With an assist from Megan R. Wilson

DIAL 8 TO TALK DEBT — When it comes to the debt limit X-date, one month in Congressional time is not as long as it seems. And that dials up the pressure on Capitol Hill for lawmakers and the White House to agree on a path forward to avoid a catastrophic default on the nation’s debt.

The Treasury and Congressional Budget Office both say June 1 is when the “extraordinary measures” could run dry and the U.S. will face topple over an unprecedented cliff by defaulting on the nation’s debt. President Joe Biden is hoping to meet with the “four corners” of Congressional leadership on May 9.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) started the ball rolling on Monday, taking a procedural move to put two competing debt limit bills on the Senate calendar: one to simply suspend the debt limit through 2024 and the other the House-passed GOP package. Putting the bills on the calendar doesn’t guarantee a vote on either, but it does place Democrats’ “clean” proposal without spending cuts head-to-head with the House Republican bill.

“This process will ensure that once a clean debt ceiling is passed the House bill is available for a bipartisan agreement on spending and revenue as part of the regular budget process,” a Schumer spokesperson said Monday night.

Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) said Biden’s engagement is “good news” but on Monday, with the fresh X-date projection announced, he said the Senate GOP stance remains: “The only thing that can get 60 votes in the Senate is something negotiated between the President and the House Republican leadership.”

“I’m not sure at this point what Schumer or McConnell add to the conversation,” said Thune. “I think they’re gonna have to work it out.”

One major consideration is that raising the debt ceiling by the June 1 deadline won’t necessarily avert chaos in the financial markets. Even just approaching the deadline and the whiff of a cataclysmic default could spur turmoil.

Speaking of the calendar: There are just eight legislative days this month when both the House and Senate are scheduled to be in session at the same time. But one is a “Senate Friday,” which rarely materializes as a true legislative session.

In recent years, hard and scary deadlines have spurred action when so many other internal pressures failed to do so. It’s certainly not that Congress works best with a looming deadline, but a tightening vice sure serves as a motivator.

The Congressional schedule is, of course, fluid and flexible. Just as easily as leaders can give back Fridays and set lawmakers free early, they can claw back recess weeks if needed. (Just look at recent Augusts for a reminder.) But a look at the schedule, as laid out early this year, it is clear that Congressional leaders were not expecting a true deadline so soon.

Politically, the members most likely to sweat a schedule change are those who face a tough election next year and would have to bail out of marching in the local Memorial Day parade or some other feel-good campaign equivalent.

Where’s McCarthy? He is in Israel for his first visit abroad as speaker. McCarthy (R-Calif.) got the call from Biden in Israel, presumably after he delivered a historic speech to the Knesset.

A moment of snark: The freshly announced X-date did not bring urgency to last night’s Senate vote. Don’t expect lawmakers to start moving regular business efficiently to free up time for debt discussions.

Related reads: Biden ready to restart debt talks but won’t budge on conditions, from Adam Cancryn, Jennifer Haberkorn and Jonathan Lemire; Fast-approaching debt deadline jolts a flat-footed Congress, from Burgess and Caitlin

GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Tuesday, May 2, where we are sending thoughts and prayers to your Memorial Day plans.

NOSY NEIGHBOR — The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing this morning on ethics reform at the high court, following revelations about undisclosed real estate transactions by Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch and an array of travel and gift benefits Thomas has reaped from a friendship with a top GOP donor. Democrats will make the case for Congress to pass a law to force the Supreme Court to adopt a binding code of ethics for the justices, like lower courts have. Chief Justice John Roberts declined an invitation to testify at today’s hearing, but it will more forward with testimony from five other witnesses: Michael Mukasey, Thomas Dupree, Amanda Frost, Kedric Payne and Jeremy Fogel.

Our friends at Playbook also got an exclusive early look at the sharp written testimony submitted by former federal judge J. Michael Luttig and Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe.

PHARMA TIME — The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions is meeting in a few hours to mark up a set of bipartisan bills that would promote access to generic drugs and medicines for rare diseases and increase generic competition. The legislation up for consideration today also includes a 91-page bill targeting pharmacy benefit managers and their business practices — likely to bring ire from the industry. The deal was brought forward by the two senators on the committee, Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and ranking member Bill Cassidy (R-La.). Quick recap – these are the bills under consideration:

• The Ensuring Timely Access to Generics Act from Sens. Jeanne Shaneen (D-N.H.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), which would empower the FDA to deny citizen petitions submitted either to primarily delay competition or that do not raise valid scientific or regulatory issues.
• The Expanding Access to Low-Cost Generics Act from Sens. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and Mike Braun (R-Ind.), which would take on the ability for brand-name drugmakers to not file suit against generic drug companies that apply to create a lower-cost version to market in exchange for delaying its release, a practice called “parking.”
• The RARE Act from Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), which would specify that the seven-year orphan drug market exclusivity period would ban the approval of other drugs for the same approved use or indication, not the same disease or condition.
• The Pharmacy Benefit Manager Reform Act from Sanders and Cassidy, which would ban PBM’s ability to charge health plans more for a drug than they reimburse pharmacies for dispensing it, requiring that all rebates negotiated with drugmakers and fees collected by PBMs are passed through to plans, and mandating sweeping reports about their operations.

HUDDLE HOTDISH

MONITORING THE MET GALA: Your Huddle hosts didn’t spot any lawmakers at the Met Gala last night — maybe because they wanted to avoid drama with the Ethics committee — but if you spotted a lawmaker on the red carpet, send us a photo.

QUICK LINKS

Feinstein has vowed to return to Washington, but what happens if she doesn’t?, from Kwasi Gyamfi Asiebu and Seema Mehta at The Los Angeles Times

Allred set to launch Texas Senate run against Cruz, from Daniella, Ally and Nicholas

National Mall site approved for memorial to fallen journalists, from Justin Jouvenal at The Washington Post

After more than a half-century in public office, Cardin won’t seek reelection in 2024, from Josh Kurtz at Maryland Matters

TRANSITIONS

Aaron Reitz will be Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) new chief of staff. He was most recently deputy attorney general of Texas. Cruz has also named Chris Jaarda as deputy chief of staff for policy and Carl Mica as deputy chief of staff for operations.

Palmer Brigham starts Tuesday as Iowa GOP Sen. Joni Ernst’s media director and press secretary. She previously served as a communications director for Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.).

Christine Joseph is now special adviser at the Office of Space Commerce at NOAA. She most recently was a legislative assistant for the House science committee’s space and aeronautics committee.

Kristin Spiridon is now senior director for policy & government affairs at the International Foodservice Distributors Association. She previously was chief counsel for oversight for the Senate HELP Committee GOP.

Scott Batchelder is now a comms fellow in Rep. Deborah Ross’s (D-N.C.) office. He most recently was senior public affairs associate at the Climate Leadership Council.

TODAY IN CONGRESS

The House convenes at 11 a.m. for a pro forma session.

The Senate convenes at 10 a.m. with votes at 11:30 a.m. on the motions to invoke cloture on the nomination of Michael Farbiarz to be a U.S. District Judge for New Jersey and on the nomination of Robert Kirsch, to be U.S. District Judge for New Jersey.

After lunches, and the 118th Congress portrait, the Senate will (if cloture is invoked) vote on confirmation of Farbiarz. The Senate would vote at 5 p.m. on Kirsch’s confirmation of Kirsch (if it gets cloture earlier) and vote on nomination of Orelia Eleta Merchant to be a U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of New York.

AROUND THE HILL

9:30 a.m. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee holds a hearing on the fiscal 2024 budget request for the Interior Department, with testimony from Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. (366 Dirksen.)

9:30 a.m. Senate Armed Services Committee holds a hearing on the posture of the Air Force in review of the defense authorization request for fiscal 2024 and the Future Years Defense Program with Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall III and Chief of Space Operations B. Chance Saltzman. (G50 Dirksen)

TRIVIA

MONDAY’S WINNER: Kirtan Mehta correctly answered that Arthur Vandenberg asserted that “we must stop partisan politics at the water’s edge.” As Senate Foreign Relations chair, he cooperated with the Truman administration in forging bipartisan support for the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, and NATO.

TODAY’S QUESTION: Which president selected architect Thomas U. Walter to construct large northern and southern wings containing new legislative chambers in the U.S. Capitol?

The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your answers to [email protected]

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Follow Katherine and Daniella on Twitter: @ktullymcmanus and @DaniellaMicaela

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