In Other News: Debt ceiling talks teeter on the brink, as lawmakers leave town for weekend without a deal; Georgia nuclear rebirth arrives 7 years late, $17B over cost

Debt ceiling talks teeter on the brink, as lawmakers leave town for weekend without a deal

House Republicans are pushing debt ceiling talks to the brink. As they prepare to leave town Thursday for a long Memorial Day recess, it’s a display of risky political bravado. They’re just days out from a potentially devastating debt default if Congress fails to act to raise the borrowing limit. The fallout could hurl the global economy into chaos. Speaker Kevin McCarthy says he’s directing his team to work 24/7 with the White House to solve it. Republicans want a budget-slashing deal with President Joe Biden. But it’s clear the Republican speaker leading a Trump-aligned party whose hard-right flank lifted him to power is now staring down a potential crisis.

Georgia nuclear rebirth arrives 7 years late, $17B over costThe first new U.S. nuclear reactor built from scratch in decades has begun generating electricity. The Georgia reactor is supposed to reach full power output in coming days, with a second reactor scheduled for completion in 2024. Lead owner Georgia Power Co. says the reactors are a success. But the project is $17 billion over budget and seven years late. It was supposed to be part of an early 2000s nuclear power renaissance, but two reactors in South Carolina were abandoned and no others have been built. Still, proponents say nuclear power is a necessary part of achieving carbon-free electricity. Some are trying again, this time to build scaled-down reactors.

Expect big crowds for the summer travel season — and big prices, tooThe unofficial start of the summer travel season is here, with airlines hoping to avoid the chaos of last year and travelers scrounging for ways to save a few bucks on pricey airfares and hotel rooms. Some travelers say they will settle for fewer trips than they hoped to take, or they will drive instead of fly. Others are finding different money-saving sacrifices. AAA predicts that 37 million Americans will drive at least 50 miles from home this weekend, an increase of more than 2 million from Memorial Day last year but still below pre-pandemic numbers in 2019. The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen 10 million travelers between Friday and Monday, a 14% increase over the holiday in 2022 and slightly more than in 2019.