Biden announces ‘new path’ on student debt reliefJoe Biden said he will announce a “new path” on student loan relief that will rely on a different law than the one that the supreme court today his administration could not use to relieve some $430bn in federal student debt.
“I’m announcing today a new path consistent with today’s ruling to provide student debt relief to as many borrowers as possible as quickly as possible. We will ground this new approach in a different law than my original plan, the so-called Higher Education Act. That will allow (education secretary Miguel Cardona) … to compromise, waive, or release loans under certain circumstances,” the president said.
Key events
Show key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this feature
Court ‘misinterpreted constitution’ – BidenJoe Biden directed blame for the apparent demise of his student debt relief program both at the Republicans who sued over the plan, and at the supreme court justices who ruled against it.
“I think the court misinterpreted the constitution,” Biden said. Asked whether he gave Americans “false hope” by promising $430bn in total debt relief only for it to be blocked in court, he replied, “I didn’t give any false hope. The question was whether or not I would do even more than was requested. What I did I felt was appropriate and was able to be done and would get done.”
“But the Republican snatched away the hope that they were given,” Biden said.
“This new path is legally sound,” Biden said in announcing his new attempt at student loan relief.
“It’s going to take longer, but in my view it’s the best path that remains to providing for as many borrowers as possible. I’m directing my team to move as quickly as possible on law,” the president said.
Biden announces ‘new path’ on student debt reliefJoe Biden said he will announce a “new path” on student loan relief that will rely on a different law than the one that the supreme court today his administration could not use to relieve some $430bn in federal student debt.
“I’m announcing today a new path consistent with today’s ruling to provide student debt relief to as many borrowers as possible as quickly as possible. We will ground this new approach in a different law than my original plan, the so-called Higher Education Act. That will allow (education secretary Miguel Cardona) … to compromise, waive, or release loans under certain circumstances,” the president said.
Joe Biden has started his speech by criticizing the Republicans who successfully sued to block his student loan forgiveness program.
“The money was literally about to go out the door, and then Republican elected officials and special interests stepped in. They said no, no, literally snatching from the hands of millions of Americans thousands of dollars of student debt relief that was about to change their lives,” the president said.
“You know, these Republican officials just couldn’t bear the thought of providing relief for working-class, middle-class Americans. Republican state officials sued my administration, attempting to block relief, including to millions of their own constituents.”
After a delay of 30 minutes, Joe Biden is finally speaking about the supreme court’s block of his student debt relief program.
Let’s listen in.
Lorie Smith is the web designer whose refusal to create a website for a same-sex wedding that may or may not have actually existed led to the supreme court’s conservatives today striking down a Colorado law intended to prevent discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community.
In an interview with Fox News, Smith, whose case was championed by the Christian legal non-profit Alliance Defending Freedom, cheered the court’s decision in the case:
“I am incredibly grateful for the court’s decision that affirms that the government cannot force anyone to say something they don’t believe.”
— Christian web designer Lorie Smith praises SCOTUS ruling in her favor after she refused to work on same-sex weddings pic.twitter.com/ja1fHlvS4i
— The Recount (@therecount) June 30, 2023 Biden set to address supreme court’s ruling against student debt relief programIn a speech at the White House scheduled to start soon, Joe Biden is expected to announce his next moves after the supreme court’s conservative majority stopped him from canceling $430bn in federal student loan debt.
Follow this blog as we cover the speech live.
Government report faults state department’s handling of Afghanistan withdrawalIt’s the Friday afternoon before the Independence Day holiday weekend, and the state department just happened to choose this moment to release a report critical of its handling of the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
America’s diplomatic arm “failed to establish a broader task force as the situation in Afghanistan deteriorated”, and “it was unclear who in the Department had the lead,” the report determined, according to the Associated Press. The document was completed in March 2022, but the Biden administration only decided to release it now, though many parts of it remain withheld from the public.
Fortunately for the people of the United States and Afghanistan alike, the AP has it covered extensively:
The State Department failed to do enough planning before the collapse of the U.S.-backed government in Afghanistan, according to a Biden administration review of the department’s performance during the chaotic evacuation of Americans and Afghan allies.
The review repeatedly blames the administrations of both former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden for their efforts before and after the August 2021 departure of U.S. forces from Kabul. The U.S. evacuated an estimated 124,000 Afghans from the country.
Republicans have in turn accused Biden of not taking responsibility for intelligence failures leading up to the Taliban’s seizure of the country and for the scenes of chaos at Kabul’s airport, where 13 Marines died in a suicide bombing.
The Biden administration released sections of the long-awaited State report, which was completed in March 2022, on the Friday before the July 4 holiday weekend, though it withheld most of the report from public release. It had released a National Security Council review of the withdrawal on the day before Good Friday and the Easter weekend but declined to issue internal Pentagon and State Department assessments.
A State Department task force helped bring out nearly 2,000 Afghan citizens in July and early August 2021, weeks before the Aug. 31, 2021, deadline the U.S. set for withdrawal. They were eligible for processing under a special U.S. visa program for Afghans.
But State “failed to establish a broader task force as the situation in Afghanistan deteriorated,” the report says.
And as the military planned for an evacuation of American civilians and Afghan allies, “it was unclear who in the Department had the lead,” it says.
“The decisions of both President Trump and President Biden to end the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan had serious consequences for the viability of the Afghan government and its security,” the report says. “Those decisions are beyond the scope of this review, but the (review) team found that during both administrations there was insufficient senior-level consideration of worst-case scenarios and how quickly those might follow.”
After a rough week for Democratic policies at the supreme court, this seven-year-old post from Hillary Clinton is making the rounds on progressive Twitter:
The three supreme court justices Donald Trump appointed – Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh – all supported the court’s decisions this week overturning affirmative action and Joe Biden’s student debt forgiveness program, as well as curbing laws that protect LGBTQ+ people from discrimination.
Léonie Chao-Fong
Students protest outside the supreme court after its conservative justices struck down Joe Biden’s debt relief program today. Photograph: Allison Bailey/NurPhoto/ShutterstockSeveral dozen demonstrators gathered outside the supreme court on Friday following its decision to strike down the Biden’s administration’s student loan forgiveness plan and block millions of borrowers from receiving debt relief.
Tori Wanzer of Maryland was visibly disappointed by the conservative justices’ decision as she stood outside the court with a group representing the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). “It’s absolutely ridiculous,” she told the Guardian. “This ruling negatively impacts so many different groups of people.”
Wanzer questioned the court’s motivation “because it doesn’t seem like it’s for the greater good”. Comparing the decision with Florida governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis’s rejection of an Advanced Placement class on African American studies, she said Friday’s ruling felt like it was “just one thing after another”.
“It’s 2023 and we’ve gotten more progressive, with certain movements and groups of people who can be loud and proud with their rights. [The court’s ruling] is a way to stop that. It’s a way for them to take control over who gets assistance and acceptance into certain institutions and who doesn’t – who’s forced to suffer and who is helped to greatness,” Wanzer said.
Bryanna Mitchell, 24, from Arizona, said she was “shocked’ when she heard the court’s ruling today, and that she decided to attend the protest on behalf of the AFT because it was “very necessary to show up for all the people who have student debt” and to call on Joe Biden to “follow through with what he promised us”.
Shanna Hayes of New York described the “shame” she used to feel about carrying her student loan. “It’s not just me,” said Hayes, 34, who is an economic justice fellow at the Student Debt Crisis Center (SDCC). “Many of us have heard the rhetoric – that I’ve made poor decisions, and that I need to pay my bills”.
“But it’s not just people who are in their twenties and thirties. It’s people who are grandparents who are struggling. It’s people who can’t retire because all their retirement funds are going to be taken by the government because they’ve defaulted on their student loans.”
SDCC managing director Sabrina Calazans said the supreme court’s ruling felt like a “gut punch”. “We’re just heartbroken by this decision”, the 26-year-old said.
Calazans said she regularly spoke with people about how they were being personally impacted by student debt. “We hear from people who can’t retire, who can’t get married, who can’t start a family, and who can’t invest in their futures”.
“We need to do something about it. It’s poor, working-class folks, middle-class folks, Black and brown Americans who are disproportionately impacted by student debt.”
Progressives demand Biden invoke ‘Plan B’ to cancel student debtThe supreme court has the kibosh on Joe Biden’s plan to cancel some federal student debt, but progressives insist the president still has options.
“Today, I am urging the Biden administration to implement a Plan B immediately to cancel student debt for tens of millions of Americans who are struggling to pay the rent, put food on the table, and pay for the basic necessities of life,” said independent senator Bernie Sanders, a longtime proponent of student debt cancellation.
“Despite this legally unsound supreme court decision, the president has the clear authority under the Higher Education Act of 1965 to cancel student debt. He must use this authority immediately. If Republicans could provide trillions of dollars in tax breaks to the top one percent and profitable corporations, if they could cancel hundreds of billions in loans for wealthy business owners during the pandemic when Trump was president and if they could vote to spend $886bn on the Pentagon, please don’t tell me that we cannot afford to cancel student debt for working families.”
His call was echoed by Democratic congressman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who agreed Biden has the legal authority to relieve debt:
It is very important to note this SCOTUS ruling does NOT remove Biden’s ability to pursue student loan forgiveness.
The Biden Admin can use the HEA (Higher Ed Act) – our position from the start – to continue loan forgiveness before payments resume. They should do so ASAP. t.co/inV3yWsDwB
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 30, 2023Just last year, DOE forgave $6 BILLION for defrauded students. Trump completely wiped out debt for disabled veterans. Neither program was challenged nor overturned.
We still have the power to cancel and must use it, or we’re looking at an economic crisis for millions of people.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 30, 2023
Joanna Walters
Prosecutors said today that they have turned over more than 80,000 pages of materials to congressman George Santos’s lawyers in the federal fraud and money laundering case against him, the Associated Press reports.
The documents weren’t publicly released, as is common during this stage of a case. The barely five-minute hearing at a Long Island courthouse focused on the case schedule, with the next court date set for 7 September.
Santos didn’t speak in court, nor (unlike last time) to journalists waiting outside. The New York Republican, known for fabricating key parts his life story, is free on bond, awaiting trial.
Santos pleaded not guilty last month to charges that he duped donors, stole from his campaign, collected fraudulent unemployment benefits and lied to Congress about being a millionaire.
Prosecutors have charged Santos with 13 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and making false statements to Congress. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Meanwhile ABC reports that someone who did speak outside the court was the military veteran Richard Osthoff, who has accused Santos of filching money raised to save his dog.
Navy vet Osthoff who accused Santos of stealing money raised for his dying dog shouted “you killed my dog!” at the Congressman as he left court.
He told ABC News he doesn’t want people to forget “what a piece of work he is” t.co/YJzMnWthh3 pic.twitter.com/i0tJDndAFh
— Will Steakin (@wsteaks) June 30, 2023
Joan E Greve
The progressive congressman Ro Khanna of California argued the Biden administration still has options to offer relief to student borrowers, even after the supreme court struck down the president’s debt forgiveness program.
As of now, student loan payments are set to resume in September, after a three-year pause precipitated by the coronavirus pandemic.
“We’ve got to figure out how to at least pause the student loan repayment in September, until we make good on our promise to forgive student loans,” Khanna said. “We can’t forsake young people who are relying on the president’s policy.”
Khanna went on to say that Biden should consider invoking the Higher Education Act of 1965 to cancel some student debt. The Biden administration relied on the Heroes Act of 2003 to defend its debt cancelation program, but the court rejected the legal basis for that argument.
Asked whether the White House seems open to those proposals, Khanna replied, “They have engaged in a constructive conversation with those of us in the progressive caucus, but we’ve made it clear: there is no other option. The students who have been promised this forgiveness cannot be repaying student loans in September. That would be a punch to the gut of millions of young Americans across this country.”
Meanwhile, demonstrators have gathered in front of the supreme court building in Washington to protest the court’s decision. The Guardian’s Léonie Chao-Fong is there and will send a dispatch.
Protest outside the Supreme Court following the court’s ruling against the Biden administration’s student debt forgiveness plan pic.twitter.com/NOdl1ytZyT
— Léonie Chao-Fong (@leonie_chaofong) June 30, 2023For the second time in two days, Joe Biden will make remarks at the White House in response to decisions by the conservative-controlled US supreme court.
The US president is due to step up to the mike at the White House at 3.30pm ET and make comments on this morning’s court ruling against the legality of his $430bn program to offer student debt relief to up to 40 million Americans.
The White House will speak in the Roosevelt Room. He is expected to talk about options for taking alternative action to relief the loan burden.
These are likely to be brief remarks as, scheduled for 3.45pm is the press briefing by the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, who will be accompanied by the secretary of education, Miguel Cardona, and the deputy director of the National Economic Council, Bharat Ramamurti.
Yesterday, speaking from the White House to slam the court’s striking down of affirmative action in US higher education, Biden answered one question called out as he left, following brief remarks. In response to being asked if the justices now represented a “rogue court” he responded: “This is not a normal court.”
Joe Biden prepares to leave after speaking on the supreme court ruling on affirmative action in college admissions in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, 29 June. Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP