Sunday shows preview: Student loan deadline looms; Cheney loses primary

The pending end to a pause in federal student loan payments and Rep. Liz Cheney’s (R-Wyo.) House reelection primary loss are expected to be main topics on this week’s Sunday shows circuit. 

Former President Trump suspended student loan payments in March 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and President Biden has extended the pause a few times throughout his administration. The most recent extension is set to be up at the end of the month, and federal officials have not said if they plan to extend the pause further. 

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona would not say for sure if the Biden administration would continue the freeze in an interview on “CBS Mornings” on Tuesday. But he said it is a regular topic of discussion among members of the administration, and a decision will be made “soon.” 

“While I don’t have an announcement here today, I will tell you we’re having conversations daily with the White House and borrowers will know directly and soon from us when a decision is made,” Cardona said. 

The Biden administration is also facing pressure to forgive a certain amount of debt for borrowers, and the president has called on Congress to send legislation to his desk to forgive some debt. 

But with Congress likely to be deadlocked on the issue, Biden may need to take executive action to accomplish any debt forgiveness. He has asked Cardona to examine what authority he has as president to cancel the debt. 

Progressives have urged him to cancel as much as $50,000 of debt per borrower, but Biden has signaled he is more likely to cancel a smaller amount, potentially $10,000 per borrower. 

The administration has approved almost $32 billion in loan forgiveness for more than 1.6 million borrowers. Many of them attended schools that were found to have conducted business fraudulently or misled students. 

“I can’t get into the conversations we’re having daily, but I will tell you that from day one, the president’s been very clear about making sure we’re leading with students first,” said Cardona, who will appear on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and CBS’ “Face the Nation.” 

A group of more than 100 Democrats from the House and Senate signed Biden a letter at the end of last month to urge him to extend the pause. 

Republicans have pushed against Biden extending the pause and introduced legislation in April to end the freeze and limit the president’s authority to suspend payments in the future. 

Cheney’s defeat to Trump-backed challenger Harriet Hageman for Wyoming’s at-large House seat will also likely be discussed. 

With her loss, Cheney joins three other House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Trump over his role in inciting the mob ahead of the Jan. 6 insurrection and have lost their reelection campaigns this year. 

Four GOP lawmakers who voted to impeach Trump chose to not seek reelection, and two have advanced past their primaries to the general election. 

Cheney’s defeat was another demonstration of how her reputation among Republican voters has suffered since the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and of Trump’s influence over the party. 

Trump went after many of the Republicans who voted to impeach him since leaving office, with Cheney one of his top targets. 

Cheney served as chair of the House Republican conference but was forced out over her impeachment vote and her strong condemnation of Trump and his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. She has been one of two House Republicans who have served on the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack. 

But Cheney has hinted that her political career may not be over, even if her time in Congress will end in January. 

Cheney said hours after her primary loss that she is “thinking about” running for president in 2024, and she will make a decision “in the coming months.” She filed paperwork on Wednesday to restructure her campaign account into a leadership PAC called The Great Task. 

Cheney will appear on ABC’s “This Week.” 

Below is the full list of guests scheduled to appear on this week’s Sunday talk shows: 

ABC’s “This Week” – Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) 

NBC’s “Meet the Press” – Education Secretary Miguel Cardona; Reps. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Andy Barr (R-Ky.) 

CBS’s “Face the Nation” – Cardona; Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio); Deborah Birx, former White House COVID-19 response coordinator; David Laufman, former chief of counterintelligence at the Justice Department 

CNN’s “State of the Union” – Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.); Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) 

“Fox News Sunday” – Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm; Gov. Chris Sununu (R-N.H.) 

Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” – Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.); Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears (R); Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.); Joe Pinion, Republican nominee for Senate in New York and Republican strategist