The Hill’s Morning Report — SCOTUS skeptical about student loan forgiveness

by Alexis Simendinger and Kristina Karisch - 03/01/23 6:25 AM ET

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks at a rally for student debt relief advocates gather outside the Supreme Court on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023, as the court hears arguments over President Joe Biden’s student debt relief plan. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

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For the 26 million borrowers who applied for student loan forgiveness, the prospect of debt relief just got murkier. The Supreme Court’s conservative justices on Tuesday cast doubt on President Biden’s debt forgiveness plan during oral arguments, hindering the administration’s plan to wipe out more than $400 billion in student debt because of the emergency economic changes of the coronavirus pandemic.

Biden initially was reluctant to use executive power to forgive student loan debt. He agonized for months over equity versus giveaways, fueling inflation and questions of fairness to those who had borrowed and honored their loan obligations in the past.

Eventually, the Biden administration moved to forgive applicants’ debts under current law, offering up to $20,000 per federal student loan borrower. Six Republican-dominated states — Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas and South Carolina — and two individuals sued to stop the president’s plan (The Hill and The New York Times).

In the first of two challenges to the program, Biden v. Nebraska, a majority of the justices appeared skeptical that Congress gave clear enough authorization for the Biden administration to forgive billions of dollars in student debt. Chief Justice John Roberts indicated that the administration had violated separation of powers principles by acting without sufficiently explicit congressional authorization to undertake one of the most ambitious and expensive executive actions in the nation’s history.

“We’re talking about half a trillion dollars and 43 million Americans,” Roberts said early in the arguments, asking why the court shouldn’t expect Congress to explicitly accept a program of such massive scope (Politico).

The Wall Street Journal: During oral arguments, Roberts questioned the program’s fairness to those without college loans.

As the court prepares to rule on the cases this summer, The Hill’s Lexi Lonas has rounded up the key takeaways from Tuesday’s oral arguments. U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, arguing on behalf of the administration, told the court the government is “not disputing that this is a politically significant action,” but that the language of the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students (HEROES) Act is clear enough to give the Education Department secretary the power to forgive student loans.

The law says that the Education secretary can “waive or modify” federal student financial assistance programs “as the Secretary deems necessary in connection with a war or other military operation or national emergency” — such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Congress doesn’t get much clearer than that. We deal with congressional statutes every day that are really confusing. This one is not,” liberal Justice Elena Kagan said.

As the case before the Supreme Court unfolds, student loan borrowers are in limbo about the exact date when they must begin repayments following a three-year pandemic pause (The Hill). Eight of them told New York magazine’s The Cut how student loan relief would change their lives.

Related Articles

▪ The Hill: Student loan forgiveness: Key statements from each justice.

▪ The New York Times: Biden’s program means the student loan balances of millions of people could fall by as much as $20,000. This FAQ explains how it will work.

▪ Vox: The Supreme Court showdown over Biden’s student debt relief program, explained. The law is explicit that Biden’s student debt relief program is lawful. The Court’s Republican majority is unlikely to care.

▪ The New York Times: Missouri’s challenge centers on the nuances of the state’s Higher Education Loan Authority, known as MOHELA. Created in 1981, it has since grown to become one of the largest federal loan servicers — the entities that collect borrowers’ payments on behalf of the federal government.

LEADING THE DAY

➤ POLITICS

Democrat Lori Lightfoot, the first Black woman and the first openly gay person to serve as mayor of Chicago, on Tuesday became a one-term mayor — and Chicago’s first in 40 years to lose reelection.

In a contest that turned on voters’ concerns about urban crime and public safety, Lightfoot finished third in Tuesday’s election behind former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas (D), and Cook County Commissioner and Chicago Teachers Union organizer Brandon Johnson (D). Vallas and Johnson will face off in an April runoff to decide who will become the 57th mayor of Chicago (The Hill, Chicago Sun-Times and NBC News).

▪ Chicago Tribune: In four years, Lightfoot went from breakout political star to mayor of a Chicago beset by the pandemic and crime.

▪ ABC News: Vallas, 69, and Johnson, 46, are backed by Chicago’s most powerful labor unions, respectively — the Fraternal Order of Police for Vallas and the Chicago Teachers Union for Johnson. Vallas is running as a moderate who wants to invest more in public safety while Johnson is on record saying he wants funding for social services and intervention programs. Both men vow to fire Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown if elected.

Meanwhile, near the nation’s capital this week, Republican attendees at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference can buy T-shirts and network or perhaps fall hard for a prospective or announced White House candidate. CPAC opens its doors today, although the parade of prominent speakers begins on Thursday.

The Hill’s Caroline Vakil surveyed the agenda and zeroed in on five key Republicans who plan to participate, and five who convey a different message by skipping the event. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will speak on Thursday, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has instead embarked on a book tour that will take him to Iowa, Nevada and New Hampshire, key Republican primary states (The New York Times).

Announced presidential candidates former President Trump and former U.S. ambassador Nikki Haley will address the CPAC crowd, but former Vice President Mike Pence will be elsewhere. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, who has his own ideas about a GOP agenda heading into 2024, will speak, but Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has clashed with Scott, sent his regrets.

Politico: How big is the Always Trump component of the Republican Party?

DeSantis, 44, recently hosted a retreat for Republican donors and elected officials in West Palm Beach, Fla., and plans to speak this week during a closed-press Club for Growth donor event that will unapologetically exclude Trump. He’ll also appear in Alabama, Texas and California in the coming weeks. The Hill’s Max Greenwood reports on the governor’s shadow campaign in advance of his possible GOP presidential bid.

Top Republicans on Monday night signaled support to McCarthy for his decision to release video footage from Jan. 6, 2021, to Tucker Carlson and Fox News, but questioned whether Capitol security information was revealed in the process. Some lawmakers in the closed-door leadership meeting with the Speaker asked whether sensitive security protocols or certain evacuation routes would be exposed by taking that step (CNN).

GOP lawmakers argue that Democrats previously aired sensitive video footage as part of the Jan. 6 select committee probe. Democrats say what the public saw from a committee room was cleared by the Capitol Police and did not reveal secure Capitol “exit routes.” Carlson says footage his team viewed with McCarthy’s blessing will air on Fox this week. On Tuesday, the Speaker and GOP colleagues said no information would be broadcast before ensuring it doesn’t compromise the security of the Capitol complex (The Hill).

The Hill: House Republicans plan to give Jan. 6 Capitol riot defendants access to tens of thousands of hours of security video footage. Prosecutors and defense attorneys have had access to troves of videos and files from Jan. 6. Defense attorneys have access to all of the materials in the Justice Department’s possession, according to The New York Times. But the new trove of video to be released goes beyond what defendants and lawyers have been able to obtain before now.

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R), who says he’s exploring a possible presidential bid, defended his state’s first-in-the-nation primary, which Democrats are replacing so that South Carolina’s primary goes first. Sununu, during a Tuesday interview with SiriusXM POTUS Politics host Steve Scully, said Democrats can “go suck it” after altering their primary calendar. He said “maybe this summer” he’ll decide if he’ll enter the GOP presidential contest.

➤ ADMINISTRATION

Biden said Tuesday that when his budget blueprint heads to Congress on March 9, he’ll propose ending Trump-era tax reductions that benefit high income individuals and likely big corporations.

It will mark Democrats’ first effort to dismantle the GOP Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Biden’s fiscal plan would cut $2 trillion from the deficit by raising taxes and closing tax loopholes on the wealthy, but his idea is guaranteed to be a nonstarter with Republicans (The New York Times).

▪ Reuters: Biden says “I’m gonna raise some taxes” in his March budget proposal.

▪ USA Today and The New York Times: Biden on Tuesday accused Republicans of seeking to slash the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid, which are relied on by millions of Americans.

The Justice Department and Intelligence Director Avril Haines are urging Congress to reauthorize a controversial intelligence program with no changes. Section 702, as it’s known, is designed to gather electronic communications of foreigners abroad but has the potential to sweep up the communications of Americans (Politico).

Deputy Labor Secretary Julie Su will be Biden’s nominee to succeed outgoing Secretary Marty Walsh (Politico).

➤ CONGRESS

McConnell said Tuesday that he opposes defense cuts and favors substantial spending increases as necessary to be prepared to respond to threats posed by Russia and China and to help Ukraine win, reports The Hill’s Alexander Bolton.

But at the same time, lawmakers from both parties on Tuesday questioned the Pentagon about U.S. spending on Ukraine, signaling fresh concerns about what has been until now a consensus to bolster the war-torn country. Appropriators in December approved about $45 billion in military and other assistance for Ukraine, projecting it would last until the end of September. The funding is expected to be depleted before then (The New York Times).

McConnell’s support for increasing defense spending complicates the aim of Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to achieve a conservative-focused deficit-reduction package in potential trade for House votes to raise the debt limit later this year. McConnell and McCarthy concur that the U.S. will not default on its obligations. With the GOP agreement that cuts to Social Security and Medicare are off the table but at odds as a party over whether to shrink Pentagon spending, curbing future projected deficits without raising revenues becomes more complicated.

▪ The Hill: Senate Democrats tread carefully in early Social Security budget discussions with the GOP.

▪ Roll Call: House GOP appropriators unveil tighter earmark rules.

Leaning on bipartisan flourishes and an opening primetime video presentation, a new House panel that is tasked to reveal how the U.S. can navigate a perilous relationship with China began a Tuesday hearing by laying out an “existential struggle” with Beijing (The Hill).

Reuters: A new U.S. congressional select committee on competition with China held its first hearing with a focus on human rights on Tuesday, amid tense bilateral ties.

FBI Director Christopher Wray told Fox News during a Tuesday interview that “most likely a potential lab incident” in Wuhan, China, resulted in viral transmission of COVID-19 to humans. Details remain classified, he said (The Hill).

McCarthy is forfeiting some of his power to set the GOP agenda, handing it to “the five families,” a conscious use of a “Godfather” reference (Bloomberg News). The Speaker is offering fractious GOP factions more of a voice, hoping to better navigate his narrow five-vote margin by decentralizing power. Each of the “five families” envisions internal meetings first and discussions with GOP leadership afterward.

Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance (R), who joined the upper chamber in January, wants to help workers and businesses affected by the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, using a community aid program styled after the bipartisan Paycheck Protection Program, enacted in 2021 under Biden’s signature. There’s a hitch: Vance’s GOP colleagues are cool to the idea. PPP loans attracted the ire of many elected Republicans when they learned that fraudsters nabbed an estimated $80 billion of the $800 billion available from Uncle Sam to help small businesses.

“A little time needs to pass. We don’t even know what the health impacts are going to be yet of the train derailment, much less the economic impacts,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told The Hill, adding that it also remains to be seen how much freight rail company Norfolk Southern will pay to help East Palestine recover.

IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES

➤ INTERNATIONAL

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says his country is in trouble after six brutal months of fighting in the city of Bakhmut along the eastern front lines with Russia. In his Monday address, Zelensky called once again for modern combat aircraft to be sent so that “the entire territory of our country” can be defended from “Russian terror.” Despite the Russian gains, there was no indication that Ukraine’s forces were preparing to withdraw, and reports from the region suggested reinforcements were arriving (BBC).

Meanwhile, the Kremlin accused Ukraine of launching drones that flew deep inside Russian territory, including one that was within 60 miles of Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered stepped-up protection at the border as the drones signaled a breach of defenses. Officials said the drones caused no injuries and did not inflict any significant damage, but the attacks on Monday night and Tuesday morning raised questions about Russian defense capabilities. While Moscow blamed Kyiv for the assaults, Ukrainian officials did not immediately claim responsibility (ABC News).

In a live speech on Tuesday to the board of the National Association of Manufacturers, Zelensky urged U.S. companies still in Russia to exit and relocate to Ukraine to support its economy, its infrastructure and its defense (The Hill).

▪ The New York Times: The struggle to deliver on promises to provide Ukraine with Leopard 2 tanks for use against Russian forces has exposed just how unprepared European militaries are.

▪ The Hill: Russian deaths in Ukraine surpass all its war fatalities since WWII combined: study.

▪ NPR: How Russia’s war in Ukraine is being fought on social media.

Bola Tinubu, a perennial political kingmaker, was declared the winner of Nigeria’s presidential election Wednesday, extending the governing party’s rule as Africa’s largest country faces a series of economic and security crises. Tinubu’s victory comes after the political parties representing his two major rivals said the election had been rigged and called for it to be canceled and redone after reports of delays and isolated incidents of violence at polling stations.

The election in the West African nation — the most populous on the continent, with 220 million people — was the most wide open in years. The Independent National Electoral Commission, or INEC, said in a Monday statement that it took “full responsibility” for the logistical problems and delays. Many Nigerians had looked to the election to put the country back on track after eight years of rule by an ailing president who had reached his two-term limit and was not running for reelection (The New York Times).

A passenger train and a freight train collided overnight in northern Greece, killing at least 36 people and injuring 85 others as plumes of smoke filled the sky. The passenger train was following a route between Athens and Thessaloniki when it collided with the cargo train about 255 miles north of Athens.

“The evacuation process is ongoing and is being carried out under very difficult conditions due to the severity of the collision between the two trains,” fire service spokesman Vassilis Varthakoyiannis said in an emergency briefing (The Washington Post and Reuters).

▪ The Hill: U.S.-China tension over COVID-19’s origins test Biden’s balancing act with Beijing.

▪ The Washington Post: Hundreds massacred in Ethiopia even as peace deal was being reached.

▪ The Wall Street Journal: United Nations agency confirms Iran produced enriched uranium close to weapons grade.

▪ Bloomberg News: Italy’s government and German officials are leaning against a European Union plan to start phasing out combustion engine cars pivotal to the bloc’s green agenda.

👉 Mexico’s president claimed photographic proof of a mythical elf. He posted a picture of a veiled creature with glowing eyes perched in a tree. The president said it was an “alux” — a mischievous being in Mayan lore (The Washington Post, drawings HERE).

OPINION

■ After Ukraine, does Putin have his eyes on another country? by Andreas Kluth, columnist, Bloomberg Opinion. https://bloom.bg/3J2kIMs

■ It’s time to stop giving Ukraine what we think they need and give them what they want, by Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré (ret.), opinion contributor, The Hill. https://bit.ly/3ZezBAX

WHERE AND WHEN

📲 Ask The Hill: Share a news query tied to an expert journalist’s insights: The Hill launched something new and (we hope) engaging via text with Editor-in-Chief Bob Cusack. Learn more and sign up HERE.

The House will convene at 9 a.m.

The Senate meets at 10 a.m. to consider the nomination of Margaret Guzman to be a U.S. district judge for the District of Massachusetts.

The president will announce at 9:30 a.m. in the East Room that he’s nominating Julie Su to be Labor secretary. Biden will receive the President’s Daily Brief at 10:15 a.m. At noon, Biden will speak at the Department of Homeland Security to mark the 20th anniversary of its creation following the attacks of 9/11. He will return to the White House an hour later and depart again at 5:05 p.m. by chopper to Baltimore to speak at 6 p.m. at a House Democratic retreat. Biden will return to the White House South Lawn at 8:10 p.m.

Vice President Harris will join the president at 9:30 a.m. in the East Room for remarks about outgoing Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and Su’s succession to lead the department, subject to Senate confirmation.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken today will meet with officials including President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and plans an afternoon news conference. He will travel to New Delhi, India, to participate in the Group of 20 foreign ministers’ meeting. He will meet with Indian government officials and civil society representatives.

Attorney General Merrick Garland will testify at 10 a.m. to the Senate Judiciary Committee during an oversight hearing.

The White House daily press briefing is scheduled at 2 p.m.

ELSEWHERE

➤ HEALTH & PANDEMIC

Food and Drug Administration expert advisers on Tuesday recommended the first vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which is made by Pfizer. They will meet today to consider pharmaceutical company GSK’s version (NBC News).

The government could soon make it possible for the companies to manufacture the vaccine for use against a respiratory virus that kills roughly 14,000 older adults in the United States annually. Analysts predict the drug firms could gain a foothold in a market estimated at $5 billion to $10 billion. The FDA is scheduled by May to decide on approval for use in people 60 and older, which would enable the shots to be rolled out ahead of a seasonal surge in the winter. Approval for use in the population typically follows recommendations by the FDA’s independent experts (Reuters).

Many people who contract COVID-19 are left with lingering health issues that may seem unrelated but wind up testing the medical community’s ability to determine cause and effect. One of those conditions is known as POTS, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, a disorder of the autonomic nervous system that causes rapid heart rate, fainting and dizziness. Many patients are dismissed as having anxiety, delaying diagnosis. Once diagnosed, many patients face waiting lists as long as two years to get treatment from specialists (The Washington Post).

▪ The Hill: Why a definitive answer about COVID-19’s origins remains out of reach.

▪ PBS: Three years into the COVID-19 pandemic, disease origins remain a mystery.

▪ The Atlantic: No one really knows how much COVID-19 is silently spreading … again.

▪ The Washington Post: Artificial sweetener linked to higher heart attack risk, study says.

▪ CBS News: Children languish in emergency rooms awaiting mental health care.

Information about the availability of COVID-19 vaccine and booster shots can be found at Vaccines.gov.

Total U.S. coronavirus deaths reported as of this morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (trackers all vary slightly): 1,119,914. Current U.S. COVID-19 deaths are 2,407 for the week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (The CDC shifted its tally of available data from daily to weekly, now reported on Fridays.)

THE CLOSER

And finally … ⛰️ It’s March 1st. On this day in 1872, Congress established Yellowstone National Park in the western United States as the country’s — and world’s — first national park. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1978, the park’s 2.2 million acres — larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined — contain unique hydrothermal and geologic features.

The park is home to one of the world’s largest calderas, with more than 10,000 thermal features and more than 300 geysers, including the Old Faithful geyser, its most popular. Visitors to the park also have a chance of spotting wildlife ranging from the park’s famous bison to bears and wolves (Britannica and National Parks Service).

▪ The Intercept: How to save Yellowstone’s wolves.

▪ Jackson Hole News & Guide: Unsolved mysteries and strange deaths in Yellowstone.

▪ Fox News: Yellowstone, Grand Canyon under snow: 20 dazzling photos of America’s national parks this winter.

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