1/ Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that the U.S. could default “as early as June 1” unless Congress raises or suspends the debt ceiling. A default could cause “severe hardship to American families, harm our global leadership position, and raise questions about our ability to defend our national security interests,” Yellen said. The revised estimate from the Congressional Budget Office comes less than a week after House Republicans passed legislation to raise the debt ceiling through 2024 in exchange for billions of dollars in spending cuts and the repeal of federal funds to fight climate change. Democrats in the Senate, however, have refused to take up the legislation. And Biden, who has threatened to veto the bill, said Republicans need to protect the economy by raising the debt limit without the “reckless hostage taking.” (Washington Post / New York Times / Axios / NBC News / CNN)

2/ Regulators took possession of First Republic Bank and sold most of its assets, marking the third major bank failure in the U.S. in less than two months. JPMorgan – already the nation’s largest bank – agreed to the takeover after a private-sector solution fell through and will assume about $173 billion of First Republic’s loans, $30 billion of securities, and $92 billion in deposits. As part of the agreement, the FDIC will share losses with JPMorgan on First Republic’s loans. When the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates last year to slow the economy and curb inflation, it hurt the value of bonds and loans the bank bought when rates were low and then customers began to move their money in search of better returns. First Republic is the second-largest U.S. bank to collapse after Washington Mutual, which failed during the 2008 financial crisis and was also acquired by JPMorgan. Three of the four largest-ever bank failures have happened since March. First Republic Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, and Signature Bank held a total of $532 billion in assets – more than the 25 banks that failed in 2008 when adjusted for inflation. (CNBC / Wall Street Journal / NBC News / Politico / Washington Post / New York Times / Bloomberg / NPR)

3/ The Federal Reserve is on track to raise interest rates for the 10th time as part of its yearlong effort to fight inflation despite the collapse of First Repu...