US debt ceiling deal narrowly passes senate averting catastrophic federal default | First Thing

Days before the 5 June default deadline, Joe Biden has indicated he will sign the bill as soon as it reaches his desk. Plus, the work of Bruno Pereira and Dom Phillips goes on in the Amazon

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Good morning.

The Senate narrowly passed a bill to suspend the debt ceiling on Thursday night, sending the legislation to Joe Biden's desk and averting a federal default that could have wreaked havoc on the US economy and global markets.

What did Biden say? Tonight senators from both parties voted to protect the hard-earned economic progress we have made and prevent a first-ever default by the United States ... Our work is far from finished, but this agreement is a critical step forward, and a reminder of what's possible when we act in the best interests of our country."

What did Kevin McCarthy get out of the deal? As part of the negotiations over the bill, the Republican House leader successfully pushed for modest government spending cuts and changes to the work requirements for the supplemental nutrition assistance program and the temporary assistance for needy families program. Those changes were deemed insufficient by 31 Republican senators, who echoed the criticism voiced by the 71 House Republicans who had opposed the bill a day earlier.

Why is the the New Start arms control treaty in the news? The US has said it will stop providing Russia with some of the notifications required under the New Start arms control treaty from Thursday, Reuters reports, including updates on its missile and launcher locations, to retaliate for Moscow's ongoing violations" of the accord.