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☆ Biden aims billions in taxpayer money at companies' labor, supply practices
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

"What Biden and his advisers are doing is solving problems that exist in the economy. They are pushing forward an agenda aimed at building things in America again ... and taking on corporate power," he said. A Department of Energy provision in the act requires companies to focus on workforce training, ensure diversity and engage "environmental justice" communities in planning. Key provisions on universal child care and better working conditions for child care workers were stripped out of bills last year. Julie Su, just tapped to be labor secretary, launched a campaign against "wage theft" by employers as a labor activist.

☆ Biden takes aim at Republican spending cuts plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

At issue is Republicans' refusal to raise the statutory $31.4 trillion U.S. debt limit unless Biden agrees to spending cuts. The White House has said such measures will only be discussed after the debt ceiling is lifted. In a speech at a union hall in suburban Maryland, Biden accused Republicans, who now control the House of Representatives, of pushing him to agree to spending cuts, while their own plans would add $3 trillion to the debt. Republicans argue that federal spending is too high and will fuel inflation while raising the U.S. debt level. They also plan a separate news conference on Wednesday aimed at highlighting House Republicans' planned budget cuts.

The decision, announced after financial markets closed, gives Biden a pair of trusted Washington insiders to steer economic policy as the risk of recession fades but inflation lingers. Big fights also loom with the Republican-controlled House of Representatives over raising the debt ceiling. The shakeup comes as the White House tries to tackle what officials view as a frustrating disconnect between relatively strong economic data and weak public sentiment. The White House has refused to discuss spending cuts without a debt ceiling vote first. Bernstein last week conceded that the White House's early description of inflation as "transitory" had missed the mark.

☆ Biden to blast Republican agenda as 'massive giveaway' to big companies
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

At issue is Republicans' refusal to raise the statutory $31.4 trillion U.S. debt limit unless Biden agrees to spending cuts, while the White House has said such measures will only be discussed after the debt ceiling is lifted. With his own approval ratings now at 36%, despite 53-year low unemployment and rising consumer sentiment, Biden will seek to flip the script and point the finger at a Republican agenda that he says will amount to "a massive giveaway to the super-rich, big corporations and Big Pharma," the White House said. By contrast, Biden says his administration's plans will cut U.S. debt by another $2 trillion on top of $1.7 trillion in reductions already made. Republicans argue that U.S. federal spending is too high and will fuel inflation while raising the U.S. debt level. Republican have discussed repealing the stock buyback tax entirely, which the White House says would add $74 billion to the federal debt.

The White House will likely appoint Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard to run the National Economic Council and Jared Bernstein to lead the Council of Economic Advisers, sources familiar with the matter tell CNBC. The appointments are expected to be announced after incoming White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients assumes his role, as soon as next week. Bernstein is a member of the board he is expected to head, the White House Council of Economic Advisers. The White House is holding a ceremony on Wednesday to thank outgoing White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain and welcome Zients to the position. Current White House NEC Director Brian Deese is expected to depart imminently, sources said.

☆ Elizabeth Warren says Biden could use other tools to carry out student-loan forgiveness if the Supreme Court strikes it down, but 'now is not the time to talk about Plan B'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Sen. Elizabeth Warren said there are other tools to carry out student-debt relief if the Supreme Court strikes it down. But she said a Plan B should not be the focus right now, and she supports the legality of Biden's plan. Warren had previously advocated for using the Higher Education Act, instead of the HEROES Act, to cancel student debt. Both of them argue that the president does not have the authority to enact broad debt relief without Congressional approval. "If the Supreme Court applies the law as it is written, then that cancellation will go through.

☆ One map shows how many student-loan borrowers could have gotten Biden's debt relief before lawsuits blocked his plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | Madison Hoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The White House released data showing how many student-loan borrowers applied for or were deemed eligible for Biden's debt relief. This data was collected before two lawsuits blocked the implementation of the debt relief. The White House released data on Friday morning showing how many borrowers applied, or were deemed eligible, for Biden's debt relief plan before the legal challenges. The Supreme Court will be taking on two lawsuits that blocked Biden's debt relief. And 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.

☆ The White House says it doesn't have a backup plan to cancel student debt right now if the Supreme Court strikes down Biden's broad relief
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A White House official told reporters that Biden is not "deliberating or considering" a backup plan to cancel student debt. This comes as the Supreme Court is taking up two lawsuits next month that are currently blocking Biden's broad relief. The White House maintains confidence in its authority, but advocates have argued there's another route. On Friday, the White House released new data showing how many borrowers applied for Biden's plan to forgive up to $20,000 in student debt before two conservative-backed lawsuits halted the process. "Obviously, the Supreme Court will weigh in on that soon," he added.

☆ Candidates to become top Biden economist include Fed Vice Chair Lael Brainard, Treasury official Wally Adeyemo
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

The process to replace Deese as head of the powerful National Economic Council remains ongoing and the situation is fluid, the person said. The Washington Post first reported the leading candidates to replace Deese. Brainard was viewed as a leading contender to become Fed chair before Biden ultimately decided to renominate Jerome Powell. Brainard, a former Treasury official in the Obama administration and a Fed governor since 2014, was instead elevated to vice chair, the central bank’s No. U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo on October 13, 2022 in Washington, DC.

☆ Fed's Lael Brainard among leading contenders for top White House economic post
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Lael Brainard, vice chair of the US Federal Reserve, listens to a question during an interview in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, Nov. 14, 2022. Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard is a top candidate to take the most important economic position in the White House. Biden named Brainard vice chair at the Fed in 2022; she also was considered as a possible successor to Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whom Biden reappointed last year. Brainard is one of multiple candidates being considered and interviews for the position are continuing, according to a White House spokesman familiar with the matter. For her part, Brainard could garner support from progressives who are in favor of strong bank regulation and easier monetary policy.

President Joe Biden is searching for a replacement for National Economic Council (NEC) Director Brian Deese, who is expected to leave soon. Interviews are still ongoing to replace him, according to the sources who declined to discuss an ongoing personnel process. Biden's team is also starting to craft an economic message for his expected 2024 re-election campaign. But reducing high inflation became the administration's top economic priority last year as rising costs began to anger voters. She previously served as the Treasury's point person on international affairs during the Obama administration.

☆ Why you should apply for Biden's student-loan forgiveness before mid-November
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Student-loan borrowers can apply for debt relief now during a beta testing period. While the site is not formally live, the Education Department advises borrowers apply by mid-November. This will ensure the relief will hit their accounts before payments resume in January 2023. On Friday evening, President Joe Biden's Education Department launched the student-loan forgiveness application in beta mode — a time period during which borrowers can apply for up to $20,000 in loan forgiveness while the department monitors the website and determines any needed fixes before making the application officially live. Biden's administration recommends borrowers submit the forms before mid-November to ensure they can be processed before payments resume in January 2023.

REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File PhotoWASHINGTON, Sept 26 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden's executive actions cancelling some student loan debt will cost about $400 billion, about a quarter of funds owed, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said on Monday. As of June 30, 43 million borrowers held $1.6 trillion in federal student loans. The U.S. government in March 2020 temporarily suspended interest and payments on federal student loans at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The extension of that pause from September through Dec. 31 will increase outstanding student loan costs by a further $20 billion, CBO said. After accounting for those suspensions, CBO estimates that the cost of student loans will increase by about an additional $400 billion.

☆ Biden declared the pandemic 'over.' It could jeopardize student debt relief and more cash for Covid testing.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Joseph Zeballos-Roig | Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Republicans may also seize on Biden's remarks to challenge his effort to issue student debt relief. It could threaten student debt relief and future coronavirus-related health funding. The remarks suggesting that the emergency has ended may jeopardize twin goals of the Biden administration on student debt relief and coronavirus aid. Part of Biden's legal rationale for providing $10,000 in student debt relief per borrower rests on the lingering pandemic. But some supporters of debt relief don't see it quite that way.

☆ A top Republican lawmaker says she's 'open to suggestions for ways to stop' Biden's student-loan forgiveness plan
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-14 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Biden announced up to $20,000 in student-loan forgiveness for some federal borrowers. GOP Rep. Virginia Foxx said she's looking for ways to block that relief. Now, Foxx and some her Republican colleagues are eyeing legal action to overturn Biden's loan forgiveness. "We're looking for ways to stop it, and we're open to suggestions for ways to stop it. Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz also recently told The Washington Post that he's "brainstorming" ways to block student-loan forgiveness in court.

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