And with that, we will wrap up our blog for the evening Here are the latest updates you should know from a busy news day:

• A federal jury in New York City has found that Donald Trump sexually abused advice columnist E Jean Carroll and awarded more than $2m in damages. She will recieve an additional $3m in damages for defamation. Trump called the verdict a “disgrace” and Reuters reported he plans to appeal.

• California’s senior senator, Dianne Feinstein, is poised to return to the Senate after a three-month health absence. Democratic leaders praised her return despite growing calls for her resignation.

• Former Fox News star Tucker Carlson will be reviving his show on Twitter, after being abruptly dismissed from the network last month.

• New York Republican representative George Santos, who has been accused of countless lies and fabrications, has been charged by federal prosecutors for unspecified crimes and will likely appear in court this week.

• Congressional leaders met with President Joe Biden at the White House this afternoon to discuss the debt limit, but said little progress was made. They plan to meet again Friday to discuss a compromise and avoid a default.

Congressional leaders met with President Joe Biden at the White House this afternoon to discuss the debt limit, but said little progress was made.

The meeting was meant to address a deadlock in Congress ahead of a 1 June deadline after which the US government could default on its debts. Ahead of the discussion, the Republican House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, said he would not support a short-term increase in the debt limit.

He and other Republicans have sought to pass conservative legislative priorities and proposed spending cuts in exchange for votes that would raise the debt ceiling.

“I didn’t see any new movement,” he said this evening following the meeting.

Democratic leader Chuck Schumer meanwhile said Republicans were taking the debt limit “hostage” and “must take default off the table”.

Schumer added that the lawmakers agreed to have staff “start sitting down as early as tonight, certainly tomorrow, to see where we can come to agreement on the budget and appropriations process”. The same leaders will meet with Biden again on Friday.

New York Republican representative George Santos has been criminally charged by federal prosecutors, CNN is exclusively reporting.

The disgraced lawmaker, who has admitted to a number of falsehoods and fabrications and been accused of many more, is expected to appear in federal court as early as Wednesday, CNN reported.

The nature of the charges are not yet clear, but Santos had been under investigation over alleged false statements regarding campaign finance filings and other issues.

In addition to the criminal charges, Santos has faced inquiries related to complaints alleging sexual harassment and campaign finance violations. He is currently under investigation by the House ethics committee.

His alarming behavior has ranged from political misconduct to more bizarre incidents, including allegedly stealing cash raised for a veteran’s dying dog, lying about being a producer on a Broadway musical about Spider-Man and falsely claiming his mother survived the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Santos has admitted to smaller infractions including fabricating his résumé but denies many of the other allegations, and has meanwhile announced a bid for re-election.

Our video team has put together this explainer looking at how Donald Trump’s legal troubles might affect his bid for the presidency in 2024. Trump still faces criminal charges around his alleged role in the January 6 Capitol attack and whether he took steps to remove classified documents from a storage room at his Mar-a-Lago resort. This two cases could lead to jail time.

Our reporter Hugo Lowell, says Trump doesn’t see his “legal difficulties as an impediment” to his bid because he believes he might be treated differently by the justice department if he is a presidential candidate.

Former Fox News star Tucker Carlson will be reviving his show on Twitter, after being abruptly dismissed from the network last month.

With a tweet simply captioned “We’re back”, Carlson shared a video discussing his next moves. The media pundit had become the most successful host on Fox News, garnering a dedicated following while spouting xenophobic and racist rhetoric on his show.

In his return video, Carlson echoed many of the same points he has often asserted: that the so-called mainstream media is full of propaganda and lies.

Carlson said he would be taking his show to Twitter, which he described as “the last remaining platform in the world” to allow free speech.

“Twitter is not a partisan site, everybody’s allowed here, and we think that’s a good thing,” he said. “And yet, for the most part, the news that you see analyzed on Twitter comes from media organizations that are themselves thinly disguised propaganda outlets.”

Carlson’s pivot to Twitter comes after the site has become more welcoming to mostly conservative accounts previously banned for spreading hate speech and disinformation under Elon Musk’s new direction. The billionaire took over the site in October 2022 and promptly allowed previously banished accounts to return, including that of former president Donald Trump.

Carlson did not make any mention of Musk in his video. He promised a “new version of the show we’ve been doing for the last six and a half years” to his followers.

Following his departure from Fox News, his former employers have replaced his popular show with an interim program called Fox News Tonight, which features rotating pundits from the network until a replacement can be found.

California’s senior senator, Dianne Feinstein, is poised to return to the Senate after a three-month health absence during which she missed upwards of 90 floor votes.

The Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, released a statement on Tuesday welcoming her return.

“I’m glad that my friend Dianne is back in the Senate and ready to roll up her sleeves and get to work,” it said. “After talking with her multiple times over the past few weeks, it’s clear she is back where she wants to be and ready to deliver for California.”

The 89-year-old lawmaker has been facing growing calls to resign amid concerns about her physical and cognitive health. Her inability to attend votes has also impeded the Democrats’ ability to confirm nominees from President Joe Biden, as Democrats hold just a slim majority in the Senate. Feinstein’s absence led to several stalemates and stalled votes, they argue – a characterization Feinstein has disputed.

Hello readers, this is Kari Paul from the Guardian’s west coast bureau taking over for the next couple hours. Stay tuned for updates.

Before the verdict was read, Law & Crime reports that federal judge Lewis Kaplan advised jurors on whether or not to make public their involvement in the case against Donald Trump:

Expect to hear lots of reactions in the hours to come from Washington and elsewhere to this verdict, and the Guardian’s Kari Paul is now taking over the blog to keep you posted on the latest developments.

A spokesman for the former president elaborated on his objections to the verdict reached against him by a federal jury in New York City.

“Make no mistake, this entire bogus case is a political endeavor targeting President Trump because he is now an overwhelming frontrunner to be once again elected president of the United States,” the spokesman said in a statement, which added that the verdict was part of the “Democratic party’s never-ending witch-hunt”.

“Sadly, for the enemies of American freedom and democracy, President Trump will never stop fighting for the American people, no matter what the radical Democrats dream up next,” the spokesman continued.

“This case will be appealed, and we will ultimately win.”

Reuters reports that Donald Trump plans to appeal the sexual abuse and defamation verdict against him.

Meanwhile, here’s a clip of E Jean Carroll as she departed the courthouse:

The hardworking reporters at Law & Crime caught E Jean Carroll as she was exiting the courthouse in New York City, where she sounded positive about the outcome of the lawsuit she brought against Donald Trump:

Trump calls sexual abuse verdict ‘disgrace’

While jurors did not find Donald Trump liable for the most damning allegation E Jean Carroll brought against him – rape – their verdict is nonetheless going to cost the former president, both financially and perhaps in terms of his reputation.

The New York City jury found him liable for defamation and sexual abuse, and have ordered him to pay a total of $5m in damages: for the battery claim, $2m in compensation and $20,000 in punitive damages, and for defamation, $2.7m in compensation and $280,000 in punitive damages.

Trump has not yet commented about the verdict on Truth Social, which he usually uses to make his opinions on matters known. But he’s set to tomorrow evening participate in a town hall organized by CNN in New Hampshire – and surely be asked about the verdicts then.

Trump defamed Carroll, jury finds, orders $3m in damages

Jury finds Trump sexually abused Carroll, awards $2m

Some color from the courtroom where the verdict in the Trump civil rape lawsuit will be read imminently, courtesy of Law & Crime: