Biden's student loan help would be 'annihilated' by GOP bill
President Joe Biden’s student debt agenda would be all but obliterated by the U.S. debt legislation passed by House Republicans, dooming his mass cancellations, scrapping a more generous loan repayment option and barring future regulation around student debt.
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House approves pro-union bill despite dim Senate odds
But it faces an all-but-certain Republican blockade in a narrowly divided Senate and is unlikely to become law. Ad“I’ve heard Democrats argue that it’s the unions that built the middle class,” said Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., the senior Republican on the House labor panel. And what this bill does is take away their freedom.”Labor unions have long been a bedrock of Democratic support. “This far-reaching legislation is nothing more than an union boss wish list,” said Foxx, who led Republican debate on the bill. Virginia Republican Rep. Bob Good excoriated the bill, saying it would effectively “funnel money to Democrats” by allowing unions to collect additional dues.
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House approves pro-union bill despite dim Senate odds
But it faces an all-but-certain Republican blockade in a narrowly divided Senate and is unlikely to become law. Ad“I’ve heard Democrats argue that it’s the unions that built the middle class,” said Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., the senior Republican on the House labor panel. And what this bill does is take away their freedom.”Labor unions have long been a bedrock of Democratic support. “This far-reaching legislation is nothing more than an union boss wish list,” said Foxx, who led Republican debate on the bill. Virginia Republican Rep. Bob Good excoriated the bill, saying it would effectively “funnel money to Democrats” by allowing unions to collect additional dues.
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House votes to expand legal safeguards for LGBTQ people
The Equality Act amends existing civil rights law to explicitly include sexual orientation and gender identification as protected characteristics. The Supreme Court provided the LGBTQ community with a resounding victory last year in a 6-3 ruling that said the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applied to LGBTQ workers when it comes to barring discrimination on the basis of sex. Biden made clear his support for the Equality Act in the lead-up to last year's election, saying it would be one of his first priorities. Ad“Our neighbor, @RepMarieNewman, wants to pass the so-called “Equality” Act to destroy women’s rights and religious freedoms. Democrats likened the effort to past civil rights battles in the nation's history.
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Dems attempt to push through school funding, wage increase
The plan faces opposition from Republicans who want to tie new school funding to reopening. Biden's plan for $130 billion in school funding is in addition to more than $8 billion from previous relief packages. Stop ruining their futures and stop playing games.”Scott countered that schools can't make changes needed to reopen safely unless they get the funding in Biden's plan. AdRepublicans also signaled a fight over standardized testing, backing a proposed change to prevent relief funding from being used on academic assessments. The $350 billion portion of the bill before the committee also includes Biden's plan to raise the minimum wage from $7.25, where is has been since 2009.
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Democrats fail to override Trump veto on student loan policy
House Democrats on Friday failed to override President Donald Trumps veto of a measure that would have reversed the Education Department's tough policy on loan forgiveness for students misled by for-profit colleges. In calling for the override, Democrats said DeVos' rule made it nearly impossible for cheated students to get loans canceled. But Republicans said DeVos' rule is an improvement over the Obama-era policy, which they say granted loan cancellations too easily. Massive loan forgiveness has long been a Democrat objective and the Obama rule was a giant leap toward that goal. DeVos has faced sharp criticism from Democrats over her handling of the policy and a backlog of loan cancellation claims.