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Biden, Harris and Trump Visit Sept. 11 Site in New York

(L-R) Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democratic presidential candidate US Vice President Kamala Harris, US President Joe Biden, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump attend the 23rd annual 9/11 commemoration ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York, New York, USA, 11 September 2024. (EPA)
(L-R) Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democratic presidential candidate US Vice President Kamala Harris, US President Joe Biden, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump attend the 23rd annual 9/11 commemoration ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York, New York, USA, 11 September 2024. (EPA)
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Biden, Harris and Trump Visit Sept. 11 Site in New York

(L-R) Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democratic presidential candidate US Vice President Kamala Harris, US President Joe Biden, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump attend the 23rd annual 9/11 commemoration ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York, New York, USA, 11 September 2024. (EPA)
(L-R) Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democratic presidential candidate US Vice President Kamala Harris, US President Joe Biden, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump attend the 23rd annual 9/11 commemoration ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York, New York, USA, 11 September 2024. (EPA)

President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump made a rare joint appearance on Wednesday at the New York City site that marks the Sept. 11 plane attacks in 2001 that killed nearly 3,000 people.

Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee and Trump, her Republican rival in the Nov. 5 US presidential election, shook hands and exchanged a few words, despite their contentious debate the night before, then lined up for the commemoration. Trump's running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, also attended.

Instead of formal remarks, the ceremony at the "ground zero" site where planes brought down the World Trade Center's twin towers included wives, husbands, sisters, brothers and grandchildren reading the names of family members killed 23 years ago.

The annual rite marks the suicide attacks by al-Qaeda militants that hit Manhattan, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field.

"Richard J. O'Connor. We will always love and miss you," a small red-headed boy said of his grandfather, who was killed in the World Trade Center that morning.

A bagpipe and drum processional was accompanied by New York City's fire and police departments and Port Authority honor guards. The national anthem was performed and moments of silence were held at the times each target was struck.

Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg also attended, standing between Biden and Trump.

After New York, Biden and Harris were flying to Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where passengers on United Flight 93 overcame the hijackers and the plane crashed in a field, preventing another target from being hit. Then the president and vice president will head back to the Washington area to visit a memorial at the Pentagon.

"On this day 23 years ago, terrorists believed they could break our will and bring us to our knees. They were wrong. They will always be wrong. In the darkest of hours, we found light. And in the face of fear, we came together - to defend our country, and to help one another," Biden said in an early morning statement.

Trump, who also plans to visit the Pennsylvania memorial, told Fox News on Wednesday: "It was very, very sad, horrible day. There's never been anything like it."

Biden earlier issued a proclamation honoring those who died as a result of the attacks, as well as the hundreds of thousands of Americans who volunteered for military service afterwards.

"We owe these patriots of the 9/11 Generation a debt of gratitude that we can never fully repay," Biden said, citing deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq and other war zones, as well as the capture and killing of Sept. 11 mastermind Osama bin Laden and his deputy.

US congressional leaders on Tuesday posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to 13 service members who were killed in the Aug. 26, 2021, suicide bombing at Kabul's airport during the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

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Biden Signs Bill That Averts Govt Shutdown Ending Days of Washington Upheaval

United States President Joe Biden participates in a holiday visit to patients and families at Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC, USA, 20 December 2024. (EPA)
United States President Joe Biden participates in a holiday visit to patients and families at Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC, USA, 20 December 2024. (EPA)
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Biden Signs Bill That Averts Govt Shutdown Ending Days of Washington Upheaval

United States President Joe Biden participates in a holiday visit to patients and families at Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC, USA, 20 December 2024. (EPA)
United States President Joe Biden participates in a holiday visit to patients and families at Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC, USA, 20 December 2024. (EPA)

President Joe Biden signed a bill into law Saturday that averts a government shutdown, bringing a final close to days of upheaval after Congress approved a temporary funding plan just past the deadline and refused President-elect Donald Trump’s core debt demands in the package.

The deal funds the government at current levels through March 14 and provides $100 billion in disaster aid and $10 billion in agricultural assistance to farmers.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., had insisted lawmakers would “meet our obligations” and not allow federal operations to close. But the outcome at the end of a tumultuous week was uncertain after Trump had insisted the deal include an increase in the government's borrowing limit. If not, he had said, then let the closures “start now.”

Johnson's revised plan was approved 366-34, and it was passed by the Senate by a 85-11 vote after midnight. By then, the White House said it had ceased shutdown preparations.

“There will be no government shutdown,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Johnson, who had spoken to Trump after the House vote, said the compromise was "a good outcome for the country” and that the president-elect “was certainly happy about this outcome, as well.”

The final product was the third attempt from Johnson, the beleaguered speaker, to achieve one of the basic requirements of the federal government — keeping it open. The difficulties raised questions about whether Johnson will be able to keep his job, in the face of angry Republican colleagues, and work alongside Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk, who was calling the legislative plays from afar.

The House is scheduled to elect the next speaker on Jan. 3, 2025, when the new Congress convenes. Republicans will have an exceedingly narrow majority, 220-215, leaving Johnson little margin for error as he tries to win the speaker's gavel.

One House Republican, Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, criticized Republicans for the deficit spending in the bill and said he was now “undecided” about the GOP leadership. Others are signaling unhappiness with Johnson as well.

Yet Trump's last-minute debt limit demand was almost an impossible ask, and Johnson had almost no choice but to work around that pressure. The speaker knew there wouldn’t be enough support within the slim Republican majority alone to pass any funding package because many Republican deficit hawks prefer to cut the federal government and would not allow more debt.

Instead, the Republicans, who will have full control of the White House, House and Senate in the new year, with big plans for tax cuts and other priorities, are showing they must routinely rely on Democrats for the votes needed to keep up with the routine operations of governing.

The federal debt stands at roughly $36 trillion, and the spike in inflation after the coronavirus pandemic has pushed up the government’s borrowing costs such that debt service next year will exceed spending on national security. The last time lawmakers raised the debt limit was June 2023. Rather than raise the limit by a dollar amount, lawmakers suspended the debt limit through Jan. 1, 2025.

There is no need to raise that limit right now because the Treasury Department can begin using what it calls “extraordinary measures” to ensure that America does not default on its debts. Some estimate these accounting maneuvers could push the default deadline to the summer of 2025. But that’s what Trump wanted to avoid because an increase would be needed while he was president.

GOP leaders said the debt ceiling would be debated as part of tax and border packages in the new year. Republicans made a so-called handshake agreement to raise the debt limit at that time while also cutting $2.5 trillion in spending over 10 years.

It was essentially the same deal that flopped Thursday night — minus Trump’s debt demand. But it's far smaller than the original deal Johnson struck with Democratic and Republican leaders — a 1,500-page bill that Trump and Musk rejected, forcing him to start over. It was stuffed with a long list of other bills — including much-derided pay raises for lawmakers — but also other measures with broad bipartisan support that now have a tougher path to becoming law.

Trump, who has not yet been sworn into office, is showing the power but also the limits of his sway with Congress, as he intervenes and orchestrates affairs from Mar-a-Lago alongside Musk, who is heading up the new Department of Government Efficiency.