Day 973: "Lots of luck."
Today in one sentence: Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on world leaders to remain united in defending Ukraine against Russian aggression; Kevin McCarthy postponed a key procedural vote on a short-term spending bill aimed at averting a government shutdown amid opposition from more than 15 Freedom Caucus members; House Republicans plan to hold their first hearing next week in their impeachment inquiry into Biden; 64% of voters feel that a Biden-Trump rematch means the political system is broken; and 65% of Americans say they feel exhausted when thinking about politics.
1/ Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on world leaders to remain united in defending Ukraine against Russian aggression. During the annual gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly, Biden warned that no nation can be secure if “we allow Ukraine to be carved up,” adding that “Russia believes the world will grow weary” of the war and stop providing support and assistance, which will allow Putin to “brutalize Ukraine without consequence.” Zelensky told the assembled leaders that Putin’s goal “is to turn our land, our people, our lives, our resources into a weapon against you, against the international rules-based order,” adding that Russia had weaponized food and energy “not only against our country, but against all of yours as well.” (Wall Street Journal / NBC News / Axios / Associated Press / New York Times / Politico / Washington Post / ABC News)
2/ Kevin McCarthy postponed a key procedural vote on a short-term spending bill aimed at averting a government shutdown amid opposition from more than 15 Freedom Caucus members, who planned to vote against the bill that would cut most non-defense discretionary spending by 8% and institute some Trump-era border policies. It’s the third time in as many months that McCarthy has had to pull a spending bill due to internal opposition, and it’s unclear when or if that vote will get rescheduled. Further, even if the continuing resolution gets approve, it has no chance of winning passage in the Senate, where Democrats hold the majority. With 12 days left to avoid a shutdown and no viable plan to fund the government, McCarthy said: “I won’t give up. I like a challenge. I don’t like this big a challenge, but we’re just going to keep doing it until we fix it.” Meanwhile, some House Republicans have suggested it might be time to begin working with Democrats in the House, where Republicans have a 221-212 majority. (Politico / Washington Post / The Hill / Wall Street Journal / CNN / Axios / CNBC / Associated Press)
3/ House Republicans plan to hold their first hearing next week in their impeachment inquiry into Biden. Despite no evidence that Biden personally benefited from his son’s business deals, the House Oversight Committee said it plans “to follow the evidence and money trail,” as well as the “constitutional and legal questions” surrounding Biden’s involvement in Hunter Biden’s deals. Nevertheless, the committee plans to issue a subpoena for bank records from two of the president’s family members. Republicans in both the House and Senate have also said they don’t think there is enough evidence to proceed with the investigation. Biden, meanwhile, wished House Republicans “lots of luck” on their impeachment inquiry. Last week, Kevin McCarthy directed House committees to open an impeachment inquiry in a move that appears to be aimed at appeasing conservative lawmakers. (CNN / NBC News / NPR / Associated Press / Axios / Washington Post / Bloomberg / CBS News / ABC News / CNBC)
poll/ 64% of voters feel that a Biden-Trump rematch means the political system is broken. 23% say that a rematch means the system is working. (CBS News)
poll/ 65% of Americans say they feel exhausted when thinking about politics, while 55% feel angry, 10% feel hopeful, and 4% are excited. [Editor’s note: Friendly reminder that the goal of this blog/newsletter/podcast is to be the antidote to an impossible political news cycle. Our free, once a day publication aims to present the most important news coming out of Washington in a digestible form for normal people. So if you know other normal people who are also exhausted by politics, consider sharing WTFJHT with them.] (Pew Research Center)
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