House passes debt limit bill; hurricane season begins; Pence and Christie set to announce presidential runs

Plus, what the U.S. census can — and can't — tell us about LGBTQ+ people. [View this email online]( [NPR Up First Newsletter]( by [Suzanne Nuyen]( June 1, 2023 Good morning. Spy balloon or alien? Yesterday, a NASA panel discussed its data on unidentified anomalous phenomena (colloquially known as UFOs). [Listen to what they know so far](. Here's what else we're following today. House lawmakers passed President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's debt ceiling bill last night. It now [goes to a Senate vote]( tonight. If passed, the U.S. will avoid a default and the debt limit will be deferred for two years. [ Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy talks to reporters as he walks to the House floor for a procedural vote ahead of the final vote for the debt ceiling bill. ]( Drew Angerer/Getty Images 🎧 NPR's Barbara Sprunt says the bill passed by an overwhelming margin with bipartisan support. More Democrats voted for it than Republicans. Sprint tells Up First this morning that McCarthy [wasn't worried about the numbers]( — he promised two-thirds of his conference would support it, and he delivered. ➡️ The deal includes a provision to restart student loan payments. Here's [what that means for borrowers](. ➡️ Additionally, the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline project will gain momentum if the bill passes. Climate activists say the pipeline, which would run through Jefferson National Forest and cross hundreds of waterways and wetlands, is harmful. Here's [where the case stands now](. ➡️ It's not the first time lawmakers have fought over the debt ceiling. In 1953, the [debate looked almost identical]( to today. The 2023 Atlantic hurricane season begins today and runs through November 30. Scientists at the National Hurricane Center predict an average number of storms for the season but say climate change is [making their jobs harder and storms more dangerous](. 🎧 Forecasters tell NPR's Rebecca Hersher that people need to take hurricane season seriously, [even if they haven't been affected in the past](. Climate change-driven sea level rises have made storm surges more dangerous, more places will flood and past experiences won't be a good indicator of future risk. ➡️ These are the 21 names that will be used for [this year's storms](. The Republican presidential race is expected to get even more crowded next week. Former [Vice President Mike Pence]( former [New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie]( and North Dakota governor Doug Burgum are expected to announce their campaigns. 🎧 NPR's Domenico Montenaro says the Republican party today is very different than the one Christie was in a decade ago, and "[right now, this is a Trump-Desantis race]( The two have already spent tens of millions of dollars in ads targeting each other. ➡️ Keep up with who is running in the GOP presidential race with [NPR's tracker](. --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- [ A person wearing a yellow backpack with their back to the camera waves a rainbow pride flag. Someone in front of them is waving a trans pride flag.]( Jim Urquhart/NPR The Census Bureau has released the most comprehensive statistics to date on same-sex couples living together in the U.S. Still, many in the community remain invisible. Here's what census data [can and can't tell us]( about LGBTQ+ people. 🌈 Less than 20% of LGBTQ+ people live in same-sex couple households. Little is known about the 80% of people who don't live with their partner or have a different-sex partner. 🌈 The 2020 census didn't ask about gender identity or sexual orientation. Last year, the DOJ requested the data be included in the American Community Survey, which is often used to test census questions. 🌈 But it's a tricky moment to collect such data. AI advancements make protecting privacy harder, and anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and sentiment are rising in many states. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Three days before her gender-affirming surgery, Chedino Martin poses for the camera in the home she shares with her fiancé, Keagan, and his deaf parents, Maria and Keith, in the Hanover Park neighborhood of Cape Town, South Africa]( Julia Gunther Chedino Martin was 23 when she realized she was a transgender woman. She's from South Africa, where beauty pageants have been culturally important. For as long as she can remember, they've been a form of therapy that allowed her to enter a world far away from her own. [Following her pageant dreams]( took patience and strength. --------------------------------------------------------------- Rich German Hvaldimir, a beluga whale long believed to be a Russian spy, has surfaced in Sweden, prompting concerns about [his well-being]( and safety. A 93-year-old woman from Ohio has set a world record as the "[oldest old lady to ever visit every national park]( She did it in just eight years. In 1966, acclaimed blues musician Otis Taylor couldn't graduate because he refused to cut off his afro. He [got his diploma]( from a Denver school district this May --------------------------------------------------------------- Stream your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. 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