Background Briefing: May 30, 2023
The Hazardous Passage of the Debt Ceiling Deal Through Congress
We begin with the deal struck between President Biden and Speaker McCarthy to avert a default in a manufactured crisis over the debt ceiling which has left progressives on the left furious that Biden caved and on the far-right, members of the House Freedom Caucus are up in arms with Congressman Dan Bishop calling for the ouster of Kevin McCarthy. Joining us to discuss the likely passage of the bill from the Rules Committee today to a vote on the floor tomorrow then to a vote later in the Senate is Jeff Hauser, Executive Director of the Revolving Door Project at the Center for Economic and Policy Research who works to increase scrutiny on executive branch appointments and ensure that political appointees are focused on serving the public interest, rather than personal professional advancement.
Will Putin Get the Traitor-in-Chief Back in the Oval Office?
Then with Trump the Republican frontrunner who some polls indicate is ahead of Biden to become the next president, we look into the successful muddying of the waters by both the far right and far left who have made the label “Russiagate” equivalent to a hoax when the evidence is overwhelming that Putin helped elect Trump in 2016 and is heavily invested in him returning to the White house to cut off aid to Ukraine and pull the US out of NATO. Joining us is Paul Pillar, who served for 30 years as an analyst at the CIA, in which his last position was National Intelligence Officer for the Near East and South Asia. He is currently a professor of Security Studies at Georgetown University and a member of the Center for Peace and Security Studies, and we discuss his article at The National Interest, “The Trump Russia Problem Remains.”
Is Erdogan’s Victory Also a Victory For Putin?
Then finally we assess the extent to which Erdogan’s 52% to 48% victory in Sunday’s election in Turkey is also a victory for Putin and speak with Aaron Stein, Chief Content Officer at War on the Rocks whose research interests include US-Turkey relations and Turkish foreign policy. He previously worked as a consultant for the International Crisis Group in Istanbul and has published articles and reports on Turkey’s nuclear capabilities and Turkish elections.