By Trevor Hunnicutt

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden on Saturday signed a bill that suspends the U.S. government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, averting what would have been a first-ever default with just two days to spare.

The House of Representatives and the Senate passed the legislation this week after Biden and House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached an agreement following tense negotiations.

The Treasury Department had warned it would be unable to pay all its bills on Monday if Congress had failed to act by then.

Biden signed the bill at the White House a day after hailing it as a bipartisan triumph in his first-ever Oval Office address to the nation as president.

The bill signing, which was closed to the press, marked a low-key, symbolic end to a crisis that vexed Washington for months, forced Biden to cut short an international trip in Asia and threatened to push the United States to the brink of an unprecedented economic crisis.

“Thank you to Speaker McCarthy, Leader Jeffries, Leader Schumer, and Leader McConnell for their partnership,” the White House said in a statement announcing the bill’s signing, naming the Democratic and Republican leaders of the House and Senate.

Officials later released a ten-second clip of Biden silently signing the document at the White House.

“It was critical to reach an agreement, and it’s very good news for the American people,” Biden said on Friday. “No one got everything they wanted. But the American people got what they needed.”

The Republican-controlled House voted 314 to 117 to approve the bill, and the Democrat-controlled Senate voted 63 to 36.

Fitch Ratings said on Friday the United States’ “AAA” credit rating would remain on negative watch, despite the agreement that will allow the government to meet its obligations.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Additional reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

By Trevor Hunnicutt

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden on Saturday signed a bill that suspends the U.S. government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, averting what would have been a first-ever default with just two days to spare.

The House of Representatives and the Senate passed the legislation this week after Biden and House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached an agreement following tense negotiations.

The Treasury Department had warned it would be unable to pay all its bills on Monday if Congress had failed to act by then.

Biden signed the bill at the White House a day after hailing it as a bipartisan triumph in his first-ever Oval Office address to the nation as president.

The bill signing, which was closed to the press, marked a low-key, symbolic end to a crisis that vexed Washington for months, forced Biden to cut short an international trip in Asia and threatened to push the United States to the brink of an unprecedented economic crisis.

“Thank you to Speaker McCarthy, Leader Jeffries, Leader Schumer, and Leader McConnell for their partnership,” the White House said in a statement announcing the bill’s signing, naming the Democratic and Republican leaders of the House and Senate.

Officials later released a ten-second clip of Biden silently signing the document at the White House.

“It was critical to reach an agreement, and it’s very good news for the American people,” Biden said on Friday. “No one got everything they wanted. But the American people got what they needed.”

The Republican-controlled House voted 314 to 117 to approve the bill, and the Democrat-controlled Senate voted 63 to 36.

Fitch Ratings said on Friday the United States’ “AAA” credit rating would remain on negative watch, despite the agreement that will allow the government to meet its obligations.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Additional reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

(Refiles to fix typo in word ‘want’ in para 14)

By James Oliphant and Nathan Layne

GILBERT, South Carolina (Reuters) – In the first full week of his 2024 presidential campaign, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis worked hard to define himself as a candidate to voters — and just as hard to define the man who stands in his way for the Republican nomination.

As he toured 12 cities in three early-voting states, DeSantis, 44, made his case that he is the more conservative and consistent alternative to Donald Trump, the former president and current front runner in the race.

Trump fired back in a sudden escalation of the war of words between the two men that not only heightened tensions in the Republican race but also provided insight into DeSantis’ initial strategy.

Touring Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina this week, the governor continued to cast himself as an unapologetic warrior on issues such as abortion, immigration, government spending, crime and LGBTQ rights.

But for the first time, DeSantis began to draw sharp contrasts with Trump, painting the former president as a politician who had lost his way and who became a creature of the government he was supposed to transform by compromising too readily.

Trump’s camp has tried to do the same to DeSantis, calling him a “swamp puppet” and playing down his accomplishments as Florida’s governor. In a party where being a political outsider still holds broad appeal, neither wants to be tagged as the candidate of the establishment.

“That’s why they’re doing it,” said David Kochel, a veteran Republican presidential campaign operative in Iowa. “It’s a dirty word.”

DeSantis’ tour of the three states that will hold the first nominating contests of the Republican primary next year was aimed at quickly cementing himself as Trump’s largest threat.

He largely played to small but packed venues and supportive crowds, even if several voters told Reuters they had not decided on who to vote for.

In speeches, DeSantis notably did not criticize Trump by name, but instead made more opaque references, telling audiences that he would be the candidate to “finally” secure the U.S. southern border or that “leadership” was more important than “building a brand.”

It was a way of nodding to Trump’s supporters that he would continue his work without antagonizing them by insulting the former president, who still has many fiercely loyal supporters.

But in speaking to the media, DeSantis was less guarded. He suggested Trump, his main rival for the nomination had moved “left” during his White House term and that he was no longer the same candidate that ran in 2016.

DeSantis called Trump’s penchant for giving his opponents nicknames “petty” and “juvenile,” in an interview with a New Hampshire radio station on Thursday.

“I don’t think that’s what voters want and honestly, I think his conduct, which has been doing for years now, I think that’s one of the reasons he’s not in the White House now,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis contrasted Trump’s time in office with his own as Florida governor, where he and the Republican legislature have enacted a long string of conservative reforms.

“There’s always going to be ways you can say you can’t do something,” DeSantis told a crowd in Gilbert, South Carolina on Friday as he wound up his tour. “There will always be easy excuses that you can proffer.”

Trump dominates the Republican field with 49% support, while DeSantis is next with 19%, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll conducted in May.

TRUMP ALTERNATIVE

DeSantis’ message appealed to voters such as Doug Lambert, 58, the vice chair of the Belknap County Republican Party in New Hampshire.

“I’ve witnessed Republican after Republican get elected to whatever office and then they all kind of backed down and compromised,” Lambert said. “Not that there’s anything wrong with sensible compromise, but I really think that if we put conservatism out there, a majority of the American people will realize that it’s a good thing.”

Maureen Plyler, 74, who watched DeSantis’ event in Gilbert, was more skeptical, saying she favored Trump’s business background. “He’s just proven,” she said. “The economy was great.”

She was unhappy with the increasingly rancorous exchanges the two candidates. “You’re not changing my mind,” she said.

DeSantis moderated his message at times. In his four stops in New Hampshire, with its large pool of independent voters, he didn’t mention the strict abortion ban Florida passed this year. But it was a top talking point in Iowa and South Carolina, where evangelical Christians hold more sway.

DeSantis also contrasted himself with the billionaire Trump in less obvious ways, calling himself a “blue-collar kid” who has had to work for everything and telling audiences that he decided to join the military instead of pursuing a lucrative career.

He frequently brought his wife, Casey DeSantis, to the stage, where they spoke about raising their young children, a reminder that DeSantis represents a wholly separate generation from the 76-year-old Trump.

Bill Hixon, a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives who introduced DeSantis in Gilbert, said he was ready to move on.

When Trump became president, Hixon said, “I was so excited. But frankly right now, I’ve lost my excitement.”

A woman in the crowd replied with a soft “Amen.”

(This story has been refiled to fix typo in ‘want’ in paragraph 14)

(Reporting by James Oliphant in South Carolina and Nathan Layne in New Hampshire, editing by Ross Colvin and Alistair Bell)

By Trevor Hunnicutt

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden on Saturday signed a bill that suspends the U.S. government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, averting what would have been a first-ever default.

The House of Representatives and the Senate passed the legislation this week after Biden and House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached an agreement following tense negotiations.

The Treasury Department had warned it would be unable to pay all its bills on June 5 if Congress had failed to act by then.

Biden signed the bill at the White House a day after hailing it as a bipartisan triumph in his first-ever Oval Office address to the nation as president.

“Thank you to Speaker McCarthy, Leader Jeffries, Leader Schumer, and Leader McConnell for their partnership,” the White House said in a statement announcing the bill’s signing, naming the Democratic and Republican leaders of the House and Senate.

“It was critical to reach an agreement, and it’s very good news for the American people,” Biden said on Friday. “No one got everything they wanted. But the American people got what they needed.”

The Republican-controlled House voted 314 to 117 to approve the bill, and the Democrat-controlled Senate voted 63 to 36.

Fitch Ratings said on Friday the United States’ “AAA” credit rating would remain on negative watch, despite the agreement that will allow the government to meet its obligations.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Additional reporting by Eric Beech and Nick Zieminski)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden on Saturday signed a bill that lifts the U.S. government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, averting what would have been a first-ever default.

The House of Representatives and the Senate passed the legislation this week after Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached an agreement following tense negotiations.

The Treasury Department had warned it would be unable to pay all its bills on June 5 if Congress failed to act by then.

(Reporting by Eric Beech, Editing by Nick Zieminski)

By Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A federal judge has ruled that Tennessee’s law restricting drag performances in public or where children were present was unconstitutional, striking a blow to efforts in U.S. states to regulate LGBTQ conduct.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee in February had signed the bill passed by the state’s assembly that aimed to restrict drag performances, putting the state at the forefront of a Republican-led effort to limit drag in at least 15 states in recent months.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Parker, an appointee of former Republican President Donald Trump, ruled late on Friday that the law was “both unconstitutionally vague and substantially overbroad.” The First Amendment to the Constitution commands that laws infringing on freedom of speech must be narrow and well defined, Parker said in the 70-page ruling.

“Simply put, no majority of the Supreme Court has held that sexually explicit — but not obscene — speech receives less protection than political, artistic, or scientific speech,” Parker said in the ruling.

Under the law, offenders could face fines and up to a year in prison and repeat offenders could have faced prison sentences of up to six years.

Ahead of the 2024 elections, Republican lawmakers across the country have introduced more than 500 bills this year regulating the conduct of gay and transgender people, ranging from what can be taught in schools to bathroom use and medical care. At least 48 of those have passed, according to the Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy group.

Parker had temporarily blocked the law on March 31, just before it was set to go into effect, siding with Friends of George’s, a Memphis-based LGBTQ theater group that filed suit against the state.

GLAAD, an LGBTQ advocacy group, praised Parker’s decision. “This ruling is a turning point and we will not go back,” GLAAD said in a release.

“Every anti-LGBTQ elected official is on notice that these baseless laws will not stand and that our constitutional freedom of speech and expression protects everyone and propels our culture forward,” the group said.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Additional reporting by Eric Beech and Jonathan Allen; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

By Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A federal judge has ruled that Tennessee’s law restricting drag performances in public or where children were present was unconstitutional, striking a blow to efforts in U.S. states to regulate LGBTQ conduct.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee in February had signed the bill passed by the state’s assembly that aimed to restrict drag performances, putting the state at the forefront of a Republican-led effort to limit drag in at least 15 states in recent months.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Parker, an appointee of former Republican President Donald Trump, ruled late on Friday that the law was “both unconstitutionally vague and substantially overbroad.” The First Amendment to the Constitution commands that laws infringing on freedom of speech must be narrow and well defined, Parker said in the 70-page ruling.

“Simply put, no majority of the Supreme Court has held that sexually explicit — but not obscene — speech receives less protection than political, artistic, or scientific speech,” Parker said in the ruling.

Under the law, offenders could face fines and up to a year in prison and repeat offenders could have faced prison sentences of up to six years.

Ahead of the 2024 elections, Republican lawmakers across the country have introduced more than 500 bills this year regulating the conduct of gay and transgender people, ranging from what can be taught in schools to bathroom use and medical care. At least 48 of those have passed, according to the Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy group.

Parker had temporarily blocked the law on March 31, just before it was set to go into effect, siding with Friends of George’s, a Memphis-based LGBTQ theater group that filed suit against the state.

GLAAD, an LGBTQ advocacy group, praised Parker’s decision. “This ruling is a turning point and we will not go back,” GLAAD said in a release.

“Every anti-LGBTQ elected official is on notice that these baseless laws will not stand and that our constitutional freedom of speech and expression protects everyone and propels our culture forward,” the group said.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Additional reporting by Eric Beech and Jonathan Allen; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

By James Oliphant and Nathan Layne

GILBERT, South Carolina (Reuters) – In the first full week of his 2024 presidential campaign, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis worked hard to define himself as a candidate to voters — and just as hard to define the man who stands in his way for the Republican nomination.

As he toured 12 cities in three early-voting states, DeSantis, 44, made his case that he is the more conservative and consistent alternative to Donald Trump, the former president and current front runner in the race.

Trump fired back in a sudden escalation of the war of words between the two men that not only heightened tensions in the Republican race but also provided insight into DeSantis’ initial strategy.

Touring Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina this week, the governor continued to cast himself as an unapologetic warrior on issues such as abortion, immigration, government spending, crime and LGBTQ rights.

But for the first time, DeSantis began to draw sharp contrasts with Trump, painting the former president as a politician who had lost his way and who became a creature of the government he was supposed to transform by compromising too readily.

Trump’s camp has tried to do the same to DeSantis, calling him a “swamp puppet” and playing down his accomplishments as Florida’s governor. In a party where being a political outsider still holds broad appeal, neither wants to be tagged as the candidate of the establishment.

“That’s why they’re doing it,” said David Kochel, a veteran Republican presidential campaign operative in Iowa. “It’s a dirty word.”

DeSantis’ tour of the three states that will hold the first nominating contests of the Republican primary next year was aimed at quickly cementing himself as Trump’s largest threat.

He largely played to small but packed venues and supportive crowds, even if several voters told Reuters they had not decided on who to vote for.

In speeches, DeSantis notably did not criticize Trump by name, but instead made more opaque references, telling audiences that he would be the candidate to “finally” secure the U.S. southern border or that “leadership” was more important than “building a brand.”

It was a way of nodding to Trump’s supporters that he would continue his work without antagonizing them by insulting the former president, who still has many fiercely loyal supporters.

But in speaking to the media, DeSantis was less guarded. He suggested Trump, his main rival for the nomination had moved “left” during his White House term and that he was no longer the same candidate that ran in 2016.

DeSantis called Trump’s penchant for giving his opponents nicknames “petty” and “juvenile,” in an interview with a New Hampshire radio station on Thursday.

“I don’t think that’s what voters wants and honestly, I think his conduct, which has been doing for years now, I think that’s one of the reasons he’s not in the White House now,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis contrasted Trump’s time in office with his own as Florida governor, where he and the Republican legislature have enacted a long string of conservative reforms.

“There’s always going to be ways you can say you can’t do something,” DeSantis told a crowd in Gilbert, South Carolina on Friday as he wound up his tour. “There will always be easy excuses that you can proffer.”

Trump dominates the Republican field with 49% support, while DeSantis is next with 19%, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll conducted in May.

TRUMP ALTERNATIVE

DeSantis’ message appealed to voters such as Doug Lambert, 58, the vice chair of the Belknap County Republican Party in New Hampshire.

“I’ve witnessed Republican after Republican get elected to whatever office and then they all kind of backed down and compromised,” Lambert said. “Not that there’s anything wrong with sensible compromise, but I really think that if we put conservatism out there, a majority of the American people will realize that it’s a good thing.”

Maureen Plyler, 74, who watched DeSantis’ event in Gilbert, was more skeptical, saying she favored Trump’s business background. “He’s just proven,” she said. “The economy was great.”

She was unhappy with the increasingly rancorous exchanges the two candidates. “You’re not changing my mind,” she said.

DeSantis moderated his message at times. In his four stops in New Hampshire, with its large pool of independent voters, he didn’t mention the strict abortion ban Florida passed this year. But it was a top talking point in Iowa and South Carolina, where evangelical Christians hold more sway.

DeSantis also contrasted himself with the billionaire Trump in less obvious ways, calling himself a “blue-collar kid” who has had to work for everything and telling audiences that he decided to join the military instead of pursuing a lucrative career.

He frequently brought his wife, Casey DeSantis, to the stage, where they spoke about raising their young children, a reminder that DeSantis represents a wholly separate generation from the 76-year-old Trump.

Bill Hixon, a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives who introduced DeSantis in Gilbert, said he was ready to move on.

When Trump became president, Hixon said, “I was so excited. But frankly right now, I’ve lost my excitement.”

A woman in the crowd replied with a soft “Amen.”

(This story has been corrected to reidentify the person quoted in paragraph 7 as ‘David Kochel’)

(Reporting by James Oliphant in South Carolina and Nathan Layne in New Hampshire, editing by Ross Colvin and Alistair Bell)

(reidentifies person quoted in graf 7 as ‘David Kochel’)

By James Oliphant and Nathan Layne

GILBERT, South Carolina (Reuters) – In the first full week of his 2024 presidential campaign, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis worked hard to define himself as a candidate to voters — and just as hard to define the man who stands in his way for the Republican nomination.

As he toured 12 cities in three early-voting states, DeSantis, 44, made his case that he is the more conservative and consistent alternative to Donald Trump, the former president and current front runner in the race.

Trump fired back in a sudden escalation of the war of words between the two men that not only heightened tensions in the Republican race but also provided insight into DeSantis’ initial strategy.

Touring Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina this week, the governor continued to cast himself as an unapologetic warrior on issues such as abortion, immigration, government spending, crime and LGBTQ rights.

But for the first time, DeSantis began to draw sharp contrasts with Trump, painting the former president as a politician who had lost his way and who became a creature of the government he was supposed to transform by compromising too readily.

Trump’s camp has tried to do the same to DeSantis, calling him a “swamp puppet” and playing down his accomplishments as Florida’s governor. In a party where being a political outsider still holds broad appeal, neither wants to be tagged as the candidate of the establishment.

“That’s why they’re doing it,” said David Kochel, a veteran Republican presidential campaign operative in Iowa. “It’s a dirty word.”

DeSantis’ tour of the three states that will hold the first nominating contests of the Republican primary next year was aimed at quickly cementing himself as Trump’s largest threat.

He largely played to small but packed venues and supportive crowds, even if several voters told Reuters they had not decided on who to vote for.

In speeches, DeSantis notably did not criticize Trump by name, but instead made more opaque references, telling audiences that he would be the candidate to “finally” secure the U.S. southern border or that “leadership” was more important than “building a brand.”

It was a way of nodding to Trump’s supporters that he would continue his work without antagonizing them by insulting the former president, who still has many fiercely loyal supporters.

But in speaking to the media, DeSantis was less guarded. He suggested Trump, his main rival for the nomination had moved “left” during his White House term and that he was no longer the same candidate that ran in 2016.

DeSantis called Trump’s penchant for giving his opponents nicknames “petty” and “juvenile,” in an interview with a New Hampshire radio station on Thursday.

“I don’t think that’s what voters wants and honestly, I think his conduct, which has been doing for years now, I think that’s one of the reasons he’s not in the White House now,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis contrasted Trump’s time in office with his own as Florida governor, where he and the Republican legislature have enacted a long string of conservative reforms.

“There’s always going to be ways you can say you can’t do something,” DeSantis told a crowd in Gilbert, South Carolina on Friday as he wound up his tour. “There will always be easy excuses that you can proffer.”

Trump dominates the Republican field with 49% support, while DeSantis is next with 19%, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll conducted in May.

TRUMP ALTERNATIVE

DeSantis’ message appealed to voters such as Doug Lambert, 58, the vice chair of the Belknap County Republican Party in New Hampshire.

“I’ve witnessed Republican after Republican get elected to whatever office and then they all kind of backed down and compromised,” Lambert said. “Not that there’s anything wrong with sensible compromise, but I really think that if we put conservatism out there, a majority of the American people will realize that it’s a good thing.”

Maureen Plyler, 74, who watched DeSantis’ event in Gilbert, was more skeptical, saying she favored Trump’s business background. “He’s just proven,” she said. “The economy was great.”

She was unhappy with the increasingly rancorous exchanges the two candidates. “You’re not changing my mind,” she said.

DeSantis moderated his message at times. In his four stops in New Hampshire, with its large pool of independent voters, he didn’t mention the strict abortion ban Florida passed this year. But it was a top talking point in Iowa and South Carolina, where evangelical Christians hold more sway.

DeSantis also contrasted himself with the billionaire Trump in less obvious ways, calling himself a “blue-collar kid” who has had to work for everything and telling audiences that he decided to join the military instead of pursuing a lucrative career.

He frequently brought his wife, Casey DeSantis, to the stage, where they spoke about raising their young children, a reminder that DeSantis represents a wholly separate generation from the 76-year-old Trump.

Bill Hixon, a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives who introduced DeSantis in Gilbert, said he was ready to move on.

When Trump became president, Hixon said, “I was so excited. But frankly right now, I’ve lost my excitement.”

A woman in the crowd replied with a soft “Amen.”

(This story has been corrected to reidentify the person quoted in paragraph 7 as ‘David Kochel’)

(Reporting by James Oliphant in South Carolina and Nathan Layne in New Hampshire, editing by Ross Colvin and Alistair Bell)

(Reuters) – Tropical Storm Arlene weakened to a tropical depression on Saturday, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

The depression is located about 145 miles (233.35 km) west of the Dry Tortugas, Florida, packing maximum sustained winds of 35 miles per hour (56 km/h).

“A turn to the east is expected by tonight, and that motion should continue until the system dissipates,” the Miami-based weather forecaster said.

Arlene, which formed in the Gulf of Mexico, is forecast to continue weakening and is expected to become a remnant low later on Saturday, NHC said.

(Reporting by Baranjot Kaur in Bengaluru; Editing by Alistair Bell)