We Can All Take A Deep Breath: Debt Limit Deal Passes House

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Happy June, everyone!

Today is the start of Pride Month. It’s celebrated in June every year to commemorate its roots in the Stonewall riots. On June 28, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn in NYC’s Greenwich Village, a popular gathering spot for members of the LGBTQ community. It sparked five days of protests and riots.

The first pride marches were held a year later and helped ignite the modern LGBTQ rights movement in the US.

Have a good 🏳️‍🌈,

Mosheh, Jill, & Courtney

🗞 WITH JUST 5 DAYS UNTIL DEFAULT….

HOUSE APPROVES A “PRETTY DANG GOOD” COMPROMISE
The US House voted late Wednesday on a deal to suspend the nation’s debt ceiling and avoid a national default.

The 314-117 vote brought together 165 Democrats and 149 Republicans on a compromise negotiated by Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif) and President Joe Biden. The top line: It will ensure the US government can pay the bills until Jan 2, 2025. Heads Up: That also pushes the next fight about the debt until just after the 2024 election.

Almost all legislators have issues with some parts of the bill (more below), but most assessed it was better than a potential economic calamity if there was no deal at all.

WHAT’S IN AND WHAT’S OUT
The 99-page bill suspends the federal debt ceiling — meaning the government can borrow more money to pay existing financial obligations.

The Congressional Budget Office says the compromise would cut deficits by $1.5 trillion over the next decade (a deficit occurs when our government spends more than it brings in through taxes, etc). This was a big deal for Republicans and one of the reasons these negotiations went right up to the deadline.

WHAT’S IN THE DEAL:

• It suspends the $31.4 trillion borrowing limit until January 2025

• Imposes stricter work requirements for some food stamp and welfare recipients

• Claws back some IRS funding and unspent coronavirus relief money

• Speeds up permits on new energy projects including a controversial gas pipeline across Virginia & West Virginia

• Officially ends President Biden’s student loan repayment freeze

• More Details Here

HANDS OFF
Social Security, Medicare, and Defense remain the nation’s largest expenses and budget cuts to all 3 were off limits in this deal. Spending for these categories added up to $4.9 trillion, or a staggering 77%, of last year’s budget.

REACTION

Speaker Kevin McCarthy: “This is fabulous. This is one of the best nights I’ve ever been here…Is it everything I wanted? No. But sitting with one House, with a Democratic Senate and a Democratic president…I think we did pretty dang good for the American public.”

Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries: “I’m going to support the legislation…not because it’s perfect, but in divided government, we, of course, cannot allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good.”

SOME CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICANS ARE NOT PLEASED
A significant number of House Republicans — including a number who stood by McCarthy’s side during the tumultuous Speakership vote — are not happy with his deal and think he should have demanded more spending cuts. Some tried to unsuccessfully derail the vote.

Rep Nancy Mace (R-SC): “I’m voting NO on the debt ceiling debacle because playing the DC game isn’t worth selling out our kids and grandkids.”

PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATS ARE ALSO UNHAPPY
A number of the most liberal Democrats are unhappy with several of the bill’s stipulations, and think Biden gave up too much on work requirements and spending cuts:

Progressive Caucus Chair Rep Pramila Jayapal (D-WA): “There will be real harmful impacts for poor people and working people… [several members have] serious concerns about the environmental justice implications of this bill.”

See how your representative voted via the Washington Post

STUDENT LOAN PAYMENTS
The deal will also require approximately 43 million Americans to resume their student loan payments, which have been on pause since the pandemic’s start in March 2020. That pause has cost the government an estimated $5 billion every month in lost revenue.

⏳ SPEED READ

📌 Former VP Mike Pence and former NJ Governor Chris Christie to launch 2024 bids next week. That would bring the GOP field up to 9 candidates. (WASHINGTON POST)

📌 The Sackler family, the billionaire owners of Purdue Pharma, will receive full immunity from all legal claims over their role in the company’s prescription opioids business (NEW YORK TIMES)

📌 Suspected Chinese spies, disguised as tourists, tried to infiltrate Alaskan military bases (USA TODAY)

📌 NASA held its first public meeting on UFOs Wednesday a year after launching a study into unexplained sightings. Tldr: They can’t explain everything they are seeing. (WALL STEET JOURNAL)

📌 CEOs got smaller raises. It would still take a typical worker two lifetimes to make their annual pay (AP)

📌 Seattle 8th grader gets "banh mi" right to advance in national spelling bee (AXIOS)

📌 Fans report experiencing signs of amnesia after Taylor Swift concert (DAILY MAIL)

📌 Twitter Is now worth just 33% of Elon Musk’s purchase price (YAHOO! FINANCE)

📌 Elon Musk lavished with high praise and feasts like a king in a surprise visit to China – but he’s not the only CEO there (INSIDER)

📌 Fueled by AI, Nvidia joins short list of companies with $1 trillion valuations (CNN BUSINESS)

📌 Seaweed washing up on Florida’s coasts could contain flesh-eating bacteria (NEWS4JAX)

📌 Tennis superstar Novak Djokovic gets a warning for spreading political messages at the French Open following his call to end the violence in Kosovo (FOX NEWS)

📌 Where are all those food delivery fees going? Washington Post tested three apps to find out (WASHINGTON POST)

🗓 ON THIS DAY: JUNE 1

• 1869: Thomas Edison patented his very first invention: an electric voting machine for Congress

• 1989: Disney World’s “Typhoon Lagoon” opened

• 1980: The debut of CNN. Ted Turner’s Cable News Network began 24-hour live news broadcasts on this day 43 years ago

• 1990: U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev sign a historic agreement to end production of chemical weapons

• 1991: ‘Salute Your Shorts’ premieres as a regular weekly series on Nickelodeon

• 1999: Napster launches as a peer-to-peer file sharing platform