POLITICS & POLICY

Why the election could make Washington’s looming next fiscal crisis harder

PUBLISHED MON, SEP 14 2026 Garrett Downs

KEY POINTS

• The U.S. could breach the debt ceiling at some point in 2027. Fixing it could be hard.

• If Democrats capture one or both chambers of Congress in November’s midterm election, it would open the door to a standoff as the party tries to extract policy wins from Republican President Donald Trump in exchange for averting a bumpy ride over the fiscal cliff.

• If Democrats win in November, Republican hopes to remedy the issue while they control Congress could also be in trouble, as some in the GOP are already disavowing raising the debt ceiling without accompanying deep spending cuts.

Washington’s next fiscal crisis looms right around the corner. Fixing it could be hard.

Analysts project the U.S. will breach the $41.1 trillion debt ceiling at some point in 2027, requiring Congress to raise or suspend it before the Treasury Department runs out of “extraordinary measures” to avoid a catastrophic default. If Democrats capture one or both chambers of Congress in November’s midterm election, it would open the door to a standoff as the party tries to extract policy wins from Republican President Donald Trump in exchange for averting a bumpy ride over the fiscal cliff.

Trump last week also proposed a $5,000 dividend for every American if Republicans win the midterms — a move that could bring the U.S. to the debt ceiling faster.

And while some Republicans have proposed raising the debt ceiling this year to preempt potential brinksmanship next year — possibly during the lame-duck legislative session immediately after the election — some in the GOP are already disavowing such a move without deep spending cuts as the national debt balloons past $40 trillion, a record high.

“There are already discussions like if we lose the midterms, it would probably need to happen in the lame duck,” said Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo. “Because I don’t think that the president wants to have a pound of flesh extracted by the Democrats.” Burlison has proposed a constitutional amendment to require the U.S. government balance its budget and has called for capping future federal borrowing.

Burlison, however, also said that “a blanket raise is not going to get my vote.”

“If you’re a fiscal conservative, we should be using every opportunity that we can to reduce the deficit anytime we have a vote to raise the debt ceiling,” he said.

Other conservative lawmakers agreed, citing recent rises in Treasury yields as a reason to cut spending and not approve blanket approvals of more borrowing.

“Not without massive spending restraint and reforms,” said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, when asked by CNBC if he would support raising the debt ceiling before the end of the year.

“If we’re going to sit down and do the debt ceiling or sit down and talk about anything tax-related, then we’re going to have to be real about spending restraint, so we’ll see,” Roy said.

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/14/election-debt-limit-fiscal-crisis-congress.html

Corruption in Kiev: Anti-graft agencies in crosshairs as Zelensky’s prosecutor general flees Ukraine

The Ukrainian leader is accused of resuming attacks on Western-backed watchdogs after multiple probes targeted his inner circle

Published 14 Sep, 2026 10:27 | Updated

The political infighting in Kiev has intensified since corruption accusations compelled Ukrainian Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko to tender his resignation last week. The disgraced official, who left Ukraine overnight, has accused the graft investigators who took him down of seeking a power grab.

Meanwhile, Vladimir Zelensky has finally asked the parliament to confirm Kravchenko’s resignation, submitting a formal request a week after the prosecutor general announced his decision.

The Ukrainian leader is suspected of striking a deal with his appointee, allowing him to leave the country in exchange for signing off on formal accusations that would allow his eventual successor to go after the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).

Zelensky tried and failed to place the two Western-backed agencies under the prosecutor general’s office last year. The move was reversed after a wave of mass protests and threats by foreign donors to withhold aid.

14 September 2026

14:40 GMT

Speaking at a joint briefing with SAPO head Aleksander Klimenko, NABU director Semyon Krivonos claimed that he had not received any official documents from the disgraced prosecutor, describing the alleged accusations against him as a “Telegram notice of suspicion.”

The official cited a standoff between the Western-backed anti-corruption agencies and prosecutors which occurred last year, noting that at the time detectives with NABU and SAPO received notices of suspicion en masse.

“We knew that a similar attack on NABU and SAPO was being prepared. And, in fact, it has happened,” Krivonos stated.

14:22 GMT

Zelensky has signed a decree formally dismissing Kravchenko from his post.Earlier in the day, the dismissal of the disgraced prosecutor was unanimously approved by the parliamentary committee on law enforcement. The decision now must be upheld at a parliamentary session, with the voting on the matter expected on Tuesday.

https://www.rt.com/russia/645681-kiev-corruption-agencies-zelensky/

President Trump Impromptu Presser Aboard Airforce One

September 13, 2026 | Sundance |

President Trump walked back to the press pool aboard Airforce One during the flight from Ireland to Joint Base Andrews. Video of the press remarks below:

Topics included: Chinese cars coming to the USA, Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping upcoming state visit, the current status with Venezuela interim government; the conflict between Russia and Ukraine including diesel fuel refinery targeting; the activity of Witkoff, Kushner and CIA Director Ratcliffe in the Ukraine negotiations; U.S. military stockpiles and replenishment; emerging U.S. technology including laser use; the ongoing Canadian trade discussions and the difficulty of negotiating with Canadian leaders on tariffs; the development of AI technology and more.

President Trump Gaggles with Press on Air Force One En Route Joint Base Andrews, Sep. 13, 2026

The White House

https://youtu.be/g3wx7-6s4dg

8:35

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/09/13/president-trump-impromptu-presser-aboard-airforce-one-3/#more-286979

Barack Obama Tells Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to Organize the AI Control Bill for #1 Priority Passage Following the Midterm Elections

September 13, 2026 | Sundance |

Just as the communists planned the takeover of healthcare as their #1 legislative priority in 2008, so too are the same people now organizing the #1 priority for 2027. This time it’s AI.

BACKGROUND CONTEXT – In the runup to the 2024 election, I was having a lengthy discussion with a CEO of a large tech company about the alignment of Silicon Valley the MAGA election of Donald Trump.

The CEO said to me, “don’t be fooled; as soon as they get this upcoming Artificial Intelligence (AI) system fully developed, big tech will immediately jump back to supporting the Democrats.”

The reason was simple. Silicon Valley operates on a business plan where only a few, elite trillionaire tech companies control things. In order to secure their overwhelming market share, they will need regulation to shut down competition. Those same trillionaires will then write the regulations and attain market dominance. Everything else between now and that moment when they claim “safety and security” is chaff and countermeasures.

It is with that context that CTH has reviewed the rise of the big AI developers and also reviewed the recent claims by those same trillionaires about the need for urgent and immediate AI regulation. Their primary reasoning, “safety and security.”

NEW YORK TIMES – Former President Barack Obama warned during a recent private fund-raising event that artificial intelligence technology could be “dangerous” if not properly managed, as he implored Democrats to aggressively develop political and governing agendas to prioritize the issue in the coming years.

In his remarks on Thursday, which have not been previously reported, Mr. Obama urged Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York and the House minority leader, to assemble a clear framework for a public conversation about A.I. policy, should Democrats win back the House in the midterm elections, according to a partial transcript provided by Mr. Obama’s office.

He also suggested that candidates running for president in 2028 ought to make A.I. one of their “central agendas” and “have a very clear plan” for responding to safety and economic concerns around the technology.

The recommendations from the former president amount to some of his most detailed comments yet about A.I. as a political issue for his party. At a moment when President Trump continues to downplay concerns about the technology, some Democrats see an opportunity for the party to draw a clear contrast in the midterms and beyond on an issue of growing significance. In a Democratic Party with no clear leader, many look to Mr. Obama for guidance, and his comments carry considerable weight.

[…] “Once you are speaker, I would strongly urge that the Democrats put together a framework for a very public conversation,” Mr. Obama told Mr. Jeffries, according to the transcript. Mr. Jeffries had asked him a question about how Democrats should address A.I. in a Congress that has taken little action on the issue, according to two of the people.

“This is something that is moving very fast in private hands, and if we don’t get on top of it, I think can be dangerous,” Mr. Obama said. “If we do get on top of it, I do think it’s beneficial. I genuinely think it’s going to accelerate, for example, drug development in ways that can help us cure diseases. I do think that this can help us figure out pathways for a clean energy future.” (read more)

WATCH (prompted): Mike Steger connects Trump’s investments in steel, energy, nuclear power, AI, and manufacturing with a larger economic revival. He then examines warnings from former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon, Dario Amodei’s call to slow frontier AI development, Effective Altruism, and proposed federal restrictions on advanced AI. Mike argues that the real battle is over who will control artificial intelligence—and whether it will support American industry and human creativity or become concentrated within government and a few powerful institutions.

Trump vs. Anthropic Communists: The Battle for America's Economic Future

8:18

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/09/13/barack-obama-tells-minority-leader-hakeem-jeffries-to-organize-the-ai-control-bill-for-1-priority-passage-following-the-midterm-elections/

https://youtu.be/HPTXoUgydDo