If it's Wednesday, the final sprint begins to deal.

The deal to avert a government default is heading to the House floor as President Biden

and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy make one last push to get it passed amid backlash from their own party bases.

Plus, the top two candidates in the Republican presidential primary, both hitting the trail in Iowa this week,

as Ron DeSantis responds to one of Donald's many attacks and vows to impose his will on Washington.

And federal prosecutors seeking the death penalty tell jurors that the Pittsburgh synagogue mass

shooter acted with, quote, malice and hatred when he carried out the deadliest

anti-Semitic attack in American history.

Welcome to meet the press now. I'm Chuck Todd, reporting here in Washington, where House lawmakers are now just hours away from a final vote on the deal to raise the debt ceiling, with five days until a potential government default, according to the Treasury Secretary.

The White House and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have spent the past 72 hours trying to shore up support for the bill inside their own political parties.

Some conservatives are publicly frustrated that the deal doesn't include more cuts to spending.

And some progressives upset over among other things work requirements for some people receiving government assistance.

This morning, Speaker McCarthy made one final plea to holdouts inside his caucus.

You were getting so many wins for the American people in this bill.

Don't miss out.

Don't sit back and say, I wanted something so much more.

Yeah, there's a lot of things I want, too.

But this is one that moves us in the right direction.

You're not spending more money. There's no new

government programs. There's no tax increases. There's nothing in the bill that you really should be

negative about. And what he probably wants to add is, and nobody thought I'd get him to the

negotiating table, and I did. As McCarthy made his push, the White House sent its team of negotiators

...