THE HOUSE approved a debt-ceiling bill late Wednesday night (Shutterstock).

UPDATE: The House of Representatives voted 314-117 to approve a debt ceiling and budget cut bill that would suspend the debt limit until Jan. 1, 2025. The bill now goes to the Senate where approval is expected.

A procedural vote cleared the way for a full vote on suspending the federal debt limit on Wednesday, with the House of Representatives taking up the deal between Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy later this evening.

The procedural vote was approved 241-187 with 52 Democrats in favor and 29 Republicans voting no, according to United Press International.

The final vote is expected around 5:30 p.m. Pacific time.

DeSantis will “counterpunch”

FLORIDA GOV. Ron DeSantis (Wikipedia).

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis vowed to “counterpunch” against former president Donald Trump in their struggle for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination on Wednesday.

The New York Times reports that DeSantis, running second to Trump in most national polls, poked Trump with criticisms about his positions on the debt limit bill, COVID–19 and the governor’s feud with Disney.

Real Clear Politics’s average of national polls shows Trump with the support of 53.2 percent of Republicans surveyed with DeSantis at 22.4 percent backing.

Trump ‘taped’ talking about classified papers

DONALD TRUMP (Gage Simon photo).

An audio recording of former president Donald Trump saying he had a classified document about a possible attack on Iran has surfaced.

USA Today, citing a CNN report, reports that federal officials have a copy of the recording, made at a meeting in July 2021.

The Justice Department is investigating allegations – which Trump denies – of the mishandling of classified documents.

Danny Masterson guilty on rape charges

Actor Danny Masterson, a star of the “That 70s Show” TV program, was found guilty Wednesday on two counts of rape.

According to the Associated Press, Masterson was convicted by a jury in Los Angeles on two of three counts. He now faces a sentence of up to 30 years in prison. He will stay in jail until sentencing.

Weather: A warming trend on the way

A gentle warming trend is in the forecast for our West Orange County area as we head toward the weekend. Thursday is expected to have morning clouds and afternoon sun, with a daytime high go 70 and an overnight low of 60.  Friday will be similar with a high of 71 (57). Saturday is expected to be partly cloudy with a high of 73 (58).