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President Biden while in Japan today conceded U.S. inflation presents real challenges of uncertain duration. The House is out of Washington until June. The Senate this week will work on legislation Democrats doubt will go anywhere, and Republicans are holding their breath about Tuesday’s primaries in Georgia, Arkansas and Alabama, plus Texas runoffs.

In Tokyo while launching a new trade deal with a dozen Indo-Pacific nations on Monday, the president warned Americans who are worried about rising inflation that it is “going to be a haul” before consumers see relief. During a joint news conference with Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Biden saidthat a U.S. recession is not inevitable, in his view, and that economic “problems” are “less consequential than the rest of the world has” (The Associated Press).

The president appeared to suggest a change in U.S. policy over Taiwan with a vow to defend the self-governing island militarily should China attack, but a White House official quickly walked back Biden’s comments, saying U.S. policy has not changed. The president told reporters that Beijing was already “flirting with danger” with its recent decision to hold military drills near Taiwan, which China views as its own territory (NBC News).

Meanwhile, a Louisiana federal judge blocked today’s plans in the administration to rescind a Trump-era immigration policy, leaving the political and policy debate in continued limbo. At the same time, U.S. families are still wringing their hands about how they’ll feed hungry infants during a baby formula shortage that will continue this week, despite government and private sector responses now underway.

Antibiotic Resistance: A Looming Public Health Crisis —Tuesday, May 24 at 1 p.m. ET

Antibiotic-resistant pathogens result in millions of infections and thousands of deaths every year. What threats do antibiotic-resistant superbugs pose for the future, and how has COVID-19 informed our approach to pandemic preparedness? Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Rep. Drew Ferguson (R-Ga.), HHS Asst. Sec. Dawn O’Connell and more join The Hill to discuss tackling the growing threat of antibiotic resistance.