{"id":552641,"date":"2023-02-16T14:25:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-16T11:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/the-hills-morning-report-default-warning-by-summer-rekindles-debt-debate\/"},"modified":"2023-08-22T17:11:50","modified_gmt":"2023-08-22T14:11:50","slug":"the-hills-morning-report-default-warning-by-summer-rekindles-debt-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-hills-morning-report-default-warning-by-summer-rekindles-debt-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"#The Hill\u2019s Morning Report \u2014 Default warning by summer rekindles debt debate"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FILE \u2013 The Treasury Department is seen near sunset in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023. Lessons learned from the debt ceiling standoff more than a decade ago are rippling through Washington. Back in 2011 the debate around raising the debt ceiling was eerily familiar. Newly elected House Republicans were eager to confront the Democratic president and force spending cuts. (AP Photo\/Jon Elswick, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Editor\u2019s note:<\/strong>\u00a0The Hill\u2019s Morning Report is our daily news<\/a>letter that dives deep into Washington\u2019s agenda. To subscribe,\u00a0click here<\/a>\u00a0or fill out the box below.<\/em><\/p>\n

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The U.S. could default on its debt between July and September, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office\u00a0warned on Wednesday<\/a>, adding new specificity to a partisan impasse that could harm the economy even before summer (The New York Times<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Adding to the battle over budgeting and the statutory debt ceiling, the United States is on track to add $19 trillion in new debt over 10 years, in part because of rising inflation and bipartisan spending bills now in law, according to the CBO (The New York Times<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Federal debt held by the public is projected to rise from 98 percent of gross domestic product this year to 118 percent by 2033 \u2014 an average increase of 2 percentage points per year,\u00a0according to projections<\/a>. To many lawmakers and economists, it\u2019s an unsustainable path.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/em>Over the long term, our projections suggest that changes in fiscal policy must be made to address the rising costs of interest and mitigate other adverse consequences of high and rising debt,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0concluded CBO Director\u00a0Phillip Swagel<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

House and Senate Republicans, looking ahead to next year\u2019s elections and worries about economic unknowns, tell voters that now is the time to rein in federal spending. But under political pressure, they\u2019ve vowed not to cut Social<\/a> Security and Medicare, and some conservatives have backed away from cutting defense spending, which means major drivers of accumulated debt were swept off the negotiating table.<\/p>\n

President Biden<\/strong>\u00a0and Democratic lawmakers say policies they\u2019ve enacted succeeded in trimming the deficit during the past two years by more than $1.7 trillion, which the president hails as \u201cthe largest deficit reduction in American history.\u201d The president will send Congress his proposed budget for fiscal 2024 on March 9.<\/p>\n

The U.S. economy will barely grow this year after adjusting for inflation, the CBO forecast. The unemployment rate, which was 3.4 percent in January, will rise above 5 percent before growth reaccelerates next year, according to the economic projections. The CBO attributes the slowdown in growth to the Federal Reserve\u2019s drive to tame inflation by\u00a0raising interest rates<\/a>\u00a0in order to cool the economy and the labor market.<\/p>\n

Biden used his State of the Union address and two speeches this week to tell voters that laws enacted since 2021 that House Republicans propose to repeal would raise, not lower, deficits and debt. With a Democratic majority in the Senate, none of the House GOP initiatives Biden has criticized would be expected to end up on his desk.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI don\u2019t understand my Republican friends don\u2019t quite get this,\u201d<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0Biden said on Wednesday during an event in Lanham, Md.\u00a0\u201cBringing down the cost of prescript<\/a>ion drugs isn\u2019t just fair. It saves seniors a lot of money. But here\u2019s what else it will do. It will cut the federal deficit, saving taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars over time.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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As\u00a0The Hill\u2019s Alex Gangitano reports, the White House asserts that if Republicans got their way and repealed provisions of the law that lowered prices for many prescription drugs for seniors, it would add $159 billion to the debt. The administration says tax increases on corporations that are backed by Democrats would mean more federal revenues and a $296 billion reduction in debt. Republicans oppose tax increases on corporations and wealthy individuals.<\/p>\n

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Related Articles<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0<\/strong>CNBC<\/strong><\/a>: Retail sales jumped 3 percent in January, smashing expectations despite inflation jump.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0<\/strong>The New Yorker<\/strong><\/a>: Former White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain looks back on Biden\u2019s first two years as president.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0<\/strong>Washington Monthly<\/strong><\/a>: It\u2019s Clarence Thomas\u2019s Supreme Court \u2014 and lower courts are saluting him.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

LEADING THE DAY<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u27a4 ADMINISTRATION\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lines of communication between Biden and Chinese President\u00a0Xi Jinping<\/strong>\u00a0are in flux amid the fallout from U.S. revelations of a global Chinese balloon surveillance program and the scrambling of fighter jets to take down unidentified flying objects over the U.S. and Canada.\u00a0As The Hill\u2019s Alex Gangitano and Laura Kelly report, Biden has yet to address the nation on what his administration knows about the threat posed from China, and U.S. officials have dismissed questions over whether the president will speak with Xi, their last face-to-face occurring in November on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Indonesia.<\/p>\n

U.S. officials now suspect that the balloon was sent to spy on bases in Guam and Hawaii and that other downed objects were not surveillance machines,\u00a0The New York Times reports<\/a>, highlighting how Washington\u2019s evolving view of the situation has heightened the difficulties facing the U.S. and China in discerning each other\u2019s intentions.<\/p>\n

Biden is considering speaking publicly as early as today about the recent downing of aerial objects and is expected to describe new rules that would deal with future such situations (NBC News<\/a>). Next week he\u2019ll be in Poland to mark the anniversary of Ukraine\u2019s persistent defenses against Russia\u2019s invasion (Bloomberg News<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Secretary of State\u00a0Antony Blinken<\/strong>, meanwhile, departs for a week of meetings in Germany, Turkey and Greece. He\u2019ll attend the Munich Security Conference alongside\u00a0Vice President Harris<\/strong>, who arrived in Germany today. Blinken may meet top Chinese foreign policy official\u00a0Wang Yi<\/strong>\u00a0while at the conference; no meeting has been confirmed (The Washington Post<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Politico<\/a>: Harris on China balloon episode: \u201cI don\u2019t think it impacts our relations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Secretary of Defense\u00a0Lloyd Austin<\/strong>\u00a0on Wednesday\u00a0told \u201cNBC Nightly News\u201d<\/a>\u00a0that no one had yet claimed ownership over the most recent objects.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, they haven\u2019t. No. \u2026 There are rules that people should follow, and if you\u2019re going to want something that\u2019s operating in those spaces, the FAA should be notified and permission should be requested. But to answer your question, nobody\u2019s claimed,\u201d\u00a0<\/em>Austin said.\u00a0\u201cWe typically are focused on things that are moving fast and so it\u2019s a bit more difficult to collect on slow moving objects like a balloon, and as they made adjustments, they were able to see some of that.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The balloon\u2019s discovery has forced a recalibration in how the military monitors, tracks and responds to threats from above,\u00a0writes The Hill\u2019s Brad Dress. The Defense Department said that after the alleged Chinese spy balloon flew over much of the U.S. earlier this month before it was shot down, it began paying closer attention to lower-altitude flying objects.<\/p>\n

After the Biden administration announced this week an interagency task force to investigate the UFOs, National Security Council spokesman\u00a0John Kirby<\/strong>\u00a0said one of the team\u2019s new tasks will be to examine how it will respond to the aerial objects.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to learn from these three events,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0Kirby said.\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re going to have an interagency effort that helps us get around the policy implications here.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Advocates are warning of worsening conditions at immigration detention centers, even after official internal investigations shed light on past infractions,\u00a0writes The Hill\u2019s Rafael Bernal. One facility, the Torrance County Detention Facility in Estancia, N.M., received such poor marks in a September 2022 inspection that the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General<\/a>\u00a0\u201crecommended, and continue[s] to recommend, the immediate relocation of all Torrance detainees unless and until the facility ensures adequate staffing and appropriate living conditions.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

That report followed a March 2022 \u201cmanagement alert\u201d by DHS Inspector General\u00a0Joseph Cuffari<\/strong>, who recommended\u00a0\u201cthat detainees should be immediately removed from this facility.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0But an investigation conducted by Innovation Law Lab at the facility between January and February 2023 found\u00a0\u201cthe men are subjected to conditions worse than those that formed the basis for the DHS Office of the Inspector General\u2019s recommendation to end operations at Torrance in March 2022.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0The Tacoma News Tribune<\/a>: How are chemical agents used at the immigration detention center on the Tacoma, Wash., Tideflats?<\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0Bloomberg Government<\/a>: Immigrant detention center flagged for \u201cdilapidated\u201d conditions.<\/p>\n

Progressives want \u201cmiddle class Joe\u201d to find a worker-friendly Labor secretary to replace\u00a0Marty Walsh<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 but they say it may take some nudging to get there.\u00a0As The Hill\u2019s Hanna Trudo reports, progressive lawmakers and advocates have appreciated Biden\u2019s decisions on labor, and with Walsh\u2019s expected exit, they want the president to select someone who can move their agenda ever further to the left. But some worry he may turn to former Rep.\u00a0Sean Patrick Maloney<\/strong>\u00a0(D-N.Y.), a centrist and one of their biggest rivals who has former Speaker\u00a0Nancy Pelosi\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0(D-Calif.) blessing.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan you imagine? Why would they do that?\u201d<\/em>\u00a0said one nervous Democratic strategist about Maloney.\u00a0\u201cI don\u2019t think they\u2019ll do it. But stranger things have happened.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The Hill: Biden\u2019s IRS nominee draws heat \u2014 and some support \u2014 from GOP senators.<\/p>\n

\u27a4 POLITICS<\/strong><\/p>\n

California<\/strong>: The campaign of Rep.\u00a0Barbara Lee<\/strong>\u00a0(D-Calif.) filed with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday to compete in an increasingly crowded field for a Senate seat following Tuesday\u2019s retirement announcement by 89-year-old Sen.\u00a0Dianne Feinstein<\/strong>\u00a0(D-Calif.).<\/p>\n

Lee has not made a formal campaign announcement. Democratic California Reps.\u00a0Katie Porter<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Adam Schiff<\/strong>\u00a0announced their respective plans to compete for the seat weeks before Feinstein\u2019s retirement announcement (The Hill).<\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0The New York Times<\/a>: Senate race in California reflects fight for Democrats\u2019 future.<\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0Politico<\/a>: West Virginia Gov.\u00a0Jim Justice<\/strong>\u00a0(R) is the strongest candidate against Sen.\u00a0Joe Manchin<\/strong>\u00a0(D-W.Va.), GOP poll says.<\/p>\n

Nikki Haley<\/strong>, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and South Carolina governor, on Wednesday formally announced her candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination. At an event in Charleston, S.C., Haley launched her 2024 White House race by calling for a new path in American politics \u2014 one that likely sets her on a collision course with her erstwhile boss, former\u00a0President Trump<\/strong>\u00a0(The Post and Courier<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re ready, ready to move past the stale ideas and faded names of the past, and we\u2019re ready for a new generation to lead us into the future,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0Haley said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

After her kickoff, Trump\u2019s campaign criticized Haley as a flip-flopper who at one time supported former Speaker\u00a0Paul Ryan\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0(R-Wis.) idea of entitlement vouchers (Washington Examiner<\/a>). Trump himself\u00a0took a dig\u00a0at his former Cabinet member but said the\u00a0\u201cmore the merrier\u201d<\/em>\u00a0in the 2024 race (Fox News<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0The Hill: Haley calls for \u201cmental competency tests\u201d for politicians over 75.<\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0The New York Times<\/a>: The former president\u2019s Republican rivals appear highly reluctant to criticize him, and Haley mostly tiptoed around him as she jumped into the race this week.<\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0Politico<\/a>: Haley looks to move past Trump with a style that predates him.<\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0The Wall Street Journal<\/a>: Trump changes tune on mail-in voting, ballot collection.<\/p>\n

Republican lawmakers are wary of their party\u2019s propensity for scoring own goals or self-inflicted wounds and are hoping for more discipline heading into the next election cycle,\u00a0writes The Hill\u2019s Alexander Bolton. Leading Republicans think that the House GOP\u2019s raucous reception of Biden played into the president\u2019s hands and that the proposal by Sen.\u00a0Rick Scott<\/strong>\u00a0(R-Fla.) to sunset Medicare and Social Security and a comment last week by Sen.\u00a0Ron Johnson<\/strong>\u00a0(R-Wis.) calling Social Security a \u201cPonzi scheme\u201d are political gifts to Democrats.<\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0Washington Monthly<\/a>: Why does Florida Gov.\u00a0Ron DeSantis<\/strong>\u00a0(R) seek to \u201cfix\u201d a high-ranking college?<\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0Politico<\/a>: Former\u00a0Vice President Mike<\/strong>\u00a0Pence<\/strong>\u00a0moves to claim culture war lane before DeSantis gets there.<\/p>\n

\u27a4<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>CONGRESS\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

House lawmakers are away from Washington this week, and Speaker\u00a0Kevin McCarthy<\/strong>\u00a0(R-Calif.) is on the road and in the air. Today he\u2019ll take aim at Biden and Democrats with a visit to the U.S. southern border with colleagues, arguing the situation is in \u201ccrisis.\u201d They\u2019ll get an aerial tour from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and fly over the Tucson area in Cochise County, Ariz. Proposed legislative changes to immigration and border policies are splintering House Republicans (The Hill).<\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0Time<\/a>: Sen.\u00a0Elizabeth Warren<\/strong>\u00a0(D-Mass.) called on Senate Majority Leader\u00a0Charles Schumer<\/strong>\u00a0(D-N.Y.) and Transportation Secretary\u00a0Pete Buttigieg<\/strong>\u00a0to help Washington get tougher on monopolies.<\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0Axios<\/a>: Israeli Prime Minister\u00a0Benjamin Netanyahu<\/strong>\u00a0has dialed the numbers of influential Americans as his government debates proposed judicial reforms amid public protests. Netanyahu this month called former Treasury Secretary\u00a0Larry Summers<\/strong>, an economist, for advice about\u00a0calming business jitters<\/a>, and Schumer and Senate colleagues plan to travel<\/a> to Israel next week to meet with the prime minister and other officials.<\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0NBC News<\/a>: The Justice Department ended a sex trafficking investigation into Rep.\u00a0Matt Gaetz<\/strong>\u00a0(R-Fla.) without bringing charges, his attorneys and congressional office said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

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IN FOCUS\/SHARP TAKES<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u27a4<\/strong>\u00a0INTERNATIONAL<\/strong><\/p>\n

Russia<\/strong>\u00a0has deployed nearly its entire army in\u00a0Ukraine<\/strong>, increasing pressure along the front line in the east of the country but falling short of a breakthrough, according to\u00a0British<\/strong>\u00a0officials. While Ukrainian officials have warned of a renewed Russian onslaught to coincide with the first anniversary of Moscow\u2019s invasion next week, some Western authorities say the offensive is unlikely to be one single event. Russian forces have redoubled attacks along the front lines in recent weeks, eking out gains after a series<\/a> of reversals last year (The Wall Street Journal<\/a>).<\/p>\n

But weeks of failed attacks on a Ukrainian stronghold have left two Russian brigades in tatters, raised questions about Moscow\u2019s military tactics and renewed doubts about its ability to maintain sustained, large-scale ground assaults (The New York Times<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0BBC<\/a>:\u00a0Nicola Sturgeon<\/strong>\u00a0resigns:\u00a0Scotland\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0first minister says politics has taken its toll.<\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0NPR<\/a>: Sturgeon will resign, complicating the Scottish independence movement.<\/p>\n

A verdant olive grove was cleaved into two during last week\u2019s devastating earthquake in\u00a0Turkey<\/strong>, creating a valley over 980 feet long that now divides the area. Remarkable footage of the split olive grove has emerged from Turkey\u2019s southeast Alt\u0131nozu district, which borders\u00a0Syria<\/strong>, showing a jagged, sandy-colored, canyon-like chasm. The cleavage reaches over 130 feet deep.<\/p>\n

Its creation is another show of the devastating power of last week\u2019s magnitude 7.8 quake, which killed tens of thousands of people in Syria and Turkey and destroyed entire city blocks (CNN<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0BBC<\/a>: Women pulled alive from Turkey quake debris nine days on.<\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0The Washington Post<\/a>: Rising seas risk climate migration on \u201cbiblical scale,\u201d says United Nations chief.<\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0Miami Herald<\/a>: Suspect in assassination of\u00a0Haiti<\/strong>\u00a0president tried to get FBI involved in \u201cregime change\u201d plot.<\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0Foreign Policy<\/a>:\u00a0Pakistan\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0government is choosing extremist Islam over economic stability.<\/p>\n

\u27a4<\/strong>\u00a0STATE WATCH<\/strong><\/p>\n

Questions linger around the derailment and explosion of a train carrying hazardous chemicals in\u00a0Ohio<\/strong>\u00a0among locals and environmentalists, who worry the Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s response has been insufficient and confusing,\u00a0writes The Hill\u2019s Zack Budryk. On Feb. 3, a freight train owned by the Norfolk Southern railroad and carrying 14 cars of vinyl chloride derailed in the town on the border with\u00a0Pennsylvania<\/strong>. Two days later, Ohio Gov.\u00a0Mike DeWine<\/strong>\u00a0(R) ordered the town evacuated.\u00a0\u201cOhio EPA is confident that the municipal water is safe to drink<\/em>,\u201d the state said in a Wednesday statement after receiving test results of water used in East Palestine (The Hill). However, at a Tuesday news conference, Ohio Health Director\u00a0Bruce Vanderhoff<\/strong>\u00a0advised residents to drink bottled water \u201cfor right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The federal agency has now sent a letter to Norfolk Southern informing the company it may be responsible for cleanup under the federal \u201cSuperfund\u201d law, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act.\u00a0\u201cEPA has spent, or is considering spending, public funds to investigate and control releases of hazardous substances or potential releases of hazardous substances at the Site,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0the agency wrote.<\/p>\n

City officials and residents of East Palestine attended a town hall meeting Wednesday evening to discuss the ongoing cleanup efforts following a train derailment on Feb. 3, but Norfolk Southern said its representatives will not attend due to the \u201cgrowing physical threat\u201d to employees (News 5 Cleveland<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0CNN<\/a>: National Transportation Safety Board says videos of the Ohio train derailment include one showing wheel bearing in \u201cfinal stage of overheat failure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0Fox News<\/a>: Rep.\u00a0Bill Johnson<\/strong>\u00a0(R-Ohio), who represents East Palestine, urged Buttigieg on Wednesday via tweet to attend the evening town hall meeting.<\/p>\n

The gunman who killed 10 people and injured three others in a racist mass shooting at a Buffalo,\u00a0N.Y.<\/strong>, supermarket last year was sentenced on Wednesday to life in prison without parole. He also faces separate federal charges that could carry a death sentence if the Justice Department chooses to seek it. His defense attorney said in December that his client is prepared to plead guilty in federal court as well to avoid execution.\u00a0Payton Gendron<\/strong>, a white supremacist from Conklin, N.Y., who was 18 years old at the time of the massacre, received life in prison after pleading guilty in November to all state charges brought against him (CBS News<\/a>).<\/p>\n

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OPINION<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u25a0 Four reasons why Democrats aren\u2019t lining up to run against Biden,<\/strong>\u00a0by Perry Bacon Jr., columnist, The Washington Post.\u00a0https:\/\/wapo.st\/3E9u6ed<\/a><\/p>\n

\u25a0 Japan is muscling up and locking arms with allies to face China,\u00a0<\/strong>by David Boling, opinion contributor, The Hill.\u00a0\u00a0https:\/\/bit.ly\/3YwX7st<\/a><\/p>\n

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WHERE AND WHEN<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcf2\u00a0Ask<\/strong>\u00a0The Hill<\/strong>: Share a news query tied to an expert journalist\u2019s insights: The Hill launched something new and (we hope) engaging via text with Editor-in-Chief\u00a0Bob Cusack<\/strong>. Learn more and sign up\u00a0HERE.<\/p>\n

The House<\/strong>\u00a0will convene for a pro forma session at 10 a.m. on Friday. McCarthy is in Tucson, Ariz., to lead a congressional delegation for a border tour, followed by a news conference.<\/p>\n

The Senate<\/strong>\u00a0meets at 10 a.m.<\/p>\n

The president\u00a0<\/strong>is scheduled to undergo a routine annual physical examination at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (NBC News<\/a>). The president and first lady\u00a0Jill Biden<\/strong>\u00a0plan to host a screening in the East Room of the film \u201cTill,\u201d about the 1955 murder in Mississippi by two white men of 14-year-old\u00a0Emmett Till,<\/strong>\u00a0and his mother\u2019s Chicago-based campaign for justice (History<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The vice president\u00a0<\/strong>is inGermany to participate in the\u00a0Munich Security Conference.<\/a><\/p>\n

The secretary of State\u00a0<\/strong>is traveling to Germany.<\/p>\n

Attorney General Merrick Garland<\/strong>\u00a0will deliver a speech in St. Louis at 9 a.m. about the Justice Department\u2019s $100 million grant program to support community violence interventions as a complement to law enforcement.<\/p>\n

Economic indicator:<\/strong>\u00a0The Labor Department at 8:30 a.m. will report on claims for unemployment benefits filed during the week ending Feb. 11.<\/p>\n

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff<\/strong>\u00a0will participate in a roundtable discussion focused on global efforts to combat antisemitism at the BBYO International Convention in Dallas at 5 p.m. CT, followed by keynote remarks at 8:40 p.m. CT.<\/p>\n

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem<\/strong>\u00a0(R) will participate in a livestreamed conversation at 11 a.m. ET with Cato senior fellow and surgeon\u00a0Jeffrey Singer<\/strong>\u00a0to discuss the federal government, health care and the pandemic. Information\u00a0HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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ELSEWHERE<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u27a4<\/strong>\u00a0TECH<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the most important sentence to read this morning about the future and artificial intelligence, courtesy of\u00a0The New York Times<\/a>. As a tech journalist concluded after experiencing Microsoft\u2019s new Bing search engine chatbot:\u00a0\u201cI worry that the technology<\/a> will learn how to influence human users, sometimes persuading them to act in destructive and harmful ways, and perhaps eventually grow capable of carrying out its own dangerous acts.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0The Verge<\/a>: These are Microsoft\u2019s Bing AI secret rules and why it says it\u2019s named Sydney.<\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0Rolling Stone<\/a>: AI chatbots are running amok \u2014 and we have no clue how to stop them.<\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0The New York Times \u201cThe Daily\u201d podcast<\/a>: The online search wars.<\/p>\n

\u27a4<\/strong>\u00a0PANDEMIC & HEALTH\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Moderna<\/strong>\u00a0on Wednesday responded to criticism with an announcement that it will continue to supply its\u00a0COVID-19<\/strong>\u00a0vaccination for free for all consumers, including the uninsured, even after the federal government stops underwriting the drug as part of its pandemic response (ABC News<\/a>). The company was reported to be considering charging up to $130 per jab. Sen.\u00a0Bernie Sanders<\/strong>\u00a0(I-Vt.) says he wants Moderna\u2019s chief executive to testify before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, which he chairs (The Washington Post<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Many American adults who were hospitalized for COVID-19 experienced lingering symptoms, physical limitations and financial problems six months after being discharged, according to a new study. The study, which looked at more than 800 adults who were hospitalized for COVID-19 between August 2020 and July 2021, found that at the six-month mark, more than 7 in 10 participants reported problems affecting the heart or lungs such as coughing, rapid or irregular heartbeat, and breathlessness. More than half of survivors reported fatigue after half a year (U.S. News<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Nature<\/a>: The World Health Organization abandons plans for a crucial second phase of COVID-19 origins investigation.<\/p>\n

Information about the availability of COVID-19 vaccine and booster shots can be found at\u00a0Vaccines.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the decade before the pandemic, the share of high school students who reported persistent feelings of\u00a0sadness<\/strong>\u00a0or hopelessness increased by 40 percent to more than 1 in 3 students. The pandemic exacerbated this trend, leading the American Academy of Pediatrics to declare a national state of emergency. In 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 44 percent of high school students reported they persistently felt sad or hopeless during the past year.<\/p>\n

Many have theorized about possible interventions, but the vast majority of proposed \u201csolutions\u201d focus on crisis response rather than crisis prevention.\u00a0Time magazine has rounded up<\/a>\u00a0three concrete ways you can help them find purpose and direction in the face of an uncertain future.<\/p>\n

The mosquitoes that transmit\u00a0malaria<\/strong>\u00a0dramatically increased their range over the past century as temperatures warmed, scientists reported in a new paper published in Biology Letters and may explain why malaria\u2019s range has expanded over the past few decades. The results have serious implications for countries that are unprepared to cope with the disease.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this were random, and if it were unrelated to climate, it wouldn\u2019t look as cleanly climate-linked,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0Colin Carlson<\/strong>, a biologist at Georgetown University\u2019s Center for Global Health Science<\/a> and Security and the paper\u2019s lead author,\u00a0told The New York Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0The Wall Street Journal<\/a>: Health startups offer diabetes drugs like Ozempic for weight loss with little oversight.<\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0CNN<\/a>: Study finds link between \u201cfree sugar\u201d intake and cardiovascular disease.<\/p>\n

\u25aa\u00a0The New York Times<\/a>: New research affirms what doctors have long advised: Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day for big health benefits.<\/p>\n

Total U.S. coronavirus deaths<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>reported as of this morning<\/em><\/strong><\/a>,<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0according to Johns Hopkins University (trackers all v<\/em><\/strong>ary slightly): 1,115,638. Current U.S. COVID-19 deaths are 3,171 for the week, according to the<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/em><\/strong><\/a>. (The CDC shifted its tally of available data from daily to weekly, now reported on Fridays.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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THE CLOSER<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Take Our Morning Report Quiz<\/strong><\/p>\n

And finally \u2026<\/em>\u00a0\ud83c\udf88 It\u2019s Thursday, which means it\u2019s time for this week\u2019s\u00a0Morning Report Quiz!<\/strong>\u00a0Inspired by\u00a0aerial orbs<\/strong>, we\u2019re eager for some smart guesses about\u00a0balloons in the headlines and in history<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Be sure to email your responses to\u00a0asimendinger@thehill.com\u00a0and\u00a0kkarisch@thehill.com\u00a0\u2014 please add \u201cQuiz\u201d to your subject line. Winners who submit correct answers will enjoy some richly deserved newsletter fame on Friday.<\/p>\n

The U.S. government knew it was a Chinese balloon spotted publicly over Montana this month because it was marked with the red insignia of the Chinese Communist Party.<\/em><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. True<\/li>\n
  2. False<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Which country during World War II released more than 9,000 balloons carrying incendiary bombs in a failed plan to burn down the enemy\u2019s cities and forests using wind power?<\/em><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Germany<\/li>\n
    2. Japan<\/li>\n
    3. Russia<\/li>\n
    4. United States<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      On Tuesday, a federal grand jury indicted a man and woman for conspiring to use Mylar balloons (and other means) to try to destroy a ring of _____ around Baltimore.<\/em><\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Childcare centers<\/li>\n
      2. Suspected drug dealers<\/li>\n
      3. Pesky geese<\/li>\n
      4. Electrical substations<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Airspace is cluttered with a type of floating surveillance above North America and the Pacific Islands. What government entity operates 92 weather balloon sites (69 in the mainland U.S. and 13 in Alaska)?<\/em><\/p>\n

          \n
        1. NASA<\/li>\n
        2. Federal Aviation Administration<\/li>\n
        3. Defense Department<\/li>\n
        4. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
          \n