Time’s running out to avert the debt ceiling crisis

Biden and McCarthy hold second face-to-face debt ceiling talks; Kyiv repels massive Russian missile strikes.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Jariel Arvin.

What to know about the latest debt ceiling talks 

Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

• President Joe Biden met Tuesday with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and congressional leaders on raising the $31.4 trillion US debt ceiling. [New York Times]
• Time is running out to cut a deal: The US Treasury warns the government could default on its debt as soon as June 1, pushing the economy into a deep recession. [ABC News]
• Republicans want Democrats to agree to additional work requirements for low-income Americans receiving food and cash assistance and spending cuts in exchange for lifting the US borrowing limit. [Reuters / Nandita Bose and David Morgan]
• Biden insists on a clean debt increase with separate budget talks, but both parties may agree on clawing back billions in untapped Covid-19 funding. [Slate / Jim Newell]
• Biden planned to visit Australia and Papua New Guinea after this week’s G7 meeting in Japan, but will cut his trip short to continue debt ceiling negotiations. [Associated Press]

Russian missile barrage targets Kyiv

• Tuesday, Russia launched a massive airstrike on locations in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, injuring three people. [AP / Samya Kullab]
• The attack marks Moscow’s eighth strike on Kyiv this month as Russia increases pressure on Ukraine ahead of an expected counteroffensive. [BBC / Hugo Bachega and Kathryn Armstrong]
• Ukraine says it also shot down six hypersonic Kinzhal missiles that Russian President Vladimir Putin once claimed could counter NATO. [Reuters / Gleb Garanich and Sergiy Karazy]
• Meanwhile, US officials are checking a Patriot missile defense system for damage from the strikes. If the system needs repairs, it could hinder Kyiv’s ability to defend itself. [CNN / Natasha Bertrand and Oren Liebermann]

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Tuesday, Kentucky Republican primary voters will choose a candidate in the heated race to challenge Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear. [Vox / Ben Jacobs]

• Nearly 200,000 are displaced in central Somalia after heavy rains caused major flooding that inundated towns and farms. [AP / Omar Faruk]
• A Missouri high school suspended a student for three days for recording a teacher using a racial slur in violation of its phone policy. The unnamed teacher is on paid administrative leave. [Guardian]
• The US Virgin Islands subpoenaed Tesla CEO Elon Musk for documents in its lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase over Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking ring. [CNBC / Dan Mangan]

“I’m very concerned about any efforts to just tangle aid recipients in red tape in the hope that they will be choked to death rather than get the help they need.”

[Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) on additional work requirements to lift the debt ceiling / Politico]

The new border crisis

Title 42, a Covid-era policy that included strict limits on migration into the US from Mexico, has expired. El Paso Times reporter Lauren Villagran explains what that means for both the border communities and the far-flung cities feeling the brunt of border politics.

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