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DC Insight - 6/2/23

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Capitol Hill News

Crisis averted as Senate sends debt limit package to Biden
Roll Call – June 1, 2023
Senators staved off a financial crisis — and a weekend of voting in Washington — on Thursday night when the chamber signed off on a bipartisan deal to suspend the debt limit into 2025, giving the Treasury authority to borrow trillions of dollars more to pay its bills. With only days to spare before a Monday deadline, the Senate cleared for President Joe Biden’s signature a measure that would suspend the statutory $31.4 trillion debt ceiling and impose two years of caps on discretionary spending. The bill also would claw back unspent pandemic aid, redirect some IRS funding for other uses, streamline energy permitting, end a pause on student loan repayments and toughen some work requirements for certain recipients of food stamps and cash assistance.

Federal News

Artificial intelligence raises risk of extinction, experts say in new warning
Associated Press – May 30, 2023
Scientists and tech industry leaders, including high-level executives at Microsoft and Google, issued a new warning Tuesday about the perils that artificial intelligence poses to humankind.

Health Care News

COVID clawback in debt limit deal spurs public health fears
The Hill - June 1, 2023
Public health advocacy groups are sounding the alarm over a provision in the debt ceiling deal to claw back about $27 billion in unspent pandemic relief money, arguing it could have consequences for future public health initiatives.

Higher Education News

The Senate just passed a bill to block student-loan forgiveness and immediately end the payment pause
Business Insider – June 1, 2023
Both chambers of Congress have officially passed a bill to overturn President Joe Biden's student-debt cancellation and throw borrowers back into repayment immediately. On Thursday, the Senate passed a bill — first introduced in March — to overturn Biden's plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt. It would also immediately end the student-loan payment pause, which is currently set to expire 60 days after June 30 or 60 days after the Supreme Court issues a final decision on the legality of Biden's broad debt-relief, whichever happens first.

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Reviewed 2023-06-02