Today is Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2021. Let's get caught up.
Here are today's top stories, celebrity birthdays and a look back at this date in history:
TOP STORIES
Biden: Senate filibuster change on debt a 'real possibility'
To get around Republican obstruction, President Joe Biden said Tuesday that Democrats are considering a change to the Senate's filibuster rules in order to quickly approve lifting the nation's debt limit and avoid what would be a devastating credit default.
The president's surprise remarks come as the Senate is tangled in a fiscally dangerous standoff over a vote that's needed to suspend the nation's debt limit and allow the federal government to continue borrowing to pay down its balances. Congress has just days to act before the Oct. 18 deadline when the Treasury Department has warned it will run short of funds to handle the nation’s already accrued debt load.
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Biden has resisted any filibuster rule changes over other issues, but his off-the-cuff comments Tuesday night interjected a new urgency to an increasingly uncertain situation.
More on the debt limit:
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Ship's anchor may have caused massive California oil spill
A ship’s anchor may have hooked, dragged and torn an underwater pipeline that spilled tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil into the ocean off Southern California, according to federal investigators who also found the pipeline owner didn’t quickly shut down operations after a safety system alerted to a possible spill.
Questions remained about the timeline of the weekend spill, which fouled beaches and a protected marshland, potentially closing them for weeks along with commercial and recreational fishing in a major hit to the local economy.
Some reports of a possible spill, a petroleum smell and an oily sheen on the waters off Huntington Beach came in Friday night but weren't corroborated and the pipeline's operator, Amplify Energy Corp., didn't report a spill until the next morning, authorities said.
More on the oil spill:
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Troubled student loan forgiveness program gets an overhaul
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.
The change will immediately make 22,000 borrowers eligible to get loans canceled, and another 27,000 could become eligible if they get previous payments certified, according to the department. In total, more than 550,000 borrowers will be moved closer to forgiveness, the agency said.
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Click on the links below for full version of today's top stories. Keep scrolling for a look back at this day in history and today's celebrity birthdays:
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TODAY IN HISTORY
In 2014, the Supreme Court unexpectedly cleared the way for a dramatic expansion of gay marriage in the United States, and more events that ha…
In 1993, Michael Jordan announces his retirement after nine seasons and three titles in the NBA. See more sports moments from this date:
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