Dems' debt ceiling dilemma

Plus, a malaria vaccine brings hope — with some caveats.

Senate Democrats are running out of options to keep the US from defaulting on its debts; the very first malaria vaccine gets a WHO endorsement.   Tonight's Sentences was written by Ellen Ioanes. TOP NEWS Clock's ticking on the debt ceiling     Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images The protracted Senate battle over the federal debt ceiling — the amount the government can borrow to cover its expenses — may finally give Democrats an opportunity to change the legislative body's filibuster rules. [NYT / Carl Hulse] Changing the filibuster rules — which allows one party to block the passage of the other's legislation by simple majority and requires instead 60 votes to pass a bill — seems the most likely option at this point to get the debt ceiling legislation passed. Senate Democrats reportedly started floating the idea in earnest last week. [CNN / Lauren Fox] The proposed change would reportedly involve making an exception to the current filibuster rules to allow debt ceiling legislation to pass without threat of a filibuster — not doing away with the process entirely. [WSJ / Siobhan Hughes and Lindsay Wise] As it stands, GOP senators have filibustered every attempt Democrats have made to suspend the debt ceiling over the past two weeks. [Politico / Burgess Everett, Marianne Levine, and Caitlin Emma] Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), a centrist stalwart, has said he won't consider a change to the Senate's filibuster rules. "I've been very, very clear where I stand on the filibuster. I've been very clear nothing changes," Manchin said in a news conference Wednesday. "We are not going to default as a country. We will not default." [The Hill / Jordain Carney] As of Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has offered a short-term debt ceiling increase, through November, which would stave off the country's creditors into December. [Reuters / Richard Cowan and Susan Cornwell] Democrats would need all 50 of their senators to be on board for this option, though, as a majority is required to set a precedent excepting debt ceiling legislation from filibuster. [Washington Post / Amber Phillips] Time is running out for the Senate to find a fix; Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that the government's funds — and ability to borrow more money — run out October 18. [Axios / Oriana Gonzalez] Finally, a malaria vaccine The World Health Organization is endorsing the first antimalarial vaccine to hit the market, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline and called Mosquirix. The vaccine is only about 30 percent effective in preventing severe malaria and requires a four-dose regimen to fully inoculate people, which could be a hurdle for vaccine uptake. [Al Jazeera] Even so, a vaccine that is even moderately effective is a huge step in the global fight against malaria, which kills more than 400,000 people — including more than 270,000 children under 5 — each year, almost all of them in sub-Saharan Africa. [Guardian / Lizzy Davies] The vaccine protects against one form of malaria parasite, and it will have to be used in conjunction with other preventative measures, like insecticide-treated bed nets and antimalarial drugs. [BBC / James Gallagher] In order to support distribution, the vaccine must be approved and purchased for countries in need by Gavi, the Global Vaccine Alliance — a process that is not guaranteed to go through and which could take up to a year. [NYT / Apoorva Mandavilli] MISCELLANEOUS The US Supreme Court will hear arguments about whether the government can deny access to records of Guantanamo Bay detainee Abu Zubaydah's torture by the CIA in the interest of "state secrets." [NPR / Nina Totenberg]   The Vatican acquitted a priest who was once an altar boy in the Vatican of sexual abuse charges dating from when he and his accuser were teenagers; the former head of their seminary was accused of covering up the abuse but was also acquitted. [NYT / Elisabetta Povoledo] Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis was singled out in the Pandora Papers for his shady real estate dealings, just before national elections. [Al Jazeera / Anna Koslerova] Streaming platform Twitch suffered a major data breach, with information about its source code and creator compensation leaked online. [NYT / Kellen Browning]   VERBATIM "Whenever a suspicion of a misuse arises, NSO investigates, NSO alerts, NSO terminates." [Israeli security company NSO Group, in response to a British court's ruling that its software, Pegasus, has been used by the ruler of Dubai to hack the phones of his estranged wife and her lawyers] LISTEN TO THIS     School's been back for a month. Today, Explained spent a month checking in with Cramer Hill Elementary to find out how it's going. [Spotify] Read more from Vox Self-driving cars: The 21st-century trolley problem   Americans throw away too many clothes. Poorer countries are left with the waste.   The Supreme Court confronts the CIA's worst-kept secret   Why lawmakers are fighting over the debt ceiling — again   How the Nobel Prizes skew science     This email was sent to vox@quicklydone.com. Manage your email preferences or unsubscribe. If you value Vox's unique explanatory journalism, support our work with a one-time or recurring contribution.   View our Privacy Notice and our Terms of Service.   Vox Media, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Floor 11, Washington, DC 20036. 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