10 things you need to know today: January 23, 2013

The GOP offers a temporary debt-ceiling fix, Sloane Stephens beats Serena Williams, and more in our roundup of the stories that are making news and driving opinion

Sloane Stephens celebrates winning her Jan. 23 quarterfinal match against Serena Williams during day 10 of the Australian Open.
(Image credit: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

1. GOP PUSHES TEMPORARY DEBT-CEILING FIX

House Republican leaders are preparing to hold a vote Wednesday on a creative plan to defuse a potential debt crisis by suspending Congress' enforcement of the federal government's debt ceiling until May 18. The move won't resolve the wrangling over spending cuts and other ways to reduce the deficit, but it will lift the threat that the government will default on its debts or run out of money to pay its bills. House Republicans believe they have the votes to pass the legislation, and President Obama has signaled that he will not oppose it, even though he has argued that merely putting off a potential showdown hurts the economy because it allows the potential for a fiscal crisis to drag on. [Associated Press]

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.