stop burning things.”

Hensley acknowledged that the climate fight will require initiatives that extend beyond clean energy production.

“It will take a joint effort to get there,” he said. “The country has a good track record of rising to the occasion.”

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Trump says he’s ‘more committed’ than ever as he holds first 2024 campaign events

Sam Wolfe/Bloomberg via Getty Images

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) — Former President Donald Trump made his campaign debut for his 2024 run on Saturday in two key early-voting states.

Trump’s first stop was in New Hampshire, where he teased a ramp-up in campaign events, laid out an agenda focused on crime, immigration and education and criticized the investigation into classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

“This is about the beginning. You know, this is it. We’re starting. We’re starting right here as a candidate for president,” Trump said as he delivered remarks at the New Hampshire Republican Party’s annual meeting.

“To save America, we need a leader who is prepared to take on the forces laying waste to our country, and we need a president who is ready to hit the ground running on day one — and I am, boy am I hitting the ground.”

Looking to reenergize his campaign, Trump addressed skepticism and criticisms that he hasn’t been on the road since his announcement back in November.

“They said, ‘He’s not doing rallies, he’s not campaigning. Maybe he’s lost that step.’ We didn’t. I’m more angry now. And I’m more committed now than I ever was,” Trump said to cheers.

Trump also took aim at Democrats, slamming the party for their planned 2024 presidential primary calendar, which would strip New Hampshire of its first-in-the-nation primary status. Trump said if elected, he would ensure New Hampshire remains first in the nation for Republican primaries and he named outgoing state GOP Chairman Stephen Stepanek as his senior adviser for his New Hampshire campaign.

Saturday’s campaign stops were also filled with not-so-slight digs at potential Republican contenders as Trump looks to dissuade other Republicans from launching presidential bids. The former president projected confidence in his ability to win the next presidential election, telling the crowd he doesn’t “think we have competition this time either.”

Speaking to reporters after his New Hampshire appearance, Trump told ABC News and other outlets that he would view a presidential run by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, for example, as “disloyal.”

“When I hear he might run, you know, I consider that very disloyal,” Trump said. “But it’s not about loyalty, but to me it is, it’s always about loyalty.”

Trump, the only declared GOP candidate in the race so far, also said that widely expected challenger Nikki Haley, a former ambassador in his administration and former South Carolina governor, had called him recently to say “she’d like to consider” a run for president in 2024.

“I said, ‘Look, you know, go by your heart if you want to run,'” Trump told reporters. “She’s publicly said that ‘I would never run against my president.'”

Following his event in New Hampshire, Trump sent out a fundraising email seeking to capitalize on his return to the campaign trail.

“I will officially be the FIRST Republican presidential candidate to campaign in the two early primary states of New Hampshire and South Carolina. No other candidate is working this early to win every last vote and save America from Biden’s destruction,” the email stated.

But Trump’s third run for the White House also comes as he faces multiple investigations, including a Department of Justice probe of his handling of classified documents while out of office and a criminal investigation in Georgia into efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election result — a case in which decisions regarding potential charges are “imminent,” the prosecutor leading the investigation said earlier this week.

“I’m not worried,” Trump said Saturday when asked about the possibility of charges in the case. He insisted that, because he was president at the time, “I had an obligation to criticize or to ask questions” about the election.

Trump also spent time during both his campaign stops Saturday criticizing the court-authorized FBI search of Mar-a-Lago and the investigation into classified documents found at his estate. It comes as classified materials have also been found at the residences of former Vice President Mike Pence and President Joe Biden.

Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed two special counsels to investigate Trump and Biden whereas the DOJ has been reviewing the material found at Pence’s Indiana home earlier this week.

In South Carolina for his second event of the day, Trump spoke to a small, packed room filled with hundreds of people where he announced his leadership team for the state and spoke to the importance of its early role in the primary process.

“As the famous saying goes, ‘South Carolina picks presidents,’ you’ve heard that a little bit before, right?” he said.

His South Carolina Leadership team includes Sen. Lindsey Graham, Gov. Henry McMaster, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, Treasurer Curtis Loftis, Rep. Joe Wilson, Rep. Russell Fry, Rep. William Timmons, former Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, former U.S. Attorney Peter McCoy and former Amb. Ed McMullen.

“We believe in common sense. We believe in the Declaration of Independence. We believe in the Constitution. We believe in the Bible, and we believe in you,” McMaster said, pointing to Trump.

“How many times have you heard ‘we like Trump policies, but we want somebody new.’ There are no Trump policies without Donald Trump,” Graham added.

On policy, Trump said Saturday he would “eliminate federal funding for any school that pushes critical race theory or left-wing gender ideology,” restore every border security measure of the Trump presidency “within hours of my inauguration,” investigate “radical left-wing prosecutors” and said he supports a constitutional amendment to impose term limits on members of Congress.

“This is just the beginning of our agenda. I look forward to returning many times,” Trump said as he ended his remarks in New Hampshire.

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