The House GOP’s draconian debt ceiling bill

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The House GOP narrowly passes debt ceiling bill; the world's oceans warm at an alarming rate.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Jariel Arvin.

McCarthy’s (temporary) debt ceiling victory

 Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images

• On Wednesday, House Republicans passed legislation that would lift the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion through next March in exchange for deep spending cuts. [Vox / Li Zhou]
• 217 Republicans approved the measure, while four voted against it, handing a victory to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The measure has no chance of becoming law with Democrats in control of the Senate, but Republicans hope it will force Biden to negotiate. [NBC News / Scott Wong, Sahil Kapur, and Alexandra Bacallao]
• The GOP bill would restrict federal spending to 2022 levels, rescind Biden’s student loan forgiveness program, and eliminate renewable energy tax breaks among other measures. [Associated Press / Lisa Mascaro and Kevin Freking]
• To gain support from Republican holdouts, McCarthy amended the legislation to include biofuel tax credits and stricter work requirements for people receiving government assistance from programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. [The Hill / Aris Folley and Mychael Schnell]
• Democrats want Republicans to agree to a clean debt ceiling increase to keep the government paying its bills like Congress did three times during the Trump Administration. [Reuters / David Morgan and Richard Cowan]
• Since the US reached its $31.4 trillion debt limit in January, the Treasury Department has used “extraordinary measures” to keep the country from defaulting on its loans. Those efforts could run out this summer, which could have catastrophic impacts on the global economy. [Washington Post / Tony Romm, Marianna Sotomayor, and Leigh Ann Caldwell]

📍 If you read just one story

Vox’s Li Zhou explains why the US is always at risk of defaulting on its loans. [Vox / Li Zhou]

Rapid ocean warming alarms scientists

• The world’s oceans have broken temperature records in recent weeks, worrying scientists who fear the warming could accelerate the climate crisis. [Guardian / Fiona Harvey]
• In March, the average global sea surface temperature hit 69.8 degrees Fahrenheit for the first time since 1981, when satellite records began. [The Conversation / Moninya Roughan]
• Hotter ocean temperatures can destroy marine ecosystems, generate more extreme weather, increase sea level rise, and fuel atmospheric warming. [BBC / Matt McGrath and Mark Poynting]
• Some experts blame the warming on human activities and the return of El Niño, a natural Pacific weather event that changes global weather patterns. Others say the warmer temperatures are highly unusual and will take time to understand. [AP / Seth Borenstein]

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Two days after Fox News fired him — reportedly for making disparaging remarks about women, fostering a toxic workplace culture, and other issues — Tucker Carlson broke his silence. [Vox / Sara Morrison and Aja Romano]

• The Iranian Navy on Wednesday seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman

   

  The Iranian Navy on Wednesday seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman as the ship headed for Houston, Texas. [AP / Jon Gambrell]

  On Thursday, writer E. Jean Carroll completed her testimony in her rape and defamation civil lawsuit against former President Donald Trump. [Vox / Li Zhou]

  The Writers Guild of America, which represents Hollywood screenwriters, is proposing curbs to using artificial intelligence. [Vox / Alissa Wilkinson]

   

  as the ship headed for Houston, Texas. [AP / Jon Gambrell]
• On Thursday, writer E. Jean Carroll completed her testimony in her rape and defamation civil lawsuit against former President Donald Trump. [Vox / Li Zhou]
• The Writers Guild of America, which represents Hollywood screenwriters, is proposing curbs to using artificial intelligence. [Vox / Alissa Wilkinson]

“It now demonstrates that we can govern even with a five member majority, and there’s been so much criticism that we couldn’t do this. We’ve proved to the country that we can govern.”

[Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) on the GOP’s debt ceiling vote / Reuters]

We can’t truly switch to renewable energy without a breakthrough in storage. These are the genius plans experts and engineers have come up with for storing solar and wind energy.  [YouTube]

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