President Xi announces Russia visit, U.S. debt ceiling, 2024 presidential race: 3 things to watch in politics
The U.S.-China relationship is in focus this week amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and a number of diplomatic visits.
Meanwhile on the domestic front, the U.S. debt ceiling continues to loom over lawmakers while the 2024 presidential race begins to ramp up.
Here's what you need to know in politics this week:
China's Xi Jinping announces Russia visit
President Biden's trip to Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sent a powerful message worldwide that the United States fully intends to continue backing Ukraine against Russia's invasion.
But that visit stood in stark contrast to the budding alliance between China and Russia as Chinese president Xi Jinping is reportedly planning a meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin sometime in the spring.
News of the planned visit on the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine demonstrates China's ongoing diplomatic support of Russia at a time in which democracies worldwide have united with other strategic partners to defend Ukraine.
Reports of the summit also coincide with escalating U.S.-China tensions, particularly as a top Pentagon official visited Taiwan last week and a small delegation of bipartisan U.S. representatives are traveling to the democratic island this week, including Reps. Tony Gonzalez (R-TX) and Ro Khanna (D-CA).
Debt ceiling
As debt ceiling negotiations continue, it appears Republicans and Democrats have agreed to leave out cuts to Social Security and Medicare.
Still, payments to Social Security and other government programs remain at risk of not being paid on time if Congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling later this year.
The latest negotiations come after President Biden called on Republican leadership to ignore cuts proposed by a small group of ultraconservatives at his State of the Union address earlier this month.
That said, it appears unlikely that a showdown will be completely avoided. Washington policymakers are circulating various playbooks that Biden could deploy in order to raise the debt ceiling should Republicans in the House move to block it.
Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal have openly speculated whether Biden could ignore the debt ceiling altogether, citing the 14th Amendment, which states “the validity of the public debt of the United States … shall not be questioned.”
However, gridlock over the debt ceiling could set off a constitutional crisis that might make its all the way up to the Supreme Court.
2024 presidential candidates enter the race
Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley's announcement that she's running for president on the GOP ticket has kicked the 2024 presidential race into high gear.
And there are also potential Democratic contenders emerging to run against Biden, who has yet to formally declare whether he will seek reelection in 2024.
New York Times best-selling author Marianne Williamson is now also considering a run for president with some type of an announcement coming in mid-March, according to POLITICO. Williamson ran as a Democrat in 2020, and should she announce a run, it will raise prospects for other Democrats looking to challenge Biden.
A poll conducted by the Washington Post and ABC News earlier this month found that 58% of Democrats want someone other than Biden to run for president in 2024 while 49% of Republicans want someone other than Donald Trump as their nominee in 2024.
Haley's announcement sought to position herself as a change-maker candidate for a new era of American politics.
"America is not past its prime — our politicians are past theirs," Haley tweeted.
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Kevin Cirilli is a visiting media fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub. Follow him on LinkedIn here.
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