Democrats

Politico reports: President Joe Biden on Tuesday said he was “considering” the use of the 14th amendment as a means to circumvent the debt ceiling standoff he currently finds himself in with House Republicans. But he cast some doubt on whether it could work, saying it would “have to be litigated and in the meantime without an extension it’d still …

NBC News reports: California Sen. Dianne Feinstein is returning to the Senate after a nearly three-month absence due to health problems, according to a spokesperson for the senator. Feinstein is expected to cast a vote Wednesday — her first recorded vote since Feb. 16 — after missing 91 floor votes while recovering from shingles, according to an NBC News tally. …

The Texas Tribune reports: In a surprise move days after the Allen mall shooting and hours before a key legislative deadline, a Texas House committee advanced a bill Monday that would raise the minimum age to purchase certain semi-automatic rifles. The bill faces an uphill climb to becoming state law, but the vote marked a milestone for the proposal that …

The Hill reports: Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Sunday said the “tangled web” around Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who is facing criticism over his financial disclosures, “just gets worse.” “This tangled web around Justice Clarence Thomas just gets worse and worse by the day. I don’t know what’s going to come up next. I thought I’d heard it all, …

From the editorial board of the New York Times: Without Senator Dianne Feinstein, there might never have been an assault weapons ban in 1994. Or the Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994. Or the revelatory report on the C.I.A.’s torture program in 2014. She has had a distinguished career in the U.S. Senate, but her infirmities and illness now force her …

Congress Minutes reports: Senate HELP Chair Bernie Sanders is escalating his push to raise the minimum wage even as moderate Democrats double down on past concerns with the effort. Details: The Vermont independent rolled out a new bill Thursday that would hike the federal minimum wage to $17 an hour over five years. It’s a step up from his last …

Bloomberg News reports: Jill Biden has celebrated the athleticism of wounded service members with Prince Harry, discussed the value of early childhood education with Princess Kate and sipped tea poured by Queen Elizabeth II. Now the first lady is back in London for another royal engagement. President Joe Biden has dispatched his wife to represent the United States at Saturday’s …

The Tallahassee Democrat reports: After five days of behind-the-scenes drama and deliberations, jurors found former Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum not guilty of lying to the FBI about a “Hamilton” ticket and other gifts he got from undercover FBI agents in New York. They deadlocked on the most serious charges against Gillum, the 2018 Democratic nominee for governor, and his co-defendant, …

Time Magazine reports: Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, will spend the rest of the month deciding whether he will run for U.S. Senate, in what is already shaping up to be a crowded primary battle to replace outgoing Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin. “After five months of chemo, I am taking the month of May to seriously investigate the 2024 …

Axios reports: Rep. David Trone (D-Md.) on Wednesday announced his candidacy to replace retiring Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), adding to a potentially hotly contested Democratic primary. Trone, a three-term House member and co-founder of Total Wine & More, has a personal fortune and electoral record that could make him a serious contender for the seat. Trone is one of the …

Politico reports: Illinois is poised to become the first state to punish public institutions that ban books. Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker has said he supports a House bill that would withhold state funding from any of the state’s 1,600 public or school libraries that remove books from their shelves. It passed in the Illinois Senate on Wednesday, and Pritzker is …

Axios reports: Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas) on Wednesday announced his bid to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in 2024. Allred is the highest-profile Democrat vying to unseat Cruz, who is one of just a handful of potentially vulnerable Senate Republicans up for reelection this cycle. In a video posted to social media on Wednesday, Allred took aim at Cruz’s support …

The Associated Press reports: Rep. Zooey Zephyr, the transgender state lawmaker silenced after telling Republicans they would have blood on their hands for opposing gender-affirming health care for kids, was barred from returning to the Montana House floor in a Tuesday court ruling that came just hours before the Legislature wrapped up its biennial session. District Court Judge Mike Menahan …

First, a reminder about yesterday’s evil bitches: Republicans moved to sideline Zephyr further by canceling some meetings of the two committees on which she serves and moving the bills they were to hear to other committees, Democrats said. She spent the first day of her exile last week battling to use a bench in a statehouse hallway. Her key card …

Axios reports: President Biden has called the four House and Senate leaders proposing a May 9 meeting on the debt ceiling. The Department of the Treasury and Congressional Budget Office said Monday the U.S. may stop being able to pay off its debts as soon as early June – a startlingly short timeline to reach a resolution. Senate Majority Leader …

Gothamist reports: Anna Kaplan, a former Democratic state senator from Long Island, has filed paperwork to challenge embattled Republican Congressman George Santos in 2024. Kaplan, 57, submitted a “statement of candidacy” on Monday morning with the Federal Election Commission, a move that acknowledges that she is raising money for a campaign to represent the district that includes parts of northeastern …

Politico reports: Democratic Rep. Colin Allred is planning to announce a run against Sen. Ted Cruz as soon as this week, according to two people familiar with his plans. A former NFL player-turned-civil rights attorney, Allred has been quietly prepping for a run against Cruz for months. During his two successful reelection bids since ousting an entrenched incumbent in 2018, …

ABC News reports: Montana state legislator Zooey Zephyr is suing the state, House Speaker Matt Regier and Sergeant at Arms for the Montana House of Representatives Bradley Murfitt after being censured by House Republicans. “The recent actions violate my 1st amendment rights, as well as the rights of my 11,000 constituents to representation,” Zephyr said in a tweet Monday. “Montana’s …

The Baltimore Sun reports: U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin says he won’t seek reelection next year, ending a nearly 60-year run in Maryland politics and creating a scramble to fill a rare vacancy in the closely-divided Senate. “It’s time,” the 79-year-old Democrat told The Baltimore Sun in an interview at his Pikesville home in advance of his anticipated announcement Monday. “I …

From Sen. Bernie Sanders’ interview today on CNN: DANA BASH: Senator, President Biden announced his campaign officially for reelection this week. He would be 86 years old by the end of his second term. You’re one year older than President Biden. Is his age something that voters should consider in 2024? BERNIE SANDERS: Well, I think, when you look at …