Parts of the long-awaited report by a Georgia grand jury investigating former President Donald Trump and his allies will be released Thursday amid concerns that some witnesses may have lied during the investigation.
Here’s what else is happening in politics:
- Haley in New Hampshire: Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley holds two events in the Granite State this week after officially launching her 2024 White House campaign.
- A presidential physical: President Joe Biden is scheduled to undergo a routine medical checkup as he eyes a second term as president.
- Debt ceiling needs to be raised by summer, CBO says: The Congressional Budget Office said the U.S. Treasury will run out of money as soon as July as the president and House Speaker McCarthy continue to spar over the debt ceiling and federal spending.
In Iowa, Mike Pence vows to resist special counsel’s ‘unconstitutional’ subpoena
Former Vice President Mike Pence vowed Wednesday to resist special counsel Jack Smith’s decision to subpoena his testimony in his investigation into Donald Trump’s efforts to subvert the 2020 election, calling the move “unprecedented and unconstitutional.”
“We’ll stand on that principle, and we’ll take that case as far as it needs to go — if need be to the Supreme Court of the United States,” Pence said at an event in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. “Because to me, it’s an issue of the separation of powers.”
Pence argued he is shielded by the Constitution’s “speech or debate clause,” which protects members of Congress from law enforcement scrutiny over their speech and debate in the chamber. The clause says they “shall not be questioned in any other place.”
– Brianne Pfannenstiel
More:In Iowa, Mike Pence vows to resist special counsel’s subpoena in Trump 2020 investigation
Biden, McCarthy spar over debt after CBO releases new projections
President Joe Biden on Wednesday accused Republicans of supporting tax cuts for the wealthy and other policies that would add $3 trillion to the national debt, pushing back on their demands for spending cuts as part of raising the debt ceiling.
Biden, speaking at an electrical workers union hall in Lanham Md., singled out Republican efforts to extend expiring Trump-era tax cuts for high-income earners and corporations, which would add a projected $2.7 trillion in debt. “It would explode the deficit and leave the American taxpayer holding the bag,” he said.
His remarks came after the Congressional Budget Office released an updated budget outlook that projects the U.S. will add more than $19 trillion to the national debt over the next decade, $3 trillion more than was projected last year.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy fired back in a tweet, saying Biden’s policies have led to $13 trillion in new spending and renewing his call to “negotiate a responsible debt limit increase that gets our fiscal house back in order.”
“Democrats’ reckless spending is plunging our country into deeper debt & jeopardizing our economy,” McCarthy said. “A blank check for more spending will destroy our country.”
– Joey Garrison
Debt ceiling debate:Debt limit forecast says US could be in default by summer. Here’s how that could impact you
Not just Haley: South Carolina’s Tim Scott is also mulling presidential bid
Nikki Haley might not be the only politician from South Carolina to run for president in 2024.
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., the Senate’s only Black Republican, has hired new political aides and is planning a trip to Iowa, all stoking speculation that he may also jump into next year’s Republican race.
Scott allies are mum on whether he will take the plunge.
“These next few weeks Senator Scott will not just talk about his faith, but also why he has faith in America,” said Jennifer DeCasper, a senior adviser to the South Carolina senator. “He is excited to share his vision of hope and opportunity and hear the American people’s response.”
Asked about Scott’s campaign-like activity, aides stayed mum.
– David Jackson
Susan Page:How do you challenge Trump for the nomination? With Nikki Haley in, let’s count the ways.
As nation reels from Michigan shooting, courts wrestle with access to guns
Should the government be able to take guns from Americans who smoke marijuana? What about people who are the subject of domestic violence protective orders?
A federal appeals court in Philadelphia grappled Wednesday with a case that questions whether Americans who have committed nonviolent felonies can be denied access to guns. It’s one of several such cases questioning who can be denied access to weapons that are percolating in federal courts in the wake of a landmark Supreme Court ruling last year on the Second Amendment.
The case in Philadelphia, which deals with a man who has been denied access to guns after making false statements to boost his food stamp assistance nearly three decades ago, comes as the nation is reeling from another mass shooting. Three Michigan State University students were killed and five others were wounded in a shooting Monday night.
– John Fritze
Gun access:As nation reels from Michigan State shooting, courts wrestle with access to guns
Story Credit: usatoday.com