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☆ China’s TikTok wins while U.S. dillydallies
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Ben Winck | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 6 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The United States has a new kind of Trojan horse. The White House tasked the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States with deciding whether TikTok can cut a deal to mitigate risks. While the Biden administration mulled an executive order, the measure was shelved, too, as CFIUS talks continued, Politico reported in December. Follow @BenWinck on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSThe United States banned the use of TikTok on government devices on Dec. 30. TikTok recently paused plans to hire consultants that would help enact a security deal with the United States, according to a Reuters article.

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.

☆ The Supreme Court just set a date to hear Biden's student-loan forgiveness case, which will decide the fate of millions of borrowers
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Supreme Court will hear arguments on Biden's student-loan forgiveness on February 28. On Monday, the nation's highest court announced it will be taking on both lawsuits that challenged Biden's debt relief on February 28. The question of authority has loomed over Biden's debt relief plan even before he officially announced it. For now, millions of borrowers remain in limbo as they wait for a Supreme Court ruling. But should Biden's broad debt relief plan ultimately get struck down, it's unclear at this point what would come next for borrowers.

[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.

Wage gains are strong and consumption, the mainstay of U.S. economic growth, continues to increase even after adjusting for inflation. Many factors influence when and if the economy falls into recession; but invariably it will involve rising unemployment and falling consumption. They have telegraphed plans to keep raising interest rates for now as they try to cool the economy and keep prices in check. To date, Fed officials do not feel they have overstepped. "The greatest upside risk is also linked to monetary policy actions," if the Fed navigates the economy to its aimed-for "soft landing" that avoids recession.

☆ A conservative group that blocked student-loan forgiveness wants the Supreme Court to take it up as the second case on the matter, arguing that 'Congress never could have fathomed' Biden would cancel
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A conservative group that blocked Biden's student-debt relief asked SCOTUS to take on the case. The group argued Biden overstepped his authority to enact relief. On Wednesday, the Job Creators Network, a conservative group representing plaintiffs who sued Biden's debt relief in October, wrote in a legal filing that the Supreme Court should take up the case. The group argued that Biden should have gone through the typically rulemaking process and solicited public comment rather than decide to cancel student debt without input from the public or Congress. It's likely the Supreme Court could agree to combine both cases and hear them early next year.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear a major case that could upend election law as the justices consider whether to reinstate Republican-drawn congressional districts in North Carolina. The case, which could have a broad impact on an array of election issues, is being closely watched for its potential impact on the 2024 presidential election. Republicans led by Tim Moore, the Republican speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, invoked the theory after the state Supreme Court in February struck down the congressional district map. Activists protest partisan gerrymandering at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on Mar. Moore and other Republicans immediately asked the Supreme Court to reinstate the maps, saying the state court had overstepped its authority.

☆ Supreme Court justices grapple with a Republican challenge that could upend how elections are run: 'This is a theory with big consequences'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The Supreme Court heard three hours of oral arguments on a GOP-led challenge from North Carolina. Barrett said adopting the North Carolina Republicans' approach would mean judges would have "notoriously difficult lines to draw." The state supreme court ruled that the map was a partisan gerrymander that favored Republicans, deeming it a violation of the state constitution. Alito noted that in some places, like North Carolina, state supreme court judges are elected by voters. The Supreme Court is expected to hand down its decision in the case by June.

Rulings by lower courts in two challenges filed against the debt relief program have put Biden's policy on ice. 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. The Congressional Budget Office in September calculated that the debt forgiveness program would cost taxpayers about $400 billion. Biden and his predecessor Trump had invoked the law to pause student loan repayments. Biden on Nov. 22 extended the repayment pause to no later than next June 30 to give the Supreme Court time to decide the case.

Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday declined to put that decision on hold, and the administration has said it plans to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene. 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. 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. "We stand firm against the president's political exploitation of our student loan program just before an election," Peterson said in a statement. Biden on Nov. 22 extended the repayment pause to no later than next June 30 to give the Supreme Court time to decide the case.

Attorneys for former President Donald Trump on Tuesday asked a federal judge in Florida to unseal the probable cause affidavit outlining the Justice Department's criminal investigation into their client. A redacted version of the search warrant affidavit was made public in late August. A spokesperson for the Justice Department declined to comment. The request to Cannon came shortly before lawyers for Trump and the Justice Department were set to face off over Trump's lawsuit in the 11th U.S. The Justice Department is asking the appeals court to dismiss Cannon's order appointing a special master in the case.

Jennifer Schulp, a director at the libertarian think tank Cato Institute, said the Republicans' unexpectedly tight margin of control in the House will not prompt them to tone down their rhetoric. 'REGULATORY EXUBERANCE'Patrick McHenry, a North Carolina Republican in line to lead the House Financial Services Committee in the new Congress, said in an emailed statement to Reuters before the election that Biden's administration "is pushing its agenda through financial regulators because they don’t have the votes to pass it in Congress." "Committee Republicans will work together to conduct appropriate oversight of activist regulators and market participants who have an outsized impact," McHenry said. "The appropriations process in the House will be a messaging exercise, and it's less worrisome since the Democrats will have the Senate," McGannon said. While those Senators will not be in the majority, House Republicans have also criticized companies on ESG-related matters.

Under federal law, a president can retain personal records after leaving office, but these must be unrelated to official work. It is not clear from the redacted court filings exactly which documents Trump is claiming as personal. The department said Trump cannot assert executive privilege over any documents he has claimed as personal records because any such records must be unrelated to official duties. The Justice Department is appealing Cannon's decision to appoint a special master, telling the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Cannon initially barred the department from using all of the seized records for its criminal investigation until Dearie's review is complete.

☆ Applications for student loan forgiveness no longer accepted
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is no longer accepting applications for student loan forgiveness after a second federal court shut down the program. “Courts have issued orders blocking our student debt relief program,” the Education Department said on its federal student aid website. Student loan forgiveness is likely to end up before the Supreme Court. People with student loan debt have not been required to make payments during the pandemic. As for loan forgiveness, the Education Department said on its website that it would hold on to the applications for those who have already applied.

☆ U.S. changes sanction reasons on virtual currency service Tornado Cash
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury has broadened its justification for sanctioning virtual currency mixing service Tornado Cash on allegations it supports North Korea, despite criticism from users that the Treasury is targeting a service and not an organization. The move - which a Treasury representative said reflected the service's support for the North Korean government - still leaves Americans unable to send and receive money through the service. But the move had proven controversial in part because some argued that Tornado Cash was less an organization than a set of software. In a lawsuit filed this year, six Texan users of Tornado Cash said that Treasury officials had overstepped their jurisdiction by effectively blocking access to computer code. "Tornado Cash is not a person, entity, or organization.

☆ Senate Republicans want the SEC to explain why staff are quitting
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Nell Mackenzie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 30 (Reuters) - Senate Republicans want the SEC to explain why staff are leaving the nation's corporate watchdog at the highest rate in 10 years amid a flurry of proposed rules, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Sunday. Republicans want Gensler to explain how he will address the concerns in the report and also to allow more time for industry feedback on the new rules. Employees interviewed for the internal watchdog report said they received little feedback on rules they had written, according to the report. The SEC is losing employees at its highest pace in 10 years, said the Inspector General's report. Senate Republicans Thom Tillis from North Carolina, Mike Crapo from Idaho, Tim Scott from South Carolina, Michael Rounds from South Dakota, Bill Hagerty from Tennessee and Steve Daines from Montana signed the letter.

☆ Zimbabwe coach critical of decision to play on in Hobart
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Zimbabwe's players had complained about wet conditions in the outfield and fast bowler Richard Ngarava left the field injured after he slipped. "Obviously we're not too happy about the fact he's not in a great space for bowling at the moment. Conditions were difficult right from the start and only got worse, the former Zimbabwe captain said. "I understand the need to try and get these games on for the public and for TV," he said. "I understand the need to try and play in slightly inclement weather to try and get a result.

The Amazon logo is seen outside its JFK8 distribution center in Staten Island, New York, U.S. November 25, 2020. In a filing, Attorney General Letitia James agreed not to seek review of a May state court decision that had found federal law preempted her claims that Amazon violated state labor statutes. She had alleged in Feb. 2021 that Amazon had retaliated against two New York City workers protesting warehouse safety conditions. As part of the agreement, Amazon withdrew its own lawsuit against New York state, which had alleged James overstepped her bounds in pandemic dealings with the retailer. The court’s prior dismissal of the New York Attorney General’s lawsuit, and today’s agreement to end the litigation altogether, is the right outcome given our actions in response to the pandemic."

The lawsuit marks a major escalation of tensions between the industry and the consumer watchdog, which industry groups say has repeatedly overstepped its mandate under President Joe Biden's director Rohit Chopra. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe groups said the agency does not have the legal authority to make that change. Certain financial products, like no-fee checking accounts, could be seen as discriminatory using a disparate impact analysis, the Chamber said. "The CFPB is attempting to pretend that they are Congress and impose new theories of disparate impact through an extra-legal process," Bradley said. The Chamber was joined in the lawsuit, filed in the Eastern District of Texas, by the American Bankers Association and Consumer Bankers Association, among other state groups.

Higher interest rates are coming, and they are likely to remain in place for a long time. The Fed last week raised rates by three-quarters of a percentage point, the third consecutive hike of that size. 'RESET' UNDERWAYTo some degree, in fact, the thrust of Fed policy is to force just such a reevaluation. According to one index maintained by the Chicago Fed, overall financial conditions remain below their historical average, or slightly on the "loose" side, a signal that Fed officials may still have, as many of them put it, "work to do." Rising interest rates paid on safe investments like short-term U.S. Treasuries help that effort by changing the prices of a broad array of other assets.

☆ Meta's privacy obligations may be added to German antitrust probe, court adviser says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

At issue is whether the German antitrust agency overstepped its authority by using its antitrust power to address data protection concerns, which are the remit of national data protection authorities. A German court subsequently sought guidance from the CJEU. "A competition authority may, in exercising its powers, take account of the compatibility of a commercial practice with the General Data Protection Regulation," he said in a non-binding opinion. He said antitrust watchdogs however need to consult with the lead privacy enforcers as well, which in Meta's case is the Irish data protection agency as its European headquarters is based there. In May, it was designated by the German authority as of "paramount importance for competition across markets" subject to tougher rules.

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