POLITICO Playbook Daily Briefing POLITICO

With mere days left before the projected June 1 X-date, negotiators appear to be homing in on a debt ceiling deal that would avert an economic catastrophe. A source familiar with the talks told Playbook late last night that the two sides have all but finalized the spending portion of discussions.

The Florida governor announced his presidential campaign in a glitch-filled Twitter Spaces event. Plus, inside Democrats' debt ceiling messaging tiff, where some Democratic members have privately fumed that President Biden has refused to use his bully pulpit to deliver a clear and concise message on the debt ceiling talks — even as Republican negotiators have used frequent reporter gaggles and off-the-cuff press conferences to make their own case.

The Florida governor’s entry into the Presidential race will immediately shake up a Republican primary that has been dominated by former President Donald Trump. All that, and everything else you need to know in politics today.

With only days until the earliest possible default on June 1, we’re going to address the question lawmakers aren’t ready to face: What happens if Biden and McCarthy can’t make a deal? Playbook spent several hours yesterday afternoon and evening working the phones. Rachael Bade breaks down four possible scenarios, ranked most to least likely.

We are just days away from a potential federal default, and Washington this week is going to be consumed with the latest twists and turns on whether Congress will act to raise the debt limit in time to prevent a whole parade of horribles – from a tanking stock market to skyrocketing borrowing costs to mass unemployment. Over the weekend bipartisan negotiations went from on again to off again to on again, and today’s main event is a White House meeting between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Playbook editor Mike DeBonis and author Rachael Bade break it down, along with the rest of the news you need to know today.

Though House Speaker Kevin McCarthy suggested a couple days ago that he wanted to have a debt-limit deal by the start of the weekend, as of right now on Friday morning, that doesn’t seem likely to happen — we break down the pressure points. All that, and the rest of the news you need to know today.