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☆ U.S. Supreme Court's 'major questions' test may doom Biden student debt plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( John Kruzel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

She did not realize she was setting off on a path toward another, less-welcome family first - racking up more than $150,000 in student debt. The major questions doctrine is an outgrowth of an approach favored by many conservatives and business groups to curb what they call the excesses of the "administrative state." Beginning in 2020, the administrations of President Donald Trump, a Republican, and Biden, a Democrat, repeatedly paused federal student loan payments and halted interest from accruing. Two lawsuits - one by six conservative-leaning states and the other by two student loan borrowers who opposed the plan's eligibility requirements - prompted lower courts to block it. 'INSUFFICIENT FUNDS'The major questions doctrine gives judges broad discretion to invalidate executive agency actions unless Congress clearly authorized them in legislation.

☆ Borrowers with student loans in default can get a 'fresh start' under this Biden initiative—how it works
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Kamaron Mcnair | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The change wasn't due to a sudden influx of borrowers rehabilitating their loans, but rather the beginning of President Joe Biden's "Fresh Start" initiative. Here's how the Fresh Start program works and how borrowers can take advantage. An easier path back to repaymentWhen you enroll in the Fresh Start program, your loans become "current" again, giving you access to student loan forgiveness and repayment programs. With the Fresh Start, they get another chance to do so. What happens to student loans in default?

☆ A GOP lawmaker wrote a one-sentence bill to abolish the Department of Education. His reasoning doesn't address student loans, grants, or any of the major things the department does.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The CBO previously said that getting rid of an agency would only cut spending if its programs were eliminated, as well. Last week, Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie introduced a bill to abolish the Education Department, and it's a short, one-sentence read: "The Department of Education shall terminate on December 31, 2022." Congress recently approved a $1.7 trillion budget for the government, including $79.6 billion for the Education Department. Former President Donald Trump also said in 2015 that he'd consider getting rid of the department, saying it could be cut "way, way, way down." Reagan's efforts were clearly unsuccessful, given both of those agencies are operating at full capacity today, and millions of Americans are now relying on the Education Department's Federal Student Aid Office to facilitate the disbursement of federal student loans and grants.

☆ Meet a new mom with $90,000 in student debt who's tired of 'the unfair game' of Biden's loan forgiveness: 'We need this fix'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

She would qualify for the full $20,000 amount of Biden's broad student-debt relief plan. Alexandria Mavin, 33, has $90,000 in student debt. A common thread among opponents of the debt relief plan is that it's unfair to those who have already paid off their loans, or funded their higher educations on their own. "It's crazy to see with just this one student loan being gone, how much financial freedom I'm finding just from one measly $400-a-month student loan," she added. But when it's 45 million people," Mavin said, referring to the number of Americans with student debt, "that's a scam."

☆ Biden touts 'making progress reducing student debt' but doesn't call out the lawsuits blocking his broad loan forgiveness plan during the State of the Union
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Biden touted "reducing student debt" during his State of the Union address. He did not mention the ongoing lawsuits that have blocked his broad student-loan forgiveness plan. When it comes to education, the president addressed increasing pay for teachers and providing two years of free community college, but he didn't have much to say about student debt. "And we're making progress by reducing student debt and increasing Pell Grants for working- and middle-class families." "Look, the opponents suing to stop my plan are the only thing standing between millions of Americans' crushing student debt and relief," he wrote on Twitter last month.

☆ A conservative group blocked student-loan forgiveness because 2 borrowers wanted more relief than they qualified for. Here's why it thinks no one else should get to benefit from Biden's plan.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

One of the cases involves two student-loan borrowers who sued because they didn't qualify for the full $20,000 amount of relief. "Extra breathing room for millions of Americans is on hold because of lawsuits brought by opponents of this Administration's student debt relief plan," the White House wrote on Twitter this week. Here are some standouts from the Job Creators Network's argument on why Biden's student-loan forgiveness should be blocked. The debt-relief plan demonstrates "gross over-inclusiveness"Leading up to the announcement of Biden's debt relief, many advocates and Democratic lawmakers were urging him to make the relief as expansive as possible, without any thresholds. "There was a national emergency that impacted millions of student borrowers," the official said.

☆ Kevin McCarthy reportedly agrees to leave cuts to Social Security and Medicare off the table in debt ceiling negotiations
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Kevin McCarthy agreed not to cut Social Security and Medicare in debt ceiling negotiations, Sen. Joe Manchin told reporters. "Under no circumstances should Republicans vote to cut a single penny from Medicare or Social Security," Trump said in the video. Save Social Security, don't destroy it." It's still unclear what other types of cuts Republicans are considering in these negotiations. … Does that mean cuts to Social Security or Medicare or child care or Pell Grants?"

☆ Biden's student loan forgiveness plan is 'unlawful,' two professors say, but legal challenges carry 'dangerous implications'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Annie Nova | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Although they call President Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness plan "unlawful," two university law professors are urging the Supreme Court to reject the legal challenges that have been brought against it. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear two of those legal challenges. The law professors say it's supposed to be the party most affected by a policy that challenges it in the courts. But the law professors say that, in that case, MOHELA should have brought the legal challenge, not the states. "Missouri is not the proper party to pursue relief for MOHELA's lost loan servicing fees," Baude and Bray wrote.

☆ Biden's administration just filed a full legal defense of its student-loan forgiveness plan to the Supreme Court, saying the debt relief falls 'comfortably' within the law
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Justice Department filed a defense of Biden's student-debt relief to SCOTUS on Wednesday night. This filing comes ahead of February 28, when the Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments on the two lawsuits that have blocked the implementation of the debt relief. The other lawsuit was filed by two student-loan borrowers who sued because they did not qualify for the full $20,000 amount of relief. Another primary argument Biden's administration has pushed back on is the idea that the debt relief would harm MOHELA. The Justice Department argued MOHELA is a separate entity from Missouri and should not be considered alongside harms to the state.

☆ Delinquent student loans can reduce Social Security by $2,500 a year
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Getty ImagesIf you are delinquent on federal student loans and collect Social Security benefits, you may have your monthly checks reduced. Social Security benefits are typically subject to partial withholdings after prolonged federal student loan delinquencies. Today's Social Security beneficiaries who are behind on federal student loans are not subject to benefit withholdings, as those collections have been suspended as part of the federal student loan payment pause that has been in effect since March 2020, Minsky noted. "No one is having their Social Security checks garnished right now," Minsky said. How policy may influence debtsBiden has proposed broad student loan forgiveness of up to $10,000 for federal student loans, or up to $20,000 for Pell grant recipients.

WASHINGTON, Jan 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department late on Wednesday filed a brief with the Supreme Court defending President Joe Biden's plan to cancel billions of dollars in federal student loans, arguing that two cases lacked standing to challenge the debt relief. Biden in August said the U.S. government would forgive up to $10,000 in student loan debt for borrowers making less than $125,000 a year, or $250,000 for married couples. Students who received Pell Grants to benefit lower-income college students would have up to $20,000 of their debt canceled under the plan. In fact, the Justice Department said, the HEROES Act expressly exempted the department from notice and comment procedures. Over 16 million borrowers have already been approved for debt relief and millions more have applied.

☆ Biden admin defends stalled student loan plan in Supreme Court brief
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Jan 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department late on Wednesday filed a brief with the Supreme Court defending President Joe Biden's student debt relief plan and arguing that Education Secretary Miguel Cardona had clear authority to provide the loan forgiveness. Biden announced in August that the U.S. government would forgive up to $10,000 in student loan debt for borrowers making less than $125,000 a year, or $250,000 for married couples. Students who received Pell Grants to benefit lower-income college students would have up to $20,000 of their debt canceled under the plan, which has been on hold due to legal challenges. Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Andrea Shalal, editing by Dan WhitcombOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Resuming student-loan payments this year without Biden's debt cancellation could be especially harmful to borrowers with auto and credit card debt, the NY Fed says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Even if the Supreme Court strikes down student-debt relief, payments will likely resume this year. This could be particularly harmful for borrowers with other forms of debt, the NY Fed said. The Fed said a resumption without relief would put borrowers with other forms of debt, like credit card and auto, at increased risk of falling into delinquency. "Eligible borrowers have always had higher delinquency rates on these debts," the Fed wrote, referring to borrowers who would be eligible for Biden's student-debt relief. Borrowers just don't want to see payments resume without relief.

☆ Here are the people who will lose out most if student loan forgiveness falls through
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Annie Nova | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

People of colorThe student debt crisis is cited as a main factor for the wide racial wealth gap in the U.S. today. Black college graduates owe an average $7,400 more than their white peers, a Brookings Institution report found. And that inequity only gets worse with time: Black college students owe more than $52,000 four years after graduation, compared with around $28,000 for the average white college graduate. WomenWomen were widely recognized as the biggest winner of Biden's student loan forgiveness plan, since they owe two-thirds of the country's outstanding student debt. "Women will be the most affected if loan forgiveness fails," Kantrowitz said.

☆ How 10 student-loan borrowers are coping with the highs and lows of Biden's debt relief announcement
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Biden announced up to $20,000 in student-debt relief at the end of August. Since then, two lawsuits have blocked the plan, and its fate rests with the Supreme Court. Here are 10 borrowers' stories on what they have experienced since Biden's August announcement. Since the loan forgiveness had an income cap, the Education Department was unable to automatically cancel the debt and needed until October to make an online application available for borrowers. Conservative groups used that time to file lawsuits to block the relief, and Biden's administration responding by further narrowing the eligibility for the relief to exclude some borrowers with privately-held loans to avoid litigation.

☆ The Tom Brady of Other Jobs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Francesca Paris | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +17 min

Meet them, and decide for yourself:The Tom Brady of Paramedics Jesse Izaguirre, 70Gardena, Calif.Jesse Izaguirre loves working with younger paramedics. Hopefully never.”The Tom Brady of Bakers Helen Fletcher, 83Clayton, Mo. Chalk it up to a great big fib.”The Tom Brady of Artists Lilian Thomas Burwell, 95Highland Beach, Md. “I should’ve signed them.”The Tom Brady of Biologists Maria Elena Zavala, 72Los AngelesProfessional longevity runs in Maria Elena Zavala’s family. It didn’t vanish when they crossed the border.”The Tom Brady of Loggers Earl Pollock, 82Hamburg, Ark.

☆ What to know about the two student loan forgiveness cases the Supreme Court will hear legal arguments on in February
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Annie Nova | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Student loan borrowers protest the GOP outside the Republican National Committee's offices in Washington, D.C,. for denying student loan relief to 40 million borrowers on Nov. 18, 2022Two of the legal challenges brought against President Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness plan have reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Individuals who earned more than $125,000, or families making more than $250,000, were excluded from the relief. The battle has made its way through the courts, and now the nine justices of the U.S. Supreme Court have scheduled their high-profile legal arguments over the plan for the end of February. Here's what you need to know about the two cases that will be heard.

So yeah, I’m proud of it,” McConnell said, hailing it as an “extremely important” win for conservatives. He said it’ll mean they no longer “pay a ransom on the domestic side” in order to secure hefty military spending. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill.. said he’s “disappointed” in the unequal spending levels but argued that the Kentucky Republican was using his leverage. Senate Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks alongside Sens. Democrats say McConnell was pushing for deals due to the rising support in the Democratic Party in recent years to end the filibuster.

☆ 'Secure 2.0' would provide a limited federal 'match' on contributions for retirement savers with lower income
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Sarah O'Brien | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Under a provision included in a legislative proposal known as "Secure 2.0" — which is included in an omnibus appropriations bill that cleared the Senate on Thursday and awaited a House vote — a retirement "saver's match" would be implemented, essentially changing how an existing tax credit works. That amount would be a maximum 50% of up to $2,000 in contributions to a qualifying account (so a maximum $1,000 match per individual). The current credit isn't always useful for taxpayersThe move to allow a federal matching contribution is being sought because the current tax credit is nonrefundable, meaning that if you owe no federal income tax, you don't get the credit. The match would be "a direct, substantial way to increase the retirement savings of lower and middle-income workers, and incentivize good retirement planning habits," Carlisle said. More than 108 million people would be eligible for the saver's match, according to the American Retirement Association.

☆ Pell Grants could rise to a maximum $7,395 next year, in the biggest increase in over a decade
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Annie Nova | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Olelole | E+ | Getty ImagesAs part of its massive $1.7 trillion spending package for 2023, Congress is planning to up the maximum annual Pell Grant award to $7,395 — a $500 increase from this school year. President Joe Biden had previously called to raise the Pell Grant by even more, to a maximum allotment of $8,670 in 2023, and has said he wants to see the payments double by 2029. Pell Grants are one of the biggest sources of financial aid available to college students, and more than 6 million students received them in 2020. Each year, Congress decides how much to allocate to the maximum Pell Grant, and in some years it has reduced the payment. There's a limit to how many Pell Grants you can getCollege students typically can receive the grant for up to six years.

☆ Why Biden's student-loan forgiveness ignited a debate over the fairness of debt relief, according to an ethicist
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Dr. Kate Padgett Walsh, a debt ethicist, said those people view fairness "too narrowly." President Joe Biden arrived at an answer at the end of August – he would cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for federal borrowers making under $125,000. "Our student debt relief program will help borrowers most at risk of delinquency or default from the pandemic get back on their feet," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona wrote on Twitter. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in August that Biden's plan to cancel student debt is "astonishingly unfair." "The financing of higher education is now so broken that we need to think about these questions of fairness and justice."

☆ Colleges should provide the true cost of attendance after report finds most schools don't give clear information
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Katie Lobosco | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Congress should require colleges to give students an accurate price for the cost of attendance, the Government Accountability Office said in a recent report that found that most colleges fail to provide all the financial information students need. Prospective college students usually receive a financial aid letter from schools once they are accepted. “Federal law doesn’t require colleges to include clear, standard information in all of their financial aid offers. The bill is one of many legislative efforts that aim to provide students and their families better information about the cost of college. In addition, last month, the Department of Justice released new guidance that aims to make it easier to have federal student loan debt discharged in bankruptcy – a particularly difficult legal process under the previous policy.

☆ Student loan forgiveness: 9 million people received emails that mistkanely said their application was approved
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Katie Lobosco | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Washington CNN —About nine million people received an email last month from the Department of Education that mistakenly said their application for student loan forgiveness had been approved, adding to the confusion surrounding President Joe Biden’s debt relief program. Thus far, no one has received debt forgiveness because the program is blocked by federal courts. The nine million borrowers who received the inaccurate emails have now started to receive new emails from the government correcting the error. “Due to a vendor error, you recently received an email with a subject line indicating your application for the one-time Student Loan Debt Relief Plan had been approved. The department received about 26 million applications for student loan forgiveness before the program was halted by a federal district judge in November.

☆ The Supreme Court agrees to hear a 2nd student-loan forgiveness case next year to decide millions of borrowers' fates
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Supreme Court agreed to hear a second challenge to President Joe Biden's student-debt relief. The challenge was brought by two student-loan borrowers who didn't qualify for the full amount of relief. The department took matters to the Supreme Court, asking it to make the final ruling on the legality of the debt relief. The Supreme Court earlier this month already agreed to take up a separate challenge brought by six Republican-led states that argued the loan forgiveness would hurt their states' tax revenues. The Supreme Court is expected hand down decisions in both cases by next June.

[1/2] A view of the U.S. Supreme Court building on the first day of the court's new term in Washington, U.S. October 3, 2022. The Supreme Court on Dec. 1 said it would hear arguments on the legality of the debt relief program in the other case pursued by six mostly Republican-led states. Biden announced in August that the U.S. government would forgive up to $10,000 in student loan debt for borrowers making less than $125,000 a year, or $250,000 for married couples. Students who received Pell Grants to benefit lower-income college students would have up to $20,000 of their debt canceled. The Congressional Budget Office in September calculated that the debt forgiveness program would cost taxpayers about $400 billion.

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