Executive Summary:
- President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and a large national security team which included CIA Director Bill Burns, met with the four leaders of Congress at the White House yesterday to discuss averting a government shutdown and passage of a USD$95 billion foreign aid bill which includes USD$60 in new funds for Ukraine.
- Attendees expressed cautious optimism that a partial government shutdown can be avoided when funding for four government agencies expiries at midnight on Friday. A fourth Continuing Resolution of the Fiscal Year is expected to pass Congress ahead of the deadline, punting funding into mid-March but pressure on House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) remains acute.
- After the confab, Johnson told reporters that he will address Ukraine funding in a "timely manner" but again stressed that his first priority is border security leaving no clear pathway for the foreign aid package.
- Support from former President Donald Trump may ease Senate passage of the House-passed USD$78 billion bipartisan tax bill.
- Biden and Trump comfortably won their respective Michigan presidential primaries yesterday but the vote exposed vulnerabilities for both.
- After three consecutive months of gains, the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index dropped in February.
- US and South Korean troops will hold their annual Freedom Shield military drills next week amid escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
- Poll of the Day: Trump's approval rating has increased while Biden's stagnates.
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