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Michael Stratford Profile
Michael Stratford

@mstratford

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Economic policy reporter @Politico . mstratford @politico .com. DM for Signal.

Washington, DC
Joined January 2008
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
2 months
>> Some news: I moved over to @Politico ’s economy team this week! I'll be covering banking/financial regulation — and I'll continue writing about student debt. Add me to your press lists & send scoops this way: mstratford @politico .com
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
3 years
New - Biden completely rejects Schumer/Warren proposal to cancel $50K of student loan debt per borrower: “I will not make that happen." Says he doesn't want to forgive debts of borrowers from elite schools -- and money would be better spent on early childhood education.
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Michael Stratford
5 years
BREAKING: A federal judge held Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in contempt of court for disobeying an order to stop collecting the student loans of borrowers who attended a for-profit college. The judge ordered DeVos and the Education Department to pay $100,000 in sanctions.
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Michael Stratford
3 years
Cabinet secretaries ⁦ @bikeshare ⁩ home from work, too. A person who appears to be ⁦ @SecretaryPete ⁩ rolling through Navy Yard just now:
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
2 years
NEWS: Biden admin is considering extension of student loan relief amid omicron surge & pressure from Dems. @usedgov says it may postpone plan to restart monthly payments Feb 1: "Later this week, we will be announcing whether to extend the pause further"
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Michael Stratford
10 months
🚨 NEWS: Biden admin will begin regulatory process to enact student debt relief under Higher Education Act, per notice posted today on Ed Dept's website:
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
2 years
New details on WH student loan relief plan, per sources familiar: —up to $20K of debt cancellation for Pell grant recipients — up to $10K for most other non-Pell borrowers —all relief limited to individuals earning <$125K; families <$250K —payment pause extended thru Dec 31
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
4 years
NEWS: Jerry Falwell Jr. is taking “indefinite leave of absence” from Liberty University.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
3 years
. @SenSchumer stepping up pressure today on Biden to use executive action to cancel $50K of student loan debt per borrower -- and to pick an education secretary who will do that. "You don't need Congress," Schumer said. "All you need is the flick of a pen."
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
3 years
Better bikeshare action shot:
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
4 years
House Democrats are significantly scaling back the student loan forgiveness provisions in their $3T coronavirus relief package, citing concerns about the cost:
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
3 years
Pelosi also questioned the policy wisdom of cancelling student loan debt: “Suppose…your child just decided they, at this time, [do] not want to go to college but you’re paying taxes to forgive somebody else’s obligations. You may not be happy about that."
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
3 years
Breaking: The Biden admin will extend the freeze on federal student loans until Jan. 31, 2022, per official & sources familiar. The relief had been set to expire at the end of Sept. Official describes this as a “final” extension.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
2 years
News - Federal judge declines to block Biden student debt relief plan, ruling that Indiana lawyer challenging it failed to show irreparable harm - especially since Ed Dept now has opt-out provision.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
2 years
NEWS: Biden says about 22M people have applied for his student debt relief program on He says the "vast majority" are applying on their phones.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
3 years
“I’m prepared to write off $10,000 debt, but not 50 because I don’t think I have the authority to do it by signing” an executive order, Biden says. He pitches 0% interest on student loans (which he’s already done thru Sept.) & expanding public service loan forgiveness.
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Michael Stratford
3 years
>> @SpeakerPelosi says Biden does *not* have the power to cancel student loan debt -- as some Democrats, led by @SenSchumer , are urging him to do. "That has to be an act of Congress," Pelosi says.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
1 year
NEWS: Federal judge in Texas strikes down Biden's student debt relief program, declaring it illegal.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
3 years
BREAKING - Trump admin is extending federal student loan relief -- suspension of payments, 0% interest --for another month, until Jan 31, 2021. The relief had been set to expire on Dec. 31.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
3 years
New – Key Congressional leaders have agreed to reinstate Pell grants for incarcerated students as part of a deal on a package of higher ed policies expected to be included in year-end omnibus spending bill, per aides:
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
7 years
NEW: Trump admin taps former DeVry University dean as new head of @usedgov unit meant to police fraud in #highered
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
2 years
NEW - @BharatRamamurti says the Education Dept will release the application for Biden's student debt relief program in early October. He says borrowers should expect relief within 4-6 weeks of submitting an application.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
2 years
NEWS --> Federal judge in Missouri dismisses the lawsuit filed by 6 Republican-led states challenging Biden's student debt relief:
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
1 year
A day after asking SCOTUS to allow it to implement student debt relief program, Biden admin today began notifying borrowers their applications were approved. "Your application is complete and approved, and we will discharge your approved debt if and when we prevail in court."
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
2 years
WH is also expected to tout its new, more generous income-driven repayment plan -- already in the works at Ed Dept -- that would cut monthly payments in half for undergrad borrowers (a Biden campaign promise).
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
2 years
NEWS: Biden admin is scaling back part of its student debt relief program over concerns about legal risk from student loan industry. In reversal, Ed Dept says borrowers w/ federal loans held by private lenders no longer have path to receive relief.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
2 years
NEWS: Top Education Dept officials have developed detailed plans to carry out student loan forgiveness for millions of Americans as they wait on the White House to make a final decision, per internal agency documents.
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Michael Stratford
2 years
WH keeps using a version of this line, but it's never been totally accurate. And today's version ("not a single person") is the most untrue one yet. Literally millions of people--incl. millions of federal student loan borrowers--have had to make payments during Biden admin.
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The Hill
2 years
Reporter: “Borrowers have expressed anxiety about the short-term extensions. What’s your message?” @PressSec : “Not a single person has paid a dime on their student loan. [...] If Congress were to send Biden a bill to cancel $10,000 in student debt, he’d be happy to sign it.”
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Michael Stratford
1 year
UPDATE: Biden admin confirms it will appeal the judge's decision to the 5th Circuit.
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Michael Stratford
2 years
. @Chasten ⁩ doesn’t appear to be a fan of the Biden admin’s plan to restart student loan payments next month:
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Michael Stratford
1 year
👀 White House HBCU Initiative (run by Ed Dept) just blasted out promotional content for Wells Fargo. Two paragraphs are reprinted, word-for-word (without quotation marks) from a WF website. The email also includes a link to a WF page promoting the bank's debit card products.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
3 years
Biden didn't make clear whether that "write off" of $10K would be via executive action or legislation. White House aides previously pitched it as a request to Congress, though earlier this month said for first time they were considering exec action.
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Michael Stratford
2 years
. @SenSchumer tells student debt activists that he’s talked personally with Biden "a whole bunch of times" about canceling student debt via exec action. "We are making progress," Schumer said. "The White House seems more open to it than ever before."
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
10 months
👀 The regulatory notice for Biden's Higher Ed Act fallback plan for student debt relief was finalized by Ed Dept last night per the PDF metadata.
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Michael Stratford
2 years
New - 7th Circuit declines to block Biden's student debt relief program. Panel of 3 judges (appointees of Reagan, Trump, & Biden) rejects emergency request for injunction by Wisconsin taxpayer advocacy group.
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Michael Stratford
2 years
NEWS: 8th Circuit temporarily halts Biden admin from “discharging any student loan debt under the Cancellation program” as it weights emergency request to block the debt relief reprogram.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
2 years
New - Biden says more than 8M Americans applied for student debt relief over the weekend.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
4 years
Initial plan would have provided up to $10K in loan forgiveness to all borrowers: Revised plan would limit the $10K in loan forgiveness only to those borrowers who were “economically distressed” on the day *before* Trump declared a coronavirus national emergency (March 12).
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Michael Stratford
2 years
NEWS - Biden admin is planning to automatically erase the defaults of millions of federal student loan borrowers -- part of effort to provide borrowers with "fresh start" once payments resume. (We previously reported this was under consideration )
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Michael Stratford
1 year
NEW: POLITICO analysis of federal data obtained via FOIA offers the most detailed portrait yet of who is seeking Biden’s student debt relief. We examined the ZIP codes associated with ~25M applications. Here’s what we found --> w/ @shmcminn @tmthomasdc
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
11 months
NEWS: Biden admin confirms how it will implement the provision of debt ceiling deal that terminates the federal student loan payment pause: ➡️ Interest will start accruing on Sept. 1 ➡️ Monthly payments will be due starting in October
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Michael Stratford
1 year
NEWS - 8th Circuit has blocked Biden's student debt relief program, siding with GOP states in a 3-0 decision.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
1 year
New - 5th Circuit declines to reinstate Biden's student debt relief program. 3-judge panel of GWB, Obama & Trump appointees unanimously rejects Biden admin's request to revive debt relief program that was struck down by federal judge in Texas.
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Michael Stratford
1 year
BY INCOME: Borrowers in lower-income areas applied for debt relief at higher rates than those in wealthier neighborhoods. 98% of apps came from ZIP codes where per-capita income is less than $75K. Two-thirds of apps from areas < $40K More than half of apps from areas < $35K
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
1 year
NEWS: Federal judge in Calif. approves Biden admin's sweeping settlement over pending "borrower defense" claims -- will provide more than $6B of debt relief to more than 200K borrowers.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
2 years
News: Education Dept. halts plan to send notices to student loan borrowers about their payments starting. It's the latest hint that payments won't resume in May. @WHCOS said last wk Biden admin is considering extending the pandemic relief yet again.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
4 years
Trump says his student loan executive order would “defer student loan payments and forgive interest until further notice.”
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
1 year
NEWS -- Biden admin extends pause on student loan payments until 60 days after Ed Dept is allowed to implement student debt relief -- or if it remains blocked/unresolved by June 30, 60 days after that.
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Michael Stratford
1 year
This is the most serious legal setback for Biden admin's program so far. Pittman, a Trump appointee, ruled in 26-page decision that the debt relief policy is “an unconstitutional exercise of Congress’s legislative power and must be vacated.”
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
3 years
News -- @SenWarren is blocking a quick confirmation for Biden's nominee for the No. 3 job at @usedgov as she presses for changes to how the agency manages the $1.6T portfolio of federal student loans:
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
1 year
NEW: Biden admin officials are grappling with how to resume collecting student loan payments from millions of Americans – as a funding shortfall forces Ed Dept to cut customer service for borrowers.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
2 years
NEW: Private student lenders are lobbying to get the Biden admin to end the pause on federal student loan payments. The pandemic relief -- which WH is considering extending beyond May 1 -- has hurt demand for private loan products, cut into profits:
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
6 years
"garbage dump masquerading as a college" is a new one...
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
2 years
News: Biden admin will automatically forgive all remaining federal student loan debt owed by 560K borrowers who attended now-defunct Corinthian Colleges. The $5.8B of loan forgiveness is the largest ever single discharge of federal student loan debt, per @usedgov
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
3 years
News - Federal judge in Florida rules in favor of @RonDeSantisFL , declines to block the state's ban on school mask mandates. It bucks the trend of two other federal courts that recently halted the same policies in Iowa & Tennessee.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
3 years
NEW: @BetsyDeVosED urged career employees at the Education Department to “be the resistance” as the Biden administration comes into power next month, per recording of her remarks obtained by Politico.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
1 year
NEWS: Biden admin plans to ask the Supreme Court to revive its student debt relief plan that has been blocked by lower courts, DOJ says in court filing.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
4 years
Borrowers would be considered "economically distressed" if their monthly payment under an income-based repayment plan was zero. Borrowers who are delinquent or in default -- or in financial hardship deferment or forbearance -- also qualify.
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Michael Stratford
1 year
Education Dept. has pulled the student debt relief application from its website after last night's court ruling that struck down the program. . @usedgov says it is "not accepting applications" at this time.
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Michael Stratford
2 years
NEW: The nation's largest unions are mobilizing to convince Biden to go big on student loan forgiveness as the White House weighs a final decision. w/ @eleanor_mueller
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
6 years
. @ChrisMurphyCT says on Senate floor that DeVos allowing schools to buy guns with federal money would be “in direct contravention of federal law” -- says his amendment would “reiterate the policy of this Congress”.
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Michael Stratford
1 year
Biden: "I especially want to thank the young people of this nation who ... voted [in] historic numbers again, just as they did two years ago. "They voted to continue addressing the climate crisis, gun violence, their personal rights and freedoms, and the student debt relief."
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
24 days
NEW: 5th Circuit Judge Don Willett, who's hearing the legal challenge to CFPB's $8 cap on credit card late fees, reported stock holdings in Citigroup, the nation's second-largest issuer of credit cards.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
1 year
WH announces new student debt relief numbers: 16M applications will be approved by @usedgov by "the end of the week" Nearly 26M people in total have now provided "the required information to be considered for debt relief"
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
2 years
NEWS: Biden admin has agreed to fully discharge federal loans of about 200,000 borrowers with pending borrower defense claims from dozens of different colleges -- as part of proposed settlement over @usedgov 's delay in processing the claims:
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
2 years
. @JohnBKing : “Our hope was, in the Obama administration, that income-driven repayment would help address the student debt crisis. But the reality is it hasn’t.”
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
3 years
NEW Biden admin blitz to reopen schools as 100-day deadline looms: -Federal action to get teachers vaccines -Considering a school reopening czar -Ed Dept national summit this month -Cardona/FLOTUS hit the road to highlight successes w/ @natashakorecki
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Michael Stratford
2 years
All 9 House Dems from Pennsylvania -- including 2 DCCC "frontliners" in vulnerable seats -- today asked Biden to extend the pause on federal student loan payments "until the country is back on its feet and the national emergency has ended."
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
4 years
The changes would roughly cut in half the # of borrowers who qualify for loan forgiveness under the bill. Dem aide says revised plan would provide some amount of relief to 20M+ federal borrowers, half of whom would have debt completely canceled. Unclear on #s for private loans.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
11 months
NEW: Biden, as expected, has vetoed Republican-led legislation that Congress passed last week to overturn his student debt relief plan -->
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
6 years
. @BetsyDeVosED proposal to tighten rules on student loan forgiveness contains inaccurate statements about @usedgov precedent for handling fraud claims, consumer group says:
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
7 years
Probably not the technical glitch @BetsyDeVos wants on Day 1 after being criticized about her support for IDEA
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
2 years
More news: AFL-CIO, AFSCME, AFT, NEA & SEIU asked WH to drop its plan to means-test student debt relief, per letter obtained by Politico. They also floated $20K/borrower. Some labor leaders have also been in touch w/ senior WH officials to press case, per people familiar.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
2 years
Worth noting: @usedgov statement today doesn't refer to the extension of student loan relief as "final" -- which it did (three times) in August statement announcing the previous extension of relief.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
1 year
. @NAACP says it "fully supports extending the repayment pause until borrowers obtain the relief they deserve and have been promised."
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
3 years
Betsy DeVos is now asking the full 11th Circuit to consider her request for an emergency order blocking her from having to testify in class-action lawsuit over student loan forgiveness. A three-judge panel last week rejected her request.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
3 years
New from @CDCMMWR : Unvaxed Marin County, Calif. elementary school teacher continues to work for 2 days with symptoms, reading out loud to class unmasked (contra school policy). 50% of class gets covid -- with risk highest in front rows near teacher.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
2 years
Education Dept has officially hit DeVry University with a $23.6M bill for cost of discharging student loans of its former students. It's 1st time Ed Dept has taken this type of action against a school that's still operating & receiving new federal loans:
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
2 years
New - 7th Circuit (again) declines to block Biden's student debt relief program. 3-judge panel of Reagan, GHW Bush & Trump appointees unanimously rejects argument by two Indiana borrowers who claim Biden's debt relief would leave them worse off b/c of state taxes.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
3 years
Biden has now officially repealed: -- Trump's effort to bar federal funding to contractors and grantees that engage in “any form of race or sex stereotyping,” including diversity training. -- Trump's short-lived 1776 Commission.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
3 years
The Biden administration is coming to Betsy DeVos' defense as she fights a subpoena to force her to testify in a class-action lawsuit over the Trump admin's lengthy delays and sweeping denials of student debt relief claims:
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
3 years
Schumer says that Reps.-elect @MondaireJones @RitchieTorres @JamaalBowmanNY will lead House companion to Warren/Schumer resolution from this summer calling on the president to use executive action to forgive federal student loans.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
2 years
WH officials plan to meet Thurs w/ student debt activists & advocacy groups ahead of Biden’s self-imposed deadline of Aug. 31 for deciding broad-based debt cancellation:
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
3 years
Senate covid relief bill will include new provision that makes "all COVID-19 student loan relief tax-free," per Senate Dem aide.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
1 year
Biden admin is likely to appeal the decision - since Biden has repeatedly said he plans to fight these lawsuits in court. It's not immediately clear whether @usedgov will stop accepting new debt relief applications as a result of the decision.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
4 years
NEWS - Trump admin will stop seizing the wages, tax refunds and Social Security benefits of Americans who are in default on their federal student loans in response to the coronavirus pandemic, per admin official and memo obtained by Politico.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
2 years
@PressSec . @PressSec also says Biden "has not ruled out" using executive action to cancel large amounts of student debt. But no update on that today.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
1 year
Millions of the approved student debt relief applications Biden announced Thurs have been sent to loan servicers, per sources. *Setting aside legal challenges* it's now clear Biden admin, operationally, exceeded some its own internal projections for implementing debt relief.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
2 years
👀 new court filing: Biden admin says the $6B+ debt relief it agreed to provide 200K+ borrowers in Sweet lawsuit is *not* an approval of borrower defense claims -- instead Ed Dept is outright canceling the debt under its "compromise & settle" authority.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
1 year
BY RACE: 15M apps from majority-white neighborhoods; 8.6M apps from majority-nonwhite areas. Number of applications per capita was higher among majority-nonwhite ZIP codes than it was in majority white ZIP codes.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
3 years
NEW - Biden administration announces first round of senior political appointees @usedgov :
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
7 years
Democrats seek to delay DeVos hearing until govt ethics office clears her finances & she signs ethics agreement:
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
1 year
. @SecCardona on ending the freeze on student loan payments later this year: “We’re preparing to restart repayment because the emergency period is over.”
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
5 years
“with extreme displeasure” — that’s how @BetsyDeVosED personally approved loan discharges for ~16,000 Corinthian students whose borrower defense claims were granted in final days of Obama admin but not actually carried out by Inauguration Day.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
2 years
.⁦ @SecCardona ⁩ says Ed Dept is “ready to roll” when it comes to implementing whatever final decision WH reaches on canceling student debt. “We are prepared,” he said. “We’re ready to roll up our sleeves...We’ve been working nonstop.”
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
2 years
Asked about expanding student debt relief to borrowers with privately-held loans, @PressSec says “it is a priority” for the Biden admin to “make sure that private borrowers also have an opportunity here.”
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
2 years
White House makes it official -- Biden is extending moratorium on most federal student loan payments through Aug 31, 2022. @POTUS says borrowers need extra time “to get back on their feet after two of the hardest years this nation has ever faced.”
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
3 years
New: Biden admin is planning how it'll restart federal student loan payments next year when nearly 2yrs of pandemic relief ends. @usedgov is looking at new flexibilities for borrowers & major outreach campaign to avert potential surge in delinquencies.
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
1 year
Supreme Court sets schedule for cases on Biden's student debt relief: Jan 4: Biden admin opening brief due Jan 27: GOP states & Job Creators Network briefs due Feb 15: Biden admin reply due No announcement on oral argument day (possible: Feb 21, 22, 27, 28, Mar 1)
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@mstratford
Michael Stratford
1 year
...And two hours later, the White House HBCU Initiative's weekly newsletter has been re-sent, sans any Wells Fargo content:
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