Washington Week

Talks on raising the debt ceiling took an unscheduled break Friday as Republican negotiators abruptly walked away from the bargaining table. They said they paused the talks because the White House hadn't moved far enough in the Republican direction on spending cuts. Talks resumed Friday night and the House Speaker says a framework must be in place by Sunday to give Congress time to pass it.

Airs Friday, May 19, 2023 at 8PM on PBS (check local listings) Coming up on this week’s Washington Week: Diplomacy & Debt Talks: As President Biden meets with G7 leaders in Japan, here at home, a new phase of debt ceiling talks directly between the White House and Speaker McCarthy’s office are underway. With less than two weeks until the U.S. is expected to begin defaulting on its debt, and the stability of the U.S. and global economy at stake, both sides are optimistic a bipartisan agreement on spending cuts and raising the debt limit can be reached. But significant areas of disagreement still exist, including possible work requirements for some aid programs. Running for President. The Republican field of 2024 presidential candidates is about to grow, with expected announcements coming soon from South Carolina Senator Tim Scott and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis - whose feud with GOP frontrunner, former President Donald Trump heats up. And, a memo issued by President Biden’s campaign details a “number of viable pathways” to his re-election in 2024. Joining guest moderator, John Yang, to discuss this and more: Fin Gomez, Political Director, CBS News Carl Hulse, Chief Washington Correspondent, New York Times Kayla Tausche, Senior White House correspondent, CNBC Seung Min Kim, White House reporter, Associated Press Major funding for “Washington Week” is provided by Consumer Cellular, the estate of Arnold Adams, the Yuen Foundation, Sandra and Carl DeLay-Magnuson, Rose Hirschel and Andy Shreeves, Robert and Susan Rosenbaum, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and PBS. Keep up with WASHINGTON WEEK anytime by visiting the website or joining the conversations on FACEBOOK and Twitter @washingtonweek.

CNN courted controversy and fierce debate after former President Trump headlined its latest prime-time town hall. Despite moderator Kaitlan Collins’ best efforts to fact-check Trump in real-time, he used questions from her and an audience of Republican New Hampshire voters to repeat many of his familiar false claims.

In Washington, it’s crunch time for President Biden and Congressional leaders to reach an agreement on raising the country’s borrowing limit. With less than three weeks to go before the U.S. is expected to run out of money, a second round of talks has been postponed until next week. Plus, there's another potential crisis looming at the border as the pandemic-era deportation policy has expired.

Democrats insist the Supreme Court needs ethics reforms after several justices failed to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts. Plus, the U.S. veers closer to defaulting on its debt as a deal remains elusive. Join guest moderator William Brangham, Heather Caygle of Punchbowl News, Asma Khalid of NPR, Anita Kumar of Politico and Phil Mattingly of CNN to discuss this and more.

Airs Friday, May 5, 2023 at 8PM on PBS (check local listings) Coming-up on this week’s Washington Week: Supreme Court Ethics: Senate Democrats and Republicans clash during hearings on instituting ethics rules for the nation’s highest court, after Supreme Court Justices Thomas and Gorsuch fail to disclose financial interactions with prominent Republican donors and lawyers. Debt ceiling deadlock: Washington appears no closer to raising the debt limit even as Secretary Janet Yellen warns the U.S...