House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Tuesday that Democrats will begin sounding out moderate — and potentially vulnerable — Republican lawmakers about forcing a vote on raising the debt ceiling before the June 1 deadline.

Mr. Jeffries, New York Democrat, said officially the maneuver was to give lawmakers a backup option if talks fail next week between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Biden.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has announced that House Democrats have taken a key procedural step that could be used to bypass House Republican leadership and enable Democrats to attempt to force a vote to raise the debt ceiling, according to a new letter obtained by CNN.

The move is the next step House Democrats need to take to preserve all of their options as lawmakers stare down a June 1 deadline of potential default if Congress doesn’t act to address the debt limit before then.

House Democrats on Tuesday announced a secret plan to break through the partisan logjam that’s dogging talks over the debt ceiling and threatening a government default. 

The strategy, hatched in January and kept under wraps since then, is designed to force a vote on a debt limit hike even over the objections of Republican leaders, who both control the floor and are demanding trillions of dollars in spending cuts as a condition of preventing a default — cuts President Biden has refused to consider. 

A large-scale refurbishment of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is underway following an allotment of $80 billion to the agency in Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act passed last year.

The Treasury Department released an operating plan Thursday for its new budget, which will be spent over the course of the next decade and involve hiring tens of thousands of new employees, upgrading technology, and expanding its data and analytics capabilities.

Restoring a depleted IRS staff

Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday wrote to President Joe Biden asking him to set a date for their next negotiating meeting on the debt limit by the end of the week.

The California Republican reiterated that his conference is set on pairing any debt limit increase with policies that would cut spending, save taxpayers money and spur economic growth, while offering four examples of the types of proposals he and Biden could discuss.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy presented on Tuesday a set of broad goals that would need to be met in exchange for raising the debt limit. 

Mr. McCarthy, California Republican, outlined the priorities in a letter to the White House urging President Biden to start official negotiations on raising the cap for how much the federal government can borrow to meet expenses. 

The White House rejected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's (R-CA) entreaties for President Joe Biden to meet with him to discuss raising the debt ceiling before the country defaults on its loans this summer.

Members of Congress have a constitutional obligation to lift the debt limit "as they did three times in the previous administration without conditions," according to press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

As the US inches closer to a default on its debt, Kevin McCarthy has some stern words for the president on how to avoid that outcome.

On Tuesday, the Republican speaker of the House sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to negotiate spending cuts to raise the debt ceiling. McCarthy and Biden met to discuss the topic in February, but since then, Biden has remained adamant that raising the debt ceiling, and keeping the US on top of paying its bills, should be a clean — and bipartisan — deal. 

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday that the federal emergency actions to back up Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank customers could be deployed again in the future if necessary.

“We have used important tools to act quickly to prevent contagion. And they are tools we could use again,” Yellen said in written testimony before a House Appropriations subcommittee.

“The strong actions we have taken ensure that Americans’ deposits are safe. Certainly, we would be prepared to take additional actions if warranted,” she added.

Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen expressed confidence in the nation’s banks on Tuesday but said she was prepared to take additional action to safeguard smaller financial institutions as the Biden administration and federal regulators worked to contain fallout from fears over the stability of the banking system.