Democrats offer glimpse of strategy to outflank McCarthy and raise debt ceiling – live

Democrats have begun collecting signatures for discharge petition to bring vote on borrowing limit to House floor

Good morning, and welcome to the US politics live blog. While we’re still nearly a week away from Joe Biden’s meeting with House speaker Kevin McCarthy over the debt ceiling, the Democrats’ strategy – which so far has been to refuse budget cuts over the debt ceiling – is starting to come to light.

Democrats on Tuesday started the process of collecting signatures for a discharge petition that would force a bill that would raise the debt ceiling on to the House floor. The Democrats will need 218 signatures, which means all 213 Democrats in the chamber will need to sign on along with five Republicans – likely be a difficult task given that McCarthy got 217 for his bill tying a debt ceiling increase with budget cuts, and some Republicans voted against his bill because they wanted more cuts.

The Federal Reserve is announcing updates to the interest rates today and is expected to raise rates by a quarter-point today, a move that could shake markets.

Last night, Ayanna Pressley said she joins House Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in calling for the resignation of longtime Democratic senator Dianne Feinstein as her absence from the Senate judiciary committee has slowed down the pace of crucial judicial confirmation. Lawmakers are likely to continue to weigh in on this intensifying internal fight.