Cross-Examination

• Debt standoff: Joe Biden has finally caved on the debt ceiling standoff with Republican lawmakers, as he agreed to meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy today to begin negotiating a potential deal. Two weeks ago, House Republicans passed a debt ceiling bill that included reductions in spending growth. Biden has been demanding a bill that raises the debt ceiling without any spending conditions or restraints attached, subsequently refusing to negotiate with McCarthy, all while falsely asserting that the speaker was holding the economy “hostage.” In truth, it has been Biden holding the economy hostage by demanding that Republicans make their offer prior to any consideration of negotiations. Yet as soon as the Republicans produced their legislation, he declared it dead on arrival as he continued to demand no spending restraints. With June 1 looming as the cutoff date before America defaults on debt payments, Biden has finally been forced to the table. However, after this meeting, expect more of the same talking points from Biden and the White House blasting Republicans for wanting to attach spending reform to any deal.

• EVs for the military: It’s proposals like this that make one wonder if Joe Biden has fully lost his marbles. Biden wants all U.S. military vehicles to be electric by 2030. He first proposed the idea on Earth Day last year, stating, “We’re going to start the process where every vehicle in the United States military, every vehicle, is going to be climate-friendly — every vehicle.” During a recent Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) asked Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm if she supported making military vehicles electric by 2030. “I do,” Granholm answered, “and I think we can get there.” Get there on what? Wishes and dreams? Have any of these people stopped even for a second to consider the lunacy of such a goal? This is the 21st century we’re living in, not the 23rd, and last we checked Star Trek is still science fiction.

• Carlson’s future: Since Fox News suddenly sacked Tucker Carlson almost two weeks ago, the popular conservative host has only spoken publicly once via a two-minute clip posted to Twitter. In the immediate aftermath of the shocking dismissal, speculation ran rampant that Carlson would soon be back on the air elsewhere, either with another conservative news media company or his own enterprise. However, there has been little movement, despite several sizable offers being thrown Carlson’s way. Why? The answer appears to lie in the fact that while Carlson has effectively been fired by Fox News, he has not been released from his contract, which runs until January 2025 — notably after the next presidential election. Carlson has hired a legal team to get him released from the contract, freeing him to build his own media company. As his lawyer Bryan Freedman stated, “The idea that anyone is going to silence Tucker and prevent him from speaking to his audience is beyond preposterous.” So stay tuned.

• Biden vs. airlines: The Biden administration is looking to ensure that airlines reimburse customers for canceled and delayed flights. Regarding the new rules, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg argued, “When an airline causes a flight cancellation or delay, passengers should not foot the bill.” This action comes months after Southwest Airlines canceled thousands of flights citing weather conditions, even as other carriers continued to serve consumers. Southwest’s problem — a dearth of pilots — is shared by all in the commercial airlines industry, especially since the pandemic. The industry is struggling with aging pilots, with only 8% of current pilots under the age of 30, and rules requiring pilots to retire at 65. According to CEO of Regional Airline Association Faye Malarkey Black, over 50% of today’s pilots will be forced to retire over the next 15 years.

• Facebook threatens to stop news sharing in Canada: Nick Clegg, a spokesman for tech giant Meta, warned on Monday that proposed legislation in Canada would put the company “in an invidious position.” He explained: “In order to comply, we have to either operate in a flawed and unfair regulatory environment or we have to end the availability of news content in Canada. With a heavy heart, we choose the latter.” The law in question, C-18, would require tech companies to pay news organizations for any content published on their platforms. Clegg argues that the bill would “subsidize big broadcasters at the expense of independent publishers and digital news sites.” U.S. lawmakers are currently crafting similar legislation dubbed the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act.

Headlines

• White House bans New York Post from Biden event as Hunter indictment looms (NY Post)

• Abbott deploys special National Guard force to southern border ahead of expected illegal immigrant surge (Daily Wire)

• Border Patrol agents seized enough fentanyl in single weekend to kill entire population of Chicago (Free Beacon)

• U.S. Air Force ran a social experiment to graduate more minority pilots. It didn’t go as planned. (Daily Caller)

• National Police Association sues to make Nashville school shooter’s manifesto public (Daily Mail)

• NIH renews funds for “bat coronavirus” research despite Energy Department, FBI’s lab-leak conclusion (National Review)

• Average price of new car hits $48K (Free Beacon)

• Many schools going to four-day weeks (Hot Air)

• Oklahoma revokes funding for PBS over LGBTQ content for kids (PM)

• Satire: Navy hires former Bud Light VP to completely kill their brand too (Genesius Times)

For more editors’ choice headlines, click here.