Evening Briefing: The U.S. hit its debt limit

January 19, 2023

By Matthew Cullen

Good evening. Here's the latest at the end of Thursday.

In a letter, the Treasury secretary asked Congress to raise or suspend the debt cap.Kenny Holston/The New York Times

1. The U.S. hit its borrowing limit, setting up a bitter political fight.

The Treasury Department announced today that it began using a series of accounting maneuvers to ensure that the federal government can keep paying its bills after the country reached its $31.4 trillion debt cap. Treasury officials said the tactics would allow the U.S. to meet its financial obligations until early June, after which Congress would need to raise the limit to avoid a default on U.S. debt. Such a scenario would be economically devastating and could plunge the globe into a financial crisis.

Newly empowered House Republicans have vowed that they will not raise the borrowing limit again unless President Biden agrees to steep cuts in federal spending, while the White House has said it will not negotiate conditions for a debt-limit increase.

For individual investors, it's worth preparing for the possibility that the U.S. could breach its debt ceiling, our markets columnist writes.

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The Stryker is a medium-weight, eight-wheeled armored vehicle that can carry troops and weapons.Andreea Campeanu/Getty Images

2. The U.S. will ship more weapons to Ukraine, seeking to break through Russian defenses.

The U.S. plans to send nearly 100 Stryker combat vehicles as part of a roughly $2.5 billion shipment of arms and equipment that is expected to be announced at a meeting of allies in Germany tomorrow, according to U.S. officials.

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The decision comes just days after the U.S., Britain, France and Germany have committed to providing Ukraine with powerful weapons in an attempt to take advantage of a narrow window before an anticipated Russian offensive in the spring.

In other news from the war, Russia's Wagner private military company claimed to have captured the village of Klishchiivka, a Ukrainian stronghold near the key city of Bakhmut.

Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand's prime minister, in November 2022.Luong Thai Linh/EPA, via Shutterstock

3. New Zealand's prime minister announced her resignation, shocking the country and the world.

Jacinda Ardern, who became a global liberal icon for her compassionate leadership after the Christchurch massacre and her management during the coronavirus crisis, said in a tearful speech that she did not she did not feel personally prepared to complete another term. She will leave office by Feb. 7.

"I know what this job takes, and I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice," she said. "It is that simple."

In a country where Covid restrictions lingered, hurting the economy and fueling conspiracy theories, Ardern struggled to get beyond her association with pandemic policy. Her party has dropped sharply in the polls, falling well behind the center-right National Party.

In other international news, hundreds of thousands of workers across France went on strike to protest President Emmanuel Macron's plans to raise the age of retirement to 64 from 62.

"Someone is responsible for what happened," Alec Baldwin said. "But I know it's not me."Pool photo by Alex Tabak

4. Alec Baldwin will be charged with involuntary manslaughter in the "Rust" film shooting.

Prosecutors in New Mexico said that Baldwin, the actor who was handling the gun that discharged on the film set, killing its cinematographer, had a duty to ensure that the gun and the ammunition had been properly checked and that he should never have pointed it at anyone. The movie's armorer, who loaded the gun, with also be charged with involuntary manslaughter.

The decision to file criminal charges comes 15 months after the fatal shooting in October 2021, when Baldwin was drawing an old-fashioned revolver for a close-up camera angle. He has denied culpability for the shooting, saying that he had been told the weapon did not contain live ammunition and that he had no duty to check it.

Opponents of abortion gathered for the March for Life along the National Mall in Washington last year.Kenny Holston for The New York Times

5. On the eve of Roe v. Wade's 50th anniversary, abortion opponents reach a crossroads.

For half a century, anti-abortion activists have participated in the March for Life, taking to the streets of Washington to demand an overturning of the Supreme Court's landmark 1973 ruling. Tomorrow they will return, but now that Roe v. Wade has fallen, their objectives are not so clear.

Some abortion opponents want to focus on pushing more stringent restrictions now that states are able to essentially ban the procedure, while others prefer to focus on bolstering the social safety net for parents and families.

In other politics news, support for Donald Trump is wavering among the nation's evangelical leaders, who provided crucial backing in his ascent to the White House.

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Adam Maida

6. The Supreme Court is poised to reconsider two crucial tenets of online speech.

The first is whether online platforms should have the power to decide what to keep posted and what to take down, free from government oversight. The second is whether websites cannot be held legally responsible for most of what their users post online.

The nation's top justices are set to discuss whether to hear the first of the cases tomorrow. A decision could lead to the most significant reset of the doctrines governing online speech since U.S. officials and courts decided to apply relatively few regulations to the web in the 1990s.

In other news from the Supreme Court, an internal investigation was unable to identify the person who leaked a draft of the opinion overturning Roe v. Wade.

Kenneth Roth, the former director of Human Rights Watch, in New York last April.Todd Heisler/The New York Times

7. In a reversal, Harvard will now offer a fellowship to a candidate who has criticized Israel.

Two weeks ago, The Nation reported that the dean of the Harvard Kennedy School had vetoed a proposal last summer to offer a fellowship to Kenneth Roth, the former head of Human Rights Watch, because of his criticism of Israel. Today, the university reversed it's initial decision, which the dean called an "error."

The about-face came after a public outcry from students, faculty and alumni over questions of academic freedom, donor influence and the boundaries of criticism of Israel.

In other education news, Florida will not allow a new Advanced Placement course on African American studies to be offered in its high schools, saying that the course content "significantly lacks educational value."

Phil Mickelson is one of LIV Golf's top stars.Seth Wenig/Associated Press

8. LIV Golf, a Saudi-backed golf tour, signed a TV deal — making it more difficult to dismiss.

The new circuit, which is bankrolled by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, and which poached many of the PGA Tour's biggest stars last year, announced today that it will broadcast its tournaments on the CW network beginning next month.

The deal is a steppingstone for LIV to reach a broader audience, but it also underscores the challenges any alternative league faces in gaining entry into the American sports market. The agreement is also a reprieve for LIV. For months skeptics criticized the new tour for its absence of a television deal and its limited attendance at tournaments.

Madonna dancing at DiscOasis in Central Park in August.Gotham/Getty Images

9. Madonna will never go gently. Why would we even want her to?

This week the 64-year-old singer announced her 12th world tour — a spin across 40 cities and through four decades of hits, entitled "Celebration" — proving yet again that she's nowhere near ready to stop being her daring self.

Madonna has always danced on the edge of absurdity and self-caricature, our critic Vanessa Friedman writes, not so much a train wreck as the train that wrecks the stasis of smothering politesse. "Why should it be any different just because she's reached Social Security age?" Friedman asks.

In other arts news, "All Quiet on the Western Front," a German-language movie adapted from a classic World War I novel, emerged as the surprise front-runner at the British Academy Film Awards, Britain's equivalent of the Oscars. Here's our review of the film.

Beth Hoeckel

10. And finally, don't believe all of the "nutrition facts" you've been told.

Many Americans believe that plant milk is healthier than dairy milk. Others have suggested that vegans and vegetarians are deficient in protein. Neither is true.

Those are just two of the lingering nutrition myths that some of the country's leading authorities told us they wish would go away. Take a look at others — and learn what to avoid when listening to nutritional advice.

Have a legit night.

Brent Lewis and Elizabeth Bristow compiled photos for this briefing.

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