Biden Faces Myriad Challenges as Third Year Begins
Joe Biden began the third year of his presidency facing an impending threat to the nation’s full faith and credit and trying to minimize the fallout from a growing political scandal. The U.S. hit the $31.38 trillion limit set by the Congress this week forcing the Treasury Department to take ‘extraordinary measures’ to avoid default. The Treasury estimates, however, that the nation will begin defaulting in June if Congress does not raise the current ceiling. The White House’s public position is that the debt limit should be raised unconditionally, while House Republicans are looking to negotiate concessions.
What spending does the debt limit apply to?
Instructors: click the link below to download this week’s lecture for use in your classroom. The deck contains a writing prompt and a debate question as well as other assessment questions.
Download: CQP_Lecture_Spark_PPT_Biden Faces Myriad Challenges as Third Year Begins
Videos
News Articles
Bipartisan U.S. lawmakers preparing plan to avert debt-ceiling crisis
Reuters
1/22/23
Why we have a debt ceiling, and why this trip to the brink may be different
NPR
1/21/23
https://www.npr.org/2023/01/21/1150078028/debt-ceiling-explainer
Democrats may have to bend on negotiations with GOP on debt ceiling
The Hill
1/22/23
House GOP’s swing votes demand talks on debt ceiling and push back on White House’s hard-line stance
CNN
1/19/23
https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/19/politics/house-republicans-swing-votes-debt-ceiling/index.html
Investigators Seize More Classified Documents From Biden’s Home
New York Times
1/21/23
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/21/us/politics/biden-documents.html
GOP investigations of Biden to test Chairman Comer’s power
Associated Press
1/21/23
Biden docs: White House requested FBI search that uncovered latest batch of classified documents
Fox News
1/22/23
Jeff Zients to be named Biden’s next chief of staff, replacing Ron Klain
NBC News
1/22/23
Assessment
Writing: Explain why the presence of a Republican House might improve President Biden’s standing with the American public. How can President Biden use Republican recalcitrance to further his reelection prospects, even as his agenda stalls?
Debate: Would increasing the debt limit only encourage further government spending by Congress?
Poll: Do you believe that President Biden has acted appropriately in his handling of classified materials?
Short Answer: Why is the classified document investigation potentially even more problematic for President Biden than for former President Trump?
News Quiz
True/False
The FBI search of President Biden’s home was conducted through a surprise raid. (T/F)
Some of the classified documents recovered by the Justice Department date back to Biden’s time as a U.S. senator. (T/F)
President Biden accused the Justice Department of engaging in a witch hunt against him and his administration. (T/F)
Multiple Choice
Which Democratic senator has agreed that the Biden Administration should negotiate over the debt limit increase?
- Senator Elizabeth Warren
- Senator Joe Manchin
- Senator Mark Kelly
- Senator Bernie Sanders
How many times has the debt limit been increased?
- 25 times
- 50 times
- 78 times
- 100 times
Which decade saw the largest increase in debt and the debt limit?
- the 1950s
- the 1980s
- the 1990s
- the 2000s
