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US

Mike Lee, Title 42 drama holds up omnibus passage

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An effort led by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) to maintain Title 42 is threatening efforts to pass a sweeping government funding bill before a shutdown deadline later this week.

Congressional negotiators on both sides say the biggest holdup is ongoing negotiations to decide what the voting threshold would be to pass the amendment.

Lee’s amendment to the bipartisan deal would cut funding for Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’s office unless the Biden administration reinstates the border control policy known as Title 42, a Trump-era policy that allows for migrants to be quickly expelled at the border without asylum processing.

The administration may not be able to fully reinstate the policy, as its permanence is currently under review by the Supreme Court, after having been found illegal by a federal judge.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), chair of the Senate Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee, took aim at the push, while raising concerns about its chances of passing a Democratic-led House.  

“We have a difference of opinion on immigration policy. We’re not going to solve that in this budget,” he told reporters late Wednesday. “And to let that disagreement take down aid to Ukraine to keep people alive during a cold winter, especially tonight, is pretty unthinkable.”

The hold-up scuttled tentative hopes the Senate would be able to vote on the government funding bill overnight, though late Wednesday Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) said he thought the chamber may be able to move forward on the bill Thursday morning.

“There’s been some progress made. … I wouldn’t say breakthrough yet,” he said.

Title 42 was due to end Wednesday, but a group of GOP-led states successfully got Chief Justice John Roberts to delay that sunset on Monday.

On Tuesday, the Biden administration, which had appealed the federal judge’s order to end Title 42, asked Roberts to go ahead with ending the policy, which was based on an expired public health order issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Title 42 was originally put in place in 2020 by the Trump administration under the guise of pandemic public health protections, but subsequent reports have revealed that the CDC was pressured politically to issue the public health order by then-White House advisor Stephen Miller.

Under the policy, many migrants who arrive at the border can be summarily expelled without being screened for asylum claims.

U.S. officials have carried out around 2.5 million expulsions under the policy, nearly two million of which have been carried out by the Biden administration.

While Title 42 allowed for speedy expulsions, the regular border protocol known as Title 8 allows for expedited removals of certain migrants, and also allows for border officials to refer migrants for criminal prosecution for repeat illegal entries.

The Biden administration had staunchly implemented and defended Title 42 until Tuesday, when it asked Roberts to lift his stay, but Republicans have nonetheless consistently used the policy to attack the administration.

A Senate Democratic aide said conversations are still ongoing with Republicans, while claiming Lee’s “goal is to kill” the omnibus amid speculation such an amendment couldn’t pass the House.

Lee’s latest push comes as Republicans have once again pulled attention to the border, and as Lee and a group of Senate Republicans look to sidetrack the long term budget deal.

GOP backers behind the push say the delay is necessary to allow the incoming GOP-led House more sway in government funding talks. However, there are many Republicans in the Senate who are pushing instead for Congress to pass an omnibus before year’s end, citing concerns about funding for areas like defense. 

Updated at 10:58 p.m.

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US

Lawmakers should prepare for one-week funding stopgap as negotiations continue, Schumer says

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CNN
 — 

The House and Senate are expected to pass a short-term extension to avert a shutdown, which would give negotiators more time to try to secure a broader full-year funding deal.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Monday that senators should be prepared to take “quick action” on a one-week extension to give lawmakers more time to negotiate.

Schumer said in remarks on the Senate floor that he anticipates “quick action” on a stopgap funding bill known as a continuing resolution, or CR for short, “so we can give appropriators more time to finish a full funding bill before the holidays.”

Budget negotiators must reach an agreement before their deadline or punt the decision to next year, when House Republicans take over. That could complicate the government’s ability to avert a shutdown as it would mean newly empowered House Republicans need to agree with 60 senators and Democratic President Joe Biden.

The other major legislative item lawmakers are working to wrap up before the end of the year is the National Defense Authorization Act, the massive annual must-pass defense policy bill. The NDAA is expected to get a vote in the Senate this week and be approved with bipartisan support.

The House has already approved the measure so once the Senate votes to pass it, the bill can go to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.

The approaching deadline for government funding had members of Congress and their staffers from both parties, as well as Biden administration officials, continuing to slog through negotiations over the weekend to try to get to an agreement on a spending package.

“This is the time of the year when there’s no weekends for folks who work on appropriations,” one administration official closely involved in the talks told CNN.

Over the weekend, both Democrats and Republicans were sharing with one another their “bottom lines” on various fronts, and the White House remained publicly optimistic that an agreement could be reached on an omnibus: “There is absolutely still a path and time for a deal.”

Administration officials continue to maintain that they do not see any real likelihood of a government shutdown.

Congressional aides acknowledged to CNN that the weekend talks went better than days prior, which is why Democrats have announced they will not introduce their own Democratic-only omnibus plan on Monday. Republicans on Capitol Hill had been reading a threat for Democrats to introduce their own bills as a messaging exercise that would only further divide negotiators, and by avoiding that messaging exercise, Republicans see a sign that Democrats are serious about trying to get to yes.

For now, a bipartisan deal on government funding remains elusive. Lawmakers have not yet been able to reach a negotiated agreement for a comprehensive, full-year funding package – known on Capitol Hill as an omnibus – amid a dispute between the two parties over how much money should be spent on non-defense, domestic priorities. Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the ranking Republican member on the Senate Appropriations Committee, has told reporters the two sides are roughly $26 billion apart.

Republicans are critical of recent domestic spending by Democrats and argue that measures Democrats have passed while they have been in control both chambers of Congress, like the $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill and the sweeping health care and climate bill, are wasteful and will worsen inflation. Democrats counter by saying those measures were necessary to help the country recover from the devastating impact of the pandemic as well as to tackle other critical priorities. And Democrats said that money to respond to Covid, health care and climate should not mean there should be less money next year for government operations and non-defense, domestic spending.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday that Democrats must drop their demands for additional spending on domestic programs in order to get a broad government funding bill passed before the holidays or risk passing a short-term bill into early next year after Republicans take control of the House and would be poised to demand even lower funding levels.

“Our Democratic colleagues have already spent two years massively – massively – increasing domestic spending using party line reconciliation bills outside the normal appropriations process,” McConnell said on the floor. “Clearly, our colleagues cannot now demand even more, more domestic spending than President Biden even requested in exchange for funding the United States military.”

“If House and Senate Democratic colleagues can accept these realities in the very near future, we may still have a shot at assembling a full-year funding bill that will give our military commanders the certainty they need to invest, plan and stay competitive with rivals like China. If our Democratic colleagues can’t accept those realities, the option will be a short term bipartisan funding bill into early next year,” McConnell said.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, outlined the argument for his party in his own floor remarks on Thursday. Republicans, Leahy said, are “demanding steep cuts to programs the American people rely on.”

Referring to Democratic-passed legislation that Republicans have criticized, Leahy said, “Those bills were meant to get us out of the pandemic, get the nation healthy, and get our economy back on track, and I believe they are accomplishing that goal. They were not meant to fund the basic functions of the American government in fiscal year 2023.”

While lawmakers continue to negotiate, the federal government has begun the process of preparing for a potential shutdown, participating in the mandatory but standard process of releasing shutdown guidance to agencies ahead of Friday’s funding deadline.

Officials have emphasized that there is no real likelihood of a government shutdown, but the standard procedure laying out the steps toward bringing non-essential government functions to a halt is underway.

“One week prior to the expiration of appropriations bills, regardless of whether the enactment of appropriations appears imminent, OMB will communicate with agency senior officials to remind agencies of their responsibilities to review and update orderly shutdown plans, and will share a draft communication template to notify employees of the status of appropriations,” a document from the Office of Management and Budget stated.

That standard guidance was circulated last Friday, marking seven days before a shutdown could occur absent Congressional action.

Every department and agency has its own set of plans and procedures. Those plans include information on how many employees would get furloughed, what employees are essential and would work without pay (for example, air traffic controllers, Secret Service agents, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention laboratory staff), how long it would take to wind down operations in the hours before a shutdown, and what activities would come to a halt.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

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Kyrsten Sinema leaving the Democratic Party and registering as an independent

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CNN
 — 

Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is leaving the Democratic Party and registering as a political independent, she told CNN’s Jake Tapper in an exclusive TV interview.

“I’ve registered as an Arizona independent. I know some people might be a little bit surprised by this, but actually, I think it makes a lot of sense,” Sinema said in a Thursday interview with Tapper in her Senate office.

“I’ve never fit neatly into any party box. I’ve never really tried. I don’t want to,” she added. “Removing myself from the partisan structure – not only is it true to who I am and how I operate, I also think it’ll provide a place of belonging for many folks across the state and the country, who also are tired of the partisanship.”

Sinema’s move away from the Democratic Party is unlikely to change the power balance in the next Senate. Democrats will have a narrow 51-49 majority that includes two independents who caucus with them: Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine.

While Sanders and King formally caucus with Democrats, Sinema declined to explicitly say that she would do the same. She did note, however, that she expects to keep her committee assignments – a signal that she doesn’t plan to upend the Senate composition, since Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer controls committee rosters for Democrats.

“When I come to work each day, it’ll be the same,” Sinema said. “I’m going to still come to work and hopefully serve on the same committees I’ve been serving on and continue to work well with my colleagues at both political parties.”

But Sinema’s decision to become a political independent makes official what’s long been an independent streak for the Arizona senator, who began her political career as a member of the Green Party before being elected as a Democrat to the US House in 2012 and US Senate in 2018. Sinema has prided herself on being a thorn in the side of Democratic leaders, and her new nonpartisan affiliation will further free her to embrace an against-the-grain status in the Senate, though it raises new questions about how she – and Senate Democrats – will approach her reelection in 2024 with liberals already mulling a challenge.

Sinema wrote an op-ed in the Arizona Republic released Friday explaining her decision, noting that her approach in the Senate has “upset partisans in both parties.”

“When politicians are more focused on denying the opposition party a victory than they are on improving Americans’ lives, the people who lose are everyday Americans,” Sinema wrote.

“That’s why I have joined the growing numbers of Arizonans who reject party politics by declaring my independence from the broken partisan system in Washington.”

Sinema is up for reelection in 2024 and liberals in Arizona are already floating potential challengers, including Arizona Rep. Ruben Gallego, who said earlier this year that some Democratic senators have urged him to run against Sinema.

“Unfortunately, Senator Sinema is once again putting her own interests ahead of getting things done for Arizonans,” Gallego said in a statement following Sinema’s announcement.

Sinema declined to address questions about her reelection bid in the interview with Tapper, saying that simply isn’t her focus right now.

She also brushed aside criticism she may face for the decision to leave the Democratic Party.

“I’m just not worried about folks who may not like this approach,” Sinema said. “What I am worried about is continuing to do what’s right for my state. And there are folks who certainly don’t like my approach, we hear about it a lot. But the proof is in the pudding.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called Sinema a “key partner” following her decision and said the White House has “every reason to expect that we will continue to work successfully with her.”

Sources familiar with the matter tell CNN that Sinema gave the White House a heads up that she was leaving the Democratic Party. Schumer said in a statement he also was aware of Sinema’s bombshell announcement ahead of Friday morning.

“She asked me to keep her committee assignments and I agreed,” Schumer said. “Kyrsten is independent; that’s how she’s always been. I believe she’s a good and effective Senator and am looking forward to a productive session in the new Democratic majority Senate.”

Schumer also outlined how he did not expect Sinema’s decision to impact Democrats’ plans for next year, saying in his statement, “We will maintain our new majority on committees, exercise our subpoena power, and be able to clear nominees without discharge votes.”

The Biden White House is offering a muted reaction Friday morning and insisting that they expect to continue having a productive working relationship with the senator.

One White House official tells CNN that the move “doesn’t change much” other than Sinema’s own reelection calculations.

“We’ve worked with her effectively on a lot of major legislation from CHIPS to the bipartisan infrastructure law,” the official said. The White House, for now, has “every reason to expect that will continue,” they added.

Sinema has long been the source of a complex convergence of possibility, frustration and confusion inside the White House.

“Rubik’s cube, I guess?” was how one former senior White House official described the Arizona senator who has played a central role in President Joe Biden’s largest legislative wins and also some of his biggest agenda disappointments.

There was no major push to get Sinema to change her mind, a White House official said, noting that it wouldn’t have made a difference.

“Nothing about the last two years indicates a major effort would’ve made helped – the exact opposite actually,” a White House official said.

The most urgent near-term effort was to quietly find out what it meant for their newly expanded Senate majority, officials said.

While there were still clear details to figure out about process, “I think people exhaled when we had a better understanding of what she meant,” one source familiar with the discussion said.

Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota told “CNN This Morning” that “Senator Sinema has always had an independent streak,” adding that “I don’t believe this is going to shake things up quite like everyone thinks.”

She added, “Senator Sinema has been an independent in all intents and purposes.”

Sinema and West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin have infuriated liberals at various points over the past two years, standing in the way of Biden’s agenda at a time when Democrats controlled the House, Senate and White House.

Sinema and Manchin used their sway in the current 50-50 Senate – where any single Democrat could derail a bill – to influence a host of legislation, especially the massive $3.5 trillion Build Back Better bill that Biden proposed last year. Sinema’s objections to increasing the corporate tax rate during the initial round of negotiations over the legislation last year particularly rankled liberals.

While Sinema was blindsided by the surprise deal that Manchin cut with Schumer in July on major health care and energy legislation, she ultimately backed the smaller spending package that Biden signed into law before the election.

Both Manchin and Sinema also opposed changes to the Senate’s filibuster rules despite pressure from their Senate colleagues and Biden to change them. After a vote against filibuster changes in January, the Arizona Democratic Party’s executive board censured Sinema.

Sinema has been in the middle of several significant bipartisan bills that were passed since Biden took office. She pointed to that record as evidence that her approach has been an effective one.

“I’ve been honored to lead historic efforts, from infrastructure, to gun violence prevention, to protecting religious liberty and helping LGBT families feel secure, to the CHIPs and science bill to the work we’ve done on veterans’ issues,” she told CNN. “The list is really long. And so I think that the results speak for themselves. It’s OK if some people aren’t comfortable with that approach.”

Sinema’s announcement comes just days after Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock won reelection in Georgia, securing Democrats a 51st Senate seat that frees them from reliance on Vice President Kamala Harris’ tiebreaking vote.

Sinema declined to address questions about whether she would support Biden for president in 2024, and she also said she’s not thinking about whether a strong third party should emerge in the US.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

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Technology

Rift at FTC stirs hope for Microsoft’s $69B Activision merger

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A rift has emerged at the Federal Trade Commission over Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to acquire Activision — potentially paving the way for the controversial mega-merger to get approved, The Post has learned.

At least one Democrat on the four-member panel has recently taken a sympathetic view of the merger, according to a source close to the situation. That, in turn, could create a difficult path for FTC Chair Lina Khan — who according to insiders has eyed Microsoft’s deal as a major target as she looks to burnish her credentials as a trustbuster of Big Tech.

Sources said Khan — who said publicly in June the agency was scrutinizing the deal’s impact on workers — was in recent weeks still pushing to sue to block the merger, which would pair Microsoft’s Xbox with hit Activision games like “Call of Duty” and “Candy Crush.” Late last month, Politico reported that an FTC lawsuit against the deal was “likely,” noting that the agency’s staff are “skeptical of the companies’ arguments.”

The FTC’s sole Republican commissioner, Christine Wilson, has signaled support of the deal. But sources say at least one of the four-member panel’s three Democratic commissioners — which in addition to Khan include Rebecca Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya — also has recently appeared to lean toward the Microsoft camp, according to a source close to the situation.

FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter was Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer’s counsel and Schumer has been meeting recently with Microsoft.
Bloomberg via Getty Images

“Some of the Democrats might be more comfortable with a settlement,” approving the deal with concessions from the companies instead of trying to block it altogether, an FTC insider told The Post.

While the identity of the dissenting Democrat couldn’t immediately be confirmed, DC sources following the situation pointed to Slaughter, who was acting FTC Chair until last year, when President Joe Biden installed 33-year-old Khan at the helm of the powerful regulatory agency.

A Democratic defection would leave Khan with a 2-2 tie in any vote to clamp down on the merger — a result that would not only effectively OK the deal but also throw Khan’s authority over the agency into question. That, accordingly, is a vote that Khan isn’t likely to risk, according to DC insiders.

“Lina would probably not put things in a position for that to take place, so instead of having that vote she would make the motion to approve the settlement,” said William Kovacic, a former FTC Chairman. “The way out is to say, ‘We got a great deal and only got it because we’ve been badasses.’”

Microsoft has a history of courting Democrats. In the 2020 election cycle, Microsoft donated $13.8 million to Democrats and only $1.72 million to Republicans. In 2022, it gave $4.1 million to Dems and $1 million to Republicans, according to Open Secrets.

Politicos will likely be calling commissioners like mother Rebecca Slaughter pressuring them to support the merger.
AP

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in July reportedly went to Washington state to meet Microsoft President Brad Smith and discuss, among other things, the pending Activision merger and its potential impact on New York. They also reportedly met in February.

Insiders note that Slaughter was Schumer’s chief counsel from June 2014 to May 2018 before leaving to become an FTC Commissioner.

“This is when Schumer calls his old protege and says, ‘What’s up?” according to Kovacic.

Meanwhile, reports surfaced in recent days that Microsoft has signaled it’s willing to make significant concessions to get the deal done. Last week, Reuters reported that Microsoft was likely to offer a 10-year licensing deal for its blockbuster “Call of Duty” franchise to Playstation owner Sony, citing unnamed sources.

As reported by The Post early last month, Microsoft’s stubborn refusal to offer concrete concessions to regulators and rivals in exchange for winning the deal has been a major sticking point. If Microsoft is finally showing a willingness to budge, that weakens any case by the FTC to block the merger — and emboldens dissenters, according to experts.

“What makes it difficult is when Microsoft goes to their friends in blue and says, ‘We have provided a package of solutions for all the perceived problems, and the folks at the FTC are being very unreasonable if they don’t take it,’” Kovacic said.

If Microsoft does indeed offer a significant remedy, President Biden would likely want the deal cleared and ask someone such as his antitrust advisor Tim Wu to push Khan to accept the proposal, the ex-FTC chairman said. The pitch would be that Microsoft can be trusted to keep its promises because of its past history of responsible behavior, sources said.

“It does become hard to say, ‘This is not good enough,’” said Kovacic, who now puts the chances of the merger getting approved at 70%. “It becomes more difficult for the Commission to push this aside.”

Doubts about the deal on Wall Street persist. While Microsoft has agreed to pay Activision $95 a share in cash, the target’s stock closed on Friday at $75.76.

Microsoft is considered the tech company most friendly to Democrats.
SOPA Images/LightRocket via Gett

FTC staff is expected to make a recommendation on the Microsoft deal by mid-December. Microsoft can then meet with individual commissioners to press its case before the final vote, which could happen later this month, according to sources close to the agency.

“As we have said before, we are prepared to address the concerns of regulators, including the FTC, and Sony to ensure the deal closes with confidence,” a Microsoft spokesman said in a statement. “We’ll still trail Sony and Tencent in the market after the deal closes, and together Activision and Xbox will benefit gamers and developers and make the industry more competitive.”

An FTC spokesperson didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The Communications Workers of America wrote in a June 30 letter that it supported the deal and has been lobbying Congress, an FTC insider noted. CWA said it believes the merger would give Activision Blizzard workers a clear path to collective bargaining and unionization. That’s a message that lawmakers, in turn, may be inclined to pass to the FTC, sources said.

“All the Commissioners are attuned to the Hill,” one DC insider told The Post.

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US

Congress returns for lame duck with long to-do list

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CNN
 — 

Lawmakers are set to return on Monday after being away for several weeks campaigning for the crucial midterm elections.

They face a jam-packed legislative to-do list before the new congressional session begins in January.

With that in mind, Democratic leaders are eager to bring several bills to the floor for votes during the lame duck session – the period after the midterms and before the new Congress begins.

The busy agenda includes: Funding the government to avert a shutdown before the end of the calendar year, passage of the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, the annual must-pass legislation that sets the policy agenda and authorizes funding for the Department of Defense, a vote in the Senate to protect same-sex marriage and possible consideration of other key issues.

While the House is able to pass legislation by a simple majority, Democrats in the Senate face an uphill climb given their narrow majority. With a 50-50 partisan split in the Senate, Democrats lack the votes to overcome the filibuster’s 60-vote threshold – and do not have enough support within their party to abolish the filibuster, as many are anxious to do. Therefore, major priorities for liberal voters – like the passage of legislation protecting access to abortion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade – are expected to remain out of reach for the party for the foreseeable future.

Democrats, who currently control both chambers, are returning with a new reality in the wake of Tuesday’s election they did not expect: Key races that will determine the balance of power in the House have not been called, and CNN has not yet projected who would control the House. While Republicans still appear likely to win enough seats to control the chamber, it would likely be with a narrower margin than originally anticipated.

On Saturday, CNN projected that Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada will win reelection, meaning the Democrats will continue to control the Senate once the news session of Congress starts in January. But with a runoff election set for Georgia’s US Senate seat set for December 6, the final make-up of the chamber won’t be known until at least then.

At a news conference Sunday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer warned of a busy lame-duck session, promising “heavy work” and “long hours,” though he declined to get into specifics, saying he first needs to talk to his caucus about their agenda.

Congress passed a short-term funding bill in September that is set to expire December 16, making funding the government the number one priority for Congress when they return from recess.

Because the legislation must be passed, it could attract additional measures that Democrats want to clear during the lame duck session. For example, additional financial support for Ukraine as it continues to defend itself against Russia. While that funding has bipartisan support, some conservatives – such as Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, the top House Republican who is expected to become speaker if his party eventually wins the chamber – are balking at the pricey contributions and are vowing to scrutinize more closely additional requests from the Biden administration, a dynamic that is dividing Republicans.

Democrats also want more funding for the Covid-19 pandemic, but Republicans are not likely to support that request. Democrats may also seeking more money for the Department of Justice investigation into the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Congress also has to pass the defense bill. Consideration of the wide-ranging bill could spark debate and a push for amendments over a variety of topics, including whether to punish Saudi Arabia for its recent decision to cut oil production.

Senate Democrats will also continue confirming judges to the federal bench nominated by President Joe Biden, a key priority for the party.

A Senate vote on codifying same-sex marriage is also on tap. In mid-September, the chamber punted on a vote until after the November midterm elections as negotiators asked for more time to lock down support – a move that could make it more likely the bill will ultimately pass the chamber.

The bipartisan group of senators working on the bill said in a statement at the time, “We’ve asked Leader Schumer for additional time and we appreciate he has agreed. We are confident that when our legislation comes to the Senate floor for a vote, we will have the bipartisan support to pass the bill.” The bill would need at least 10 Republican votes to overcome a filibuster.

Schumer has vowed to hold a vote on the bill, but the exact timing has not yet been locked in. Democrats have pushed for the vote after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, sparking fears that the court could take aim at same-sex or inter-racial marriage in the future.

Votes are likely on bipartisan legislation that would make it harder to overturn a certified presidential election, a response to former President Donald Trump’s efforts to block the 2020 election results, which led to the siege of the Capitol. It is supported by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican. If the bill passes the Senate, it would also need to clear the House, which in September, passed its own version of the legislation.

Meanwhile, it’s not yet clear when exactly the nation will run up against the debt limit and it appears unlikely for now that Congress will act to raise it during the lame-duck session, especially as other must-pass bills compete for floor time. But political battle lines are already being drawn and maneuvering is underway in Washington over the contentious and high-stakes issue. Democrats are insisting it would be irresponsible to cause a damaging default over paying for bills already accrued. While Republicans are digging in and insisting that they will only approve a debt limit hike if Democrats agree to cut spending moving forward.

At his news conference Sunday, Schumer vowed to “look at” the issue over the next few weeks, but said he needs to talk to the other members of leadership and see where the makeup of the House ultimately lands.

“The debt ceiling, of course, is something that we have to deal with. And it’s something that we will look at over the next few weeks,” Schumer said. “I have to talk to the leadership first. We don’t know where the House is going to be.”

Congress does not need to raise the nation’s borrowing limit until sometime next year, but there’s been some internal debate over whether Democrats should try to raise before the end of this year, especially if Republicans wind up in control of the House.

McCarthy thrust the issue to the forefront with comments last month that echoed those of several colleagues.

“If people want to make a debt ceiling (for a longer period of time), just like anything else, there comes a point in time where, OK, we’ll provide you more money, but you got to change your current behavior,” he said in an interview with Punchbowl News.

Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar summed up the busy work period ahead in an interview with “CNN This Morning” on Thursday.

“In Washington, we have a bunch of things on our plate, including getting the defense bill done with Ukraine right before us and the strides that (Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky) is making against Vladimir Putin,” she said. “On our plate is the end-of-the-year budget bill to make sure we get that right, As you know the Electoral Count Act, an effort that I’m leading with (Maine Republican Sen.) Susan Collins and (West Virginia Democratic Sen.) Joe Manchin and others, so we don’t have January 6 happen again. All of that is immediately when we get back.”

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US

Sen Joe Manchin energy reform bill could snarl government funding

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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is expected to tee up a vote this week on a short-term funding ​bill to avert a government shutdown — but the process could hit a roadblock in the form of a proposal from Sen. Joe Manchin to speed up energy projects permits.

​Schumer (D-NY) ​is likely to call for a vote on the stopgap funding bill — known as a continuing resolution — as soon as the Senate reconvenes on Tuesday to prevent a government shutdown by Friday when the fiscal year ends. He advanced a House bill last week that would fund the government until Dec. 16.

Along with $13.7 billion in military aid for Ukraine as it battles Russian forces, as well as Schumer’s request for $290 million to fight “rainbow fentanyl” being smuggled into the country, Schumer is also adamant about including Manchin’s permit reforms in the must-pass package.

But in a 50-50 divided chamber, where the majority leader will need 60 votes to get around an expected filibuster, Republicans and some progressive Democrats have balked at supporting Manchin’s bill.

Progressives believe it gives too much away to energy companies, and Republicans aren’t in a rush to reward the moderate West Virginia Democrat for backing President Biden’s $740 billion Inflation Reduction Act that passed last month.

​Schumer (D-NY) ​is likely to call for a vote on the stopgap funding bill – known as a continuing resolution – as soon as the Senate reconvenes on Tuesday.
AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File
Manchin, the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said his bill would speed up the permitting process for the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline.
Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Further complicating the situation is that Manchin’s West Virginia colleague, GOP Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, has introduced a separate proposal for the permitting process, one that Republicans have rallied around. 

Manchin said “this is not about me” when asked in an interview on Sunday why Republicans should vote for his legislation.

“My Republican friends, I’ve been working for 12 years with them, and I know their No. 1 item that they’ve had, the No. 1 priority they’ve had is permitting reform​,” he said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said he opposes the ​reform ​plan even though part of it runs through his state, fearing that “it could open the door to serious abuse and even corruption.”
Brad Vest/Getty Images
Further complicating the situation is that Manchin’s West Virginia colleague, GOP Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, has introduced a separate proposal for the permitting process.
Joshua Lott/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Republicans have since rallied behind Capito’s bill.
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

“​We can’t build anything in America. It takes five to 10 years. The developed world takes one to three years. And why should we so behind the developed world to bringing products to market, to be able to have the infrastructure to move energy around? And we’re asking people around the world to do things for us, we won’t do for ourself?​” he continued. ​

Manchin, the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said his bill would speed up the permitting process for the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline that carries natural gas through West Virginia to Virginia.

“With the high energy costs that we have, the high gas and natural gas prices, the high gasoline prices, the only way you can get those prices down is by manufacturing and competing more, producing more. And that’s what this is about,” Manchin​ said in an interview with a West Virginia radio station last month, defending the pipeline and his deal to support the Inflation Reduction Act. 

“My Republican friends, I’ve been working for 12 years with them, and I know their No. 1 item that they’ve had, the No. 1 priority they’ve had is permitting reform​.”
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said he opposes the ​reform ​plan even though part of it runs through his state, fearing that “it could open the door to serious abuse and even corruption.”

“If they demonstrate on the merits that they should be entitled to build a pipeline … then build it by all means,” Kaine ​in a speech on the Senate floor​ last week​.

“But don’t embrace the need for permitting reform and then choose one project in the entire United States affecting my state and pull it out of permitting reform, insulating it from the normal processes.” 

With Post Wires

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Senate Democrats Close In on Passing Climate and Tax Bill

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WASHINGTON—The Senate advanced a climate and tax package past a procedural hurdle in the narrowly divided chamber, as Democrats closed in on passing elements of President Biden’s agenda that have languished on Capitol Hill for more than a year.

After the procedural vote, which was approved 51-50 thanks to a tiebreaking vote by Vice President

Kamala Harris,

lawmakers began an hourslong series of votes on amendments that aren’t likely to change the bill’s contents. Once that process is over, the package could receive a final vote in the 50-50 Senate later on Sunday before it is sent to the House, where lawmakers are scheduled to vote on it Friday.

The legislation, which largely survived a review by the Senate’s parliamentarian, raises more than $700 billion in government revenue over 10 years, with much of that coming from a 15% minimum tax on large, profitable corporations and money generated by enhancing tax-collection efforts at the Internal Revenue Service. Empowering Medicare to negotiate lower prescription-drug prices and imposing a 1% tax on stock buybacks will also add revenue to the government’s budget in the next decade.

About $430 billion of those funds would be dedicated toward incentives for companies and individuals to reduce carbon emissions and an extension of subsidies for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. The legislation dedicates the rest of the new revenue toward reducing the deficit.

The bill meets “all of our goals: fighting climate change, lowering healthcare costs, closing tax loopholes abused by the wealthy, and reducing the deficit,” Senate Majority Leader

Chuck Schumer

(D., N.Y.) said Saturday. “This is a major win for the American people,” he said.

Republicans say that the bill, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, would do little to combat inflation and contains damaging corporate tax increases that would flow down to households.

Democrats united on their climate and healthcare package after making changes Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D., Ariz.) demanded.



Photo:

Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg News

Referencing voters’ worries over inflation, Senate Minority Leader

Mitch McConnell

(R., Ky.) said Saturday that Senate Democrats “are misreading the American people’s outrage for yet another reckless taxing-and-spending spree.”

During the amendment process, Republicans largely targeted the bill’s energy and tax provisions. They also offered an amendment to reinstate a pandemic-era policy known as Title 42, which allows migrants to be turned away at the border without a chance to ask for asylum. The Biden administration has sought to end the policy.

Democrats lined up against the GOP proposals as they sought to prevent any changes that could endanger the bill’s support in the chamber.

Sen.

Bob Menendez

(D., N.J.) said Saturday that he would oppose the legislation entirely if lawmakers voted to add immigration restrictions during the amendment process.

“I urge my Democratic colleagues to stand united and vote no on ALL amendments, regardless of the underlying policy and regardless of which party offers them,” Mr. Menendez said.

As they blocked GOP amendments, Democrats occasionally offered parallel proposals that ran afoul of Senate rules, giving lawmakers the opportunity to vote in support of measures without risking alterations to the bill.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) gave a lengthy speech in the Senate to call on Democrats to expand the legislation’s measures. He said the current bill was inadequate as written.

“What I am asking today is for all 50 Democrats to come together and begin the process of addressing the major crises facing working families,” he said, adding that the bill “has some good features, but also some very bad features.”

In the first amendment of the night, Mr. Sanders introduced an expansion of the drug-pricing provisions, seeking to begin government negotiation for lower prices sooner and apply it to more drugs. It, along with another proposal from Mr. Sanders to broaden the legislation, failed as Democrats joined Republicans to vote them down.

The open-ended amendment process, called a vote-a-rama in the Senate, is the last obstacle Democrats face to pass the legislation, which Democrats are pursuing through a legislative process called reconciliation. Reconciliation allows Democrats to skirt the 60-vote threshold necessary for most legislation in the Senate, but it also requires lawmakers to comply with a special series of rules and undergo the lengthy amendment process.

The Senate’s nonpartisan parliamentarian made a series of rulings on Saturday that found much of the Democrats’ bill complied with reconciliation’s rules.

“I’m happy to report to my colleagues that the bill we presented to the parliamentarian remains largely intact,” said Mr. Schumer said.

Mr. Schumer said the parliamentarian didn’t accept one portion of the bill, related to a requirement that drug companies pay rebates if they raise prices faster than inflation for Medicare and private insurance.

The rebate requirements will only apply to Medicare, and not the commercial market, a setback to Democrats’ efforts to limit drug prices more broadly. A push to cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month could face a similar fate as the rebate provision, and Democrats are preparing to try forcing the issue on the Senate floor and putting Republicans on the spot over the sensitive political issue.

After reaching an agreement with Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.), who has resisted much of Democrats’ broader agenda, after months of failed negotiations, Democrats had to make a series of final changes this week to the bill on Thursday to earn the support of Sen.

Kyrsten Sinema

(D., Ariz.). They agreed to pare back elements of the corporate minimum tax and to drop a proposed tax increase on carried-interest income.

Ms. Sinema hasn’t explicitly committed to supporting the bill, saying she wants to see its final form after the amendment process.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) has resisted much of Democrats’ broader agenda.



Photo:

Rod Lamkey/Zuma Press

If Democrats are successful in passing the bill, its passage would mark a victory for their party just months before the midterm elections, which polls show will be challenging for Democrats in large part because of public concern over inflation.

Beginning in 2026, the bill would for the first time empower Medicare to negotiate the prices of a limited set of drugs selected from among those that account for the biggest share of government expenditures. It would also cap out-of-pocket drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries at $2,000 a year, beginning in 2025, and starting next year mandate free vaccines for Medicare enrollees. Under the bill, subsidies enacted last year as part of the American Rescue Plan to help people buy health insurance through the Affordable Care Act would be extended for three years, through 2025, at a cost of $64 billion.

On climate change, the bill pumps money into wind and solar projects, along with the batteries to store renewable energy, while also subsidizing technology to capture and store carbon-dioxide emissions. Consumers would benefit from subsidies for certain windows, heat pumps and other energy-efficient products, as well the extension of a $7,500 tax credit to buy electric vehicles.

Builders, homeowners and small businesses could avail themselves of new capital pouring into so-called green banks, which will receive $20 billion to provide low-cost financing for energy-efficient products such as heat pumps, windows, solar panels, insulation and electric-vehicle charging stations.

The most significant climate provisions are tax credits that would channel billions of dollars to wind, solar and battery developments that put clean power onto the grid, according to Rhodium Group, an independent research firm. The group estimated that the bill would cut greenhouse-gas emissions 31% to 44% below 2005 levels in 2030, compared with 24% to 35% under current policy.

Write to Siobhan Hughes at siobhan.hughes@wsj.com and Andrew Duehren at andrew.duehren@wsj.com

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Senate GOP argues data shows Schumer-Manchin deal raises taxes on earners under $400K

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The energy and healthcare deal from Sens. Joe Manchin and Chuck Schumer would raise taxes on millions of Americans earning less than $400,000 annually, Senate Republican say, citing non-partisan data.

The Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation found that taxes would jump by $16.7 billion on American taxpayers making less than $200,000 in 2023 and raise another $14.1 billion on taxpayers who make between $200,000 and $500,000.

During the 10-year window, the average tax rate would go up for most income categories, the Senate GOP said, citing the data from the joint committee. And by 2031, new energy credits and subsidies would have people earning less than $400,000 pay as much as two-thirds of the additional tax revenue collected that year, the release said.

“Americans are already experiencing the consequences of Democrats’ reckless economic policies. The mislabeled ‘Inflation Reduction Act’ will do nothing to bring the economy out of stagnation and recession, but it will raise billions of dollars in taxes on Americans making less than $400,000,” said Sen. Mike Crapo, an Idaho Republican who sits on the Senate Finance Committee as a ranking member, and who requested the analysis.

“The more this bill is analyzed by impartial experts, the more we can see Democrats are trying to sell the American people a bill of goods,” Crapo added.

The Manchin-Schumer plan would spend $369 billion on energy and climate initiatives.
AP/J. Scott Applewhite

But Democrats are objecting to the GOP’s assertions with a spokesperson for Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden stating families “will not pay one penny in additional taxes under this bill,” according to Politico.

The spokesperson, Ashley Schapitl, also said the JCT analysis isn’t complete because “it doesn’t include the benefits to middle-class families of making health insurance premiums and prescription drugs more affordable. The same goes for clean energy incentives for families,” Politico reported.

The Manchin-Schumer plan would spend $369 billion on energy and climate initiatives and another $64 billion to continue federal health insurance subsidies.

Manchin believes the bill is “not putting a burden on any taxpayers whatsoever.”
Reuters/Elizabeth Frantz

The measure would raise $739 billion over a ten-year span with much of that money coming from a 15% corporate minimum tax, the West Virginia Democrat and Senate Majority Leader from New York said.

Manchin, in touting the bill, said it “would dedicate hundreds of billions of dollars to deficit reduction by adopting a tax policy that protects small businesses and working-class Americans while ensuring that large corporations and the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share in taxes.”

He said on CNN Sunday the bill is “not putting a burden on any taxpayers whatsoever.”

On “Meet the Press” he said, “I agree with my Republican friends, we should not increase and we did not increase taxes.”

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Manchin and Schumer announce surprise deal on climate, health care and tax package

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Sen. Joe Manchin announced Wednesday that he had reached an agreement with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer — which had eluded them for months — on health care costs, energy and climate issues. 

The package will be paid for by closing tax loopholes on wealthy individuals and large corporations, Schumer and Manchin said in announcing the deal. 

The health care, tax and energy package needs to be reviewed by the Senate parliamentarian to pass through the budget reconciliation process, which allows Democrats to approve the measure with 50 votes. In a joint statement, Schumer and Manchin said the “revised legislative text will be submitted to the Parliamentarian for review this evening and the full Senate will consider it next week.”

President Joe Biden said in a statement Wednesday that he had spoken to Manchin and Schumer and he supports the deal. 

“If enacted, this legislation will be historic, and I urge the Senate to move on this bill as soon as possible, and for the House to follow as well,” Mr. Biden said. 

Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia whose resistance had long derailed sweeping legislation on those issues, abruptly revealed the agreement in a press release, followed by a joint release with Schumer. 

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., talks with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., before an event in the Indian Treaty Room in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House Campus in Washington, Tuesday, March 15, 2022.

Patrick Semansky / AP


The announcement from Manchin came hours after the Senate passed the Chips and Science Act, a bill to subsidize investments in domestic semiconductor chip production. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had threatened to stymie the semiconductor bill if Democrats continued to pursue party-line reconciliation legislation.

“From here forward, the debate over a future reconciliation bill or any targeted legislation must focus on supporting the everyday hardworking Americans we have been elected to serve,” Manchin said in a statement. “I support the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 because it provides a responsible path forward that is laser focused on solving our nation’s major economic, energy and climate problems. The question for my colleagues is whether they are willing to put their election politics aside and embrace the commonsense approach that the overwhelming majority of the American people support and will best serve the future of this nation.”

According to a one-page description of the legislation from Schumer and Manchin, the bill would invest $369 billion in energy security and climate change and extend the Affordable Care Act program for three years. In addition, the legislation would grant Medicare the ability to negotiate prescription drug prices. 

Senator Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday noted the finality of the deal.

“The good news here is that it is Senator Manchin, who is announcing a deal, not that they’re close to a deal or not that there are some parts to a deal,” she said. 

House progressives also seemed optimistic, tweeting, “We’ll need to evaluate the details, but it’s promising a deal to deliver on those issues might finally be in reach.”

Republicans immediately criticized Manchin’s agreement. Senator John Cornyn of Texas called it “Manchin’s New Build Back Broke Bill.”

“Senate Democrats can change the name of Build Back Broke as many times as they want, it won’t be any less devastating to American families and small businesses,” Cornyn said. “Raising taxes on job creators, crushing energy producers with new regulations, and stifling innovators looking for new cures will only make this recession worse, not better.”

— CBS News’ Jack Turman and Nikole Killion contributed to this report



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World

Ukraine’s Military Gains Raise Kyiv’s War Aims as Russia Shells Eastern Cities

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As Ukraine’s military continues to take back Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine, outperforming expectations among leaders globally about its abilities before Russia’s invasion, ambitions are growing in Kyiv about what would define victory.

Ukrainian forces in the northeastern region of Kharkiv have regained territory at the Russian border, the regional governor,

Oleh Sinegubov,

said Monday. Russian forces continued to shell cities in the eastern Donbas area and carried out a rare missile strike in western Ukraine.

Mr. Sinegubov said that even as Ukraine wins back territory seized by Russia in recent months, the situation across the region remains volatile. He warned civilians not to become complacent, adding that Russia is focusing on holding its positions and is preparing an offensive in the area of Izyum, a town southeast of the city of Kharkiv where it has established forward headquarters of its operations to conquer the Donbas.

Ukraine’s President

Volodymyr Zelensky

has made clear in recent days that his country’s aim is to retake territory seized by Russian forces in 2014, including the Crimean Peninsula. Ukraine currently also controls less of Donbas than it did before Russia invaded the country on Feb. 24, according to U.S. and Ukrainian officials, but its recent battlefield gains have raised questions about how Russia might respond if Kyiv is able to regain territory once firmly under Moscow’s control.

Ukraine said it had regained ground at the Russian border near Kharkiv; the head of NATO said Ukraine can win the war; the Eurovision song contest winners said they’re ready to return to Ukraine to fight. Photo: Mstyslav Chernov/Associated Press

A particular worry is the possibility of Russian-staged referendums in captured Ukrainian territory by which the territories are incorporated de facto into Russia itself. That would mean any Western counterattack there could be deemed an attack on Russia itself and potentially trigger nuclear retaliation from the Kremlin, analysts and officials said.

Recent setbacks by Russian forces have led many in Kyiv to believe that turning the clock back to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is a goal within reach. In Washington, officials haven’t defined what a Ukrainian military victory would look like, deferring to Ukraine to set its own goals.

On Saturday, foreign ministers from the Group of Seven wealthy democracies said in a joint statement that they will “uphold our engagement in the support of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, including Crimea, and all states.”

A hospital in Pokrovske, in central Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, received an injured soldier arriving from the front line.



Photo:

Rick Mave/Zuma Press

British Prime Minister

Boris Johnson

has echoed the view that the whole of Ukraine must be liberated from Russia. But privately British officials say that for any attempt to take back areas such as Crimea, Ukraine and the West must be willing to countenance a much greater threat of the use of chemical or nuclear weapons.

So far, British officials have remained vague about what level of Ukrainian military success they encourage. British officials have spoken about wanting to, at a minimum, see Russia pushed back to its Feb. 23 position and ensure that Russia is seen to have failed in its military endeavor. To that extent, the West can already claim victory, they say, given the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s likely enlargement, a revived European defense policy and a renewed desire to move away from Russian energy.

Local residents scavenge pieces of aluminum from a destroyed Russian tank Monday in Biskvitne, near Kharkiv, Ukraine.



Photo:

John Moore/Getty Images

Meanwhile, U.S. officials say Washington, which has supplied Ukraine with vast amounts of battlefield intelligence, doesn’t under current guidelines provide information that would help Ukraine strike targets inside Russia. Nor does it give Kyiv intelligence that would allow it to target Russia’s senior-most political and military leaders.

The top U.S. intelligence official warned last week that as Russia’s military aims are frustrated, the conflict could move onto “a more unpredictable and potentially escalatory trajectory.”

“The current trend increases the likelihood that [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin will turn to more drastic means, including imposing martial law, reorienting industrial production or potentially escalatory military actions to free up the resources needed to achieve his objectives as the conflict drags on or if he perceives Russia is losing in Ukraine,” Director of National Intelligence

Avril Haines

told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“The real danger is that this is going to become a war of attrition and Washington is waking up to the fact that this is going to go on for a long time,” said

Melinda Haring,

deputy director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center. “Vladimir Putin cares about this conflict and will be more patient than the West would be…. He knows he wins when it turns into a frozen conflict.”

Fire damage at a house in Kyiv’s northwestern outskirts, where Ukrainian forces fended off Russia’s assault earlier in the war.



Photo:

Justyna Mielnikiewicz/MAPS for The Wall Street Journal

A damaged hotel in the southern Ukrainian port city of Odessa.



Photo:

Emanuele Satolli for The Wall Street Journal

Ukrainian officials continue to lobby their Western counterparts for military aid, which they feel could ensure them a battlefield victory. Ukraine has been pressing for longer-range artillery and rockets for several months. Following a visit to Kyiv with a U.S. Senate delegation over the weekend, Senate Minority Leader

Mitch McConnell

(R., Ky.) said the U.S. government is considering a request from Ukraine to provide multiple-launch rocket systems.

But in Washington, deliberations over this request have provoked some scrutiny due to escalation concerns, U.S. and Ukrainian defense officials said. A $40 billion aid package for Ukraine is also stalled in the Senate over objections from Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.).

Concerns over escalation also extend beyond Ukraine. Mr. Putin warned Monday that Moscow would respond to NATO’s potential expansion into Finland and Sweden, while at the same time dismissing those Nordic nations as presenting any danger to Russia.

“The expansion of military infrastructure into this territory will certainly cause our response,” Mr. Putin told a Kremlin summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a Russian-led intergovernmental military alliance of select former Soviet republics, according to Russia’s state news agency, TASS.

But the Kremlin leader added that Russia didn’t feel endangered by Finland and Sweden joining NATO because Moscow “has no problems with these states,” he said.

Meanwhile, as attacks continued in other parts of Ukraine, Mr. Zelensky vowed to bring “the feverish activity” by Russian forces to an end. Late Sunday, he said that over the weekend a missile struck the western region of Lviv, which has remained relatively safe through the worst of the fighting, and that the eastern cities of Huliaipole, Severodonetsk and Lysychansk were shelled.

Ukraine’s Air Force said late Sunday that it struck a bridge in central-eastern Ukraine to prevent Russian forces from crossing the Inhulets river. Last week, Ukrainian forces released footage of a similar operation in which they said they destroyed Russian military vehicles and a pontoon bridge in eastern Ukraine along the Siverskyi Donets river.

The British Ministry of Defense said the failed crossing of the Siverskyi Donets was further indication that Russian commanders were increasingly coming under pressure to advance. It added that Russia lost “significant armored maneuver elements” of at least one battalion tactical group, which typically comprise about 1,000 troops, in the attack.

According to a senior Ukrainian defense official, about 30 Russian battalions have entered Ukraine since the start of the invasion. Ukrainian forces have been able to defeat about 25% of those, the official said. Russia has about 50 battalions yet to be deployed in Ukraine, U.S. and Ukrainian officials estimate.

Mr. Zelensky has also been warning for days that Russia’s offensive in Ukraine is sparking food shortages around the world as Russia blocks Ukrainian grain from leaving port.

Similar sentiments were echoed by foreign ministers from the G-7 nations, who said Saturday in a joint statement that “Russia’s war of aggression has generated one of the most severe food and energy crises in recent history, which now threatens those most vulnerable across the globe.”

On Monday, U.S. Treasury Secretary

Janet Yellen

met with Polish Prime Minister

Mateusz Morawiecki

to discuss the impact of the Ukraine war and the 15% minimum tax on large multinational corporations. More than half of the six million people who have fled Ukraine since the conflict began have gone to neighboring Poland, according to the United Nations refugee agency.

—Warren P. Strobel, Michael Gordon, Ann M. Simmons, Mauro Orru and Laurence Norman contributed to this article.

Corrections & Amplifications
The war has prompted two new countries on Russia’s western flank to pursue membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said they were on Russia’s eastern flank. (Corrected on May 16)

Write to Vivian Salama at vivian.salama@wsj.com and Max Colchester at max.colchester@wsj.com

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