US Senate Appears Near Temporary Truce in Debt-Ceiling Standoff

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The U.S. Senate appeared near to a temporary deal to avert a federal debt default in the next two weeks, after Democrats said Wednesday that they might accept a Republican proposal to defuse the partisan standoff that threatens the broader economy. Democrats called off an early-afternoon vote after the Senate’s top Republican, Mitch McConnell, floated a plan that would buy more time to resolve the issue. McConnell proposed that his party would allow an extension of the federal debt ceiling into December. Without congressional action to raise the $28.4 trillion debt limit, the Treasury Department has forecast that it willmore

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Fulbright Applicants in Afghanistan Seek Help

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Afghan semifinalists for next year’s Fulbright scholars’ program are asking the U.S. government about the status of their candidacies, following the closure of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul as American troops withdrew from Afghanistan in August.  “After the fall of Kabul on August 15, we did not hear back from the U.S. State Department on the Fulbright program regarding the status of our applications,” said Maryam Jami, a law school graduate and applicant from Herat, referring to the Taliban takeover of the Afghan capital on that date.  The Fulbright Foreign Student Program “enables graduate students, young professionals and artists frommore

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Biden Meets with Corporate Executives as Debt Limit Deadline Looms

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U.S. President Joe Biden is meeting Wednesday with some of America’s top business leaders to make the case that Congress must increase the government’s borrowing authority before October 18, when the U.S. expects to run out of money to pay its bills. The White House said before the meeting that the executives “understand firsthand that a default would be economically devastating” for the United States — which has never defaulted on its financial obligations — and the world economy.  A default would risk millions of jobs and throw the U.S. into recession, “causing lasting harm to America’s economic strength by threatening the dollar’s status as the currency the world relies on and downgradingmore

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Troubled Student Loan Forgiveness Program Gets an Overhaul

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The Biden administration is moving to relax the rules for a student loan forgiveness program that has been criticized for its notoriously complex requirements — a change that could offer debt relief to thousands of teachers, social workers, military members and other public servants. The Education Department said Wednesday it will temporarily drop some of the toughest requirements around Public Service Loan Forgiveness, a program that was launched in 2007 to steer more college graduates into public service but, since then, has helped just 5,500 borrowers get their loans erased. Congress created the program as a reward for college studentsmore

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Biden Says Bypassing Filibuster ‘Real Possibility’ to Raise Debt Limit

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U.S. President Joe Biden indicated Tuesday senators from his Democratic Party could bypass a supermajority voting rule in order to increase the nation’s debt limit without Republican votes.  “It’s a real possibility,” Biden told reporters outside the White House.  Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said the government will likely reach its borrowing limit by October 18 unless Congress acts.  Coming too close to the borrowing limit has its perils. A debt ceiling dispute in 2011 that Congress resolved two days before the borrowing limit was reached caused stock prices to fall and the first-ever credit downgrade for U.S. debt.  Under Senate rules, 60 votes are needed to advance the legislation instead ofmore

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Biden Advocates Spending Plans Amid Uncertainty

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President Joe Biden traveled to Michigan on Tuesday to promote his legislative priorities on infrastructure and social spending. The two bills face a stalemate in Congress as members of Biden’s own Democratic Party wrangle over the size and scope of the package.   Investing in infrastructure and expanding social welfare programs are two key issues Biden campaigned on.   With his legislative agenda stalled in Congress, he visited a worker training facility Tuesday in Howell, Michigan, to promote his plans.    “It isn’t enough just to invest in our physical infrastructure,” Biden said. “If we’re going to lead the worldmore

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