Yahoo Finance House Speaker McCarthy faces first test, Biden visits Mexico: What to watch in politics this week
While investors eye fresh inflation data and bank earnings, it will also be a busy week for political watchers as Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) begins his leadership post as House speaker and President Biden meets with the leaders of Mexico, Canada, and Japan.
Here are three stories to watch at the intersection of business and politics this week:
Rep. McCarthy's first week as House Speaker
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy faces his first test since claiming the gavel: rallying the Republican caucus together to advance a rules package.
The rules package has emerged as the first major clash between Republicans since McCarthy negotiated with ultraconservatives in the Freedom Caucus to become Speaker.
Moderate Republicans are growing anxious that they've ceded too much ground to the likes of Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL). Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), for her part, said on Sunday that she's undecided on the rules package and raised concerns that McCarthy might agree to defense cuts.
Mace and others argue that the U.S. should not be making defense cuts at a time when Russia's invasion of Ukraine is ongoing and China is threatening Taiwan. Mace told CBS News's Margaret Brennan that she likes the rule package; however, she has concerns about the unknown "backroom deals" that McCarthy cut to become speaker.
"I don't want to see defense cuts," Mace told Brennan. "We don't know what deals were made. And that's something that we should be transparent about. Sunshine is the best medicine."
Biden visits Mexico
President Biden will be in Mexico at the start of the week, where he will meet with Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The two leaders will reportedly talk about the U.S.-Mexico border as well as ways to address the drug cartels that are flooding the United States with fentanyl.
Biden and López Obrador will also be joined by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Bloomberg reported that the so-called '3 Amigos' summit will be an opportunity for the heads of state to discuss lingering economic trade tensions.
However, the summit now risks being overshadowed by scenes of violence in Brazil, where supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro stormed the country's capital on Sunday in a riot bearing similarities to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Biden called the incident in Brazil "outrageous," and Bolsonaro is believed to have been in Florida since before his successor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s inauguration.
Biden to meet with Japan's Kishida
President Biden will return from Mexico and meet with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who has been traveling internationally to Europe and Canada to strengthen Japan's military and economic ties.
Kishida is hoping to bolster military support for Japan amid increased volatility in the region from China's threats against Taiwan and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
Kishida told reporters ahead of the trip that his talk with Biden will be "a precious opportunity to confirm our close cooperation in further strengthening the Japan-U.S. alliance and our endeavor together toward achieving a free and open Indo-Pacific... It will be a chance to show the Japanese and U.S. stance to the international community."
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Kevin Cirilli is a visiting media at the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub and the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue. Follow him on LinkedIn here.
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