Debt-limit talks: President Joe Biden and congressional lawmakers have a June 1 deadline to raise the debt ceiling before the federal government potentially runs out of money, setting up tense last-minute negotiations on an issue that threatens the United States’ economic standing and has implications for the global economy.  

What we’re watching: The talks deteriorated on Saturday as Republicans continued to push for deep spending cuts. Biden said he would speak directly with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) today in hopes of rescuing the negotiations. 

Ron DeSantis campaign launch: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is preparing to officially enter the 2024 presidential race this week as his donors kick off a fundraising push, according to people familiar with the decision. DeSantis is poised to file official paperwork declaring his candidacy, coinciding with a donor meeting on May 25. His official launch comes after a Florida legislative session in which DeSantis signed a slew of laws targeting human trafficking, the LGBTQ community and abortion that are aimed at bolstering his conservative credentials.

What we’re watching: Former President Donald Trump has opened up a wide lead over DeSantis in recent weeks among potential GOP primary voters (61% to 18%), according to our 2024 GOP Primary Tracker. Yet political analysts and people close to Trump expect DeSantis to see a bump in support once he makes his candidacy official, attracting more attention from voters and the news media.  

Tim Scott making moves too: Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) plans to formally kick off his 2024 presidential campaign in his hometown of North Charleston, S.C., tomorrow and then hit the trail in Iowa and New Hampshire — states where his campaign has reportedly reserved $6 million in advertisements across television and radio. Scott, who filed paperwork declaring his candidacy on Friday, enters the race with a substantial campaign war chest of $22 million cash on hand. 

What we’re watching: Our data shows that Scott has just 1% support among potential GOP primary voters and his name recognition has room to grow: 32% have never heard of him. Those figures could improve as he takes a more prominent role on the campaign trail. 

Impeachment talk picks up: McCarthy is facing pressure to launch impeachment proceedings against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has filed an impeachment resolution against FBI Director Christopher Wray. 

What we’re watching: The effort to impeach Mayorkas, which garnered attention on the right even before Republicans took over the House, was endorsed by House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) amid the Biden administration’s lifting of the Title 42 border policy. But at this early stage, the administration hasn’t seen a migration surge as large as expected, alleviating some of the pressure on an issue that is tough for Democrats. 

Kentucky and Florida elections 

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who is backed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Trump, easily defeated former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft to secure the GOP’s nomination to take on Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear in this fall’s marquee gubernatorial election in Kentucky. And in a major upset, Democrat Donna Deegan defeated Republican Daniel Davis to flip the mayoral seat in Jacksonville. 

Both outcomes were setbacks for DeSantis, who backed Davis’ mayoral bid and offered a late endorsement of Craft the day before her election-day shellacking — abruptly turning the Kentucky contest into a proxy battle with Trump. 

But it’s not all roses for the former president. Timothy Parlatore, a key attorney for Trump in the Mar-a-Lago documents investigation, has reportedly left the former president’s legal team. His departure comes as special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the possible mishandling of classified documents appears to be entering its final stages. 

Meanwhile, a Georgia prosecutor who is probing Trump’s alleged attempts to meddle in the 2020 election there appears to have set an August timetable for a grand jury to unseal indictments against the former president. 

Administration news

Biden jetted off to Japan for the Group of Seven summit, where leaders of the world’s top democracies met to tackle key geopolitical issues such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, an increasingly assertive China and the North Korean nuclear threat. But Biden decided to cut his Asia trip short, canceling visits to Australia and Papua New Guinea, so he could return to Washington to continue negotiations over raising the debt limit.  

Biden administration officials said the number of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border dropped last weekend after an initial surge in advance of the expiration of the Title 42 border policy. According to the Department of Homeland Security, border agents averaged below 5,000 encounters daily last weekend. They averaged more than 10,000 daily encounters in the days before the order was lifted and had expected 14,000 daily encounters after its expiration. 

Capitol Hill bits

• A bat-wielding attacker entered the district office of Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) and harmed two of his staffers, prompting lawmakers of both parties to raise new concerns about security. The attack came a day before House appropriators unveiled their legislative-branch spending bill, which proposes funding levels for Capitol Police and other security measures. 
• Michael Delaney formally withdrew from consideration to serve on the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals amid bipartisan criticism of his handling of a years-old sexual assault case involving a New Hampshire school. His withdrawal is a rare defeat for Biden on judicial nominees, 129 of which have been confirmed by the Senate so far. 
• House Republicans voted to refer to the House Ethics Committee a Democratic-led resolution that would expel embattled Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), instead of holding a direct vote on the matter. 
• The Senate sent Biden a resolution to overturn another District of Columbia policing law, marking the second time Senate Democrats joined Republicans to block crime regulations in the nation’s capital. Biden is expected to veto the resolution, and Republicans are short of the votes to override him. 

39%

That’s the share of voters who believe it would be a “major” problem for them personally if the United States were to default on its own debt, compared with 71% who said the same of the U.S. economy. Read more here: Most Voters Believe Debt Default Would Worsen Economy, Hit Stock Market Hard.

1) US senator denounced as ‘profoundly ignorant man’ over remarks on Mexico

Ramon Antonio Vargas, The Guardian 

2) Olympian Sarah Hughes files to run for NY House seat

Andrew Solender, Axios

3) Capitol Hill Staffer Is A Prominent Follower Of Neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes

Hunter Walker, Talking Points Memo

4) Biden expected to meet with Hill leaders Tuesday following ‘productive’ debt limit meetings among staff

Betsy Klein and Alayna Treene, CNN

5) Republicans, Democrats Making Progress in Debt-Limit Talks, Yellen Says

Andrew Duehren, The Wall Street Journal

6) Centrist Dems are plotting a save-McCarthy strategy for the debt fight

Sarah Ferris and Nicholas Wu, Politico

7) House Democrats’ big fundraising haul comes with a huge caveat

Brittany Gibson, Politico

8) The Lessons of Watching Donald Trump With the Sound Off

Linda Charnes, Washington Monthly

9) How Florida became a conservative bastion

Max Greenwood, The Hill

10) California Democrats further torn after seeing Sen. Feinstein’s return to Washington

Seema Mehta and Benjamin Oreskes, Los Angeles Times 

• FBI misused surveillance tool on Jan. 6 suspects, BLM arrestees and others (The Washington Post) 
• Feinstein Suffered More Complications From Illness Than Were Publicly Disclosed (The New York Times) 
• Antiabortion Group Used Cellphone Data to Target Ads to Planned Parenthood Visitors (The Wall Street Journal 
• Frank Luntz Can’t Quit (New York) 
• Supreme Court rules for Google, Twitter on terror-related content (The Washington Post) 
• Without Tucker Carlson, Far Right Loses a Foothold in the Mainstream (The New York Times) 
• Student loan payment pause will end this year, education secretary confirms (CNN)
• Supreme Court lets Illinois keep ban on sale of some semiautomatic guns for now (The Associated Press) 
• Trump Interview Hits DeSantis, Abortion, New Media Blitz (The Messenger) 
• Rick Perry teases possible presidential bid, declines to support Trump campaign (CNN)
• Inside Biden’s plan to win back Latino voters (Axios)
• Intrusion at national security adviser’s home under investigation (The Washington Post)