White House pushes for support on debt ceiling deal | First Thing

Some in Congress question if they received enough concessions in bipartisan deal. Plus, Cop28 president accused of ‘greenwashing’

Good morning.

Political leaders appear bullish that they can sell a bipartisan compromise debt ceiling deal to enough centrist lawmakers – overcoming boisterous criticism from left and right – urgently enough to avert a first national default on the $31.4tn the US owes creditors.

What’s in the bill? The proposed legislation bill limits non-defense spending, temporarily expands work requirements for some food stamp recipients, and claws back some Covid-19 relief funds. It also cuts $20bn off $80bn in new IRS spending designed to curb tax avoidance.

A complicated legal field. If a federal legal case against Texas materializes and moves all the way up to the US supreme court – it’s possible the US will have to revisit the question of who gets to control the border. Some say that’s exactly what Texas lawmakers in favor of state control of the border want.