On Capitol Hill, both sides of the aisle trade verbal blows as Congress works to raise the debt ceiling. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said, “If Republicans would just get out of the ... way, we could get this all done.” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell pushed back, saying the Democrats created their own mess: “They’ve had plenty of time to execute the debt ceiling increase and have chosen not to do it.” Sen. Joe Manchin also weighed in, saying, “We are not going to default as a country. We will not default. That’s the responsibility we have as senators, as congressmen.” He added, “But the bottom line is we have a responsibility to be the adults, our leadership has the responsibility to lead.” On top of that, President Joe Biden traveled to Michigan to drum up support for his twin economic packages.
Lawmakers are divided on the next steps to rein in Big Tech after the Facebook whistleblower called on Congress to act. In a surprising show of bipartisanship, both sides of the aisle are demanding federal action against the tech giant. But as to what the specific issues are, lawmakers disagree. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Facebook and other social media platforms had shown “a pattern of engaging in political censorship.” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) meanwhile said that Facebook found that its algorithms “[foster] polarization, misinformation, and hate.” Both sides criticized Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg for going sailing during the hearing.
