Playbook PM: W.H. to extend student loan pause through August

From: POLITICO Playbook - Tuesday Apr 05,2022 05:39 pm

Apr 05, 2022

Presented by

IT’S OFFICIAL — Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER today filed cloture on KETANJI BROWN JACKSON’s Supreme Court nomination, setting her up for a confirmation vote potentially Thursday.

BIG NEWS ON STUDENT LOANS — The White House plans to once again extend the moratorium on federal student loan payments, with an announcement set to come as soon as this week, Eugene and Michael Stratford report. The current pause is set to expire May 1.

— How long will it be extended? Through the end of August. An administration official familiar with the White House’s thinking confirmed that on Wednesday, President JOE BIDEN is expected to announce the new time frame — which would be considerably shorter than what some Democrats have been advocating. Just last week, nearly 100 lawmakers, led by Sen. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-Mass.) and Schumer, sent a letter to Biden asking him to extend the pause until at least the end of the year.

— Who’s behind it? The official pointed to SUSAN RICE, the president’s domestic policy adviser, as key in the negotiations securing the extension. “Since the beginning of the Administration, she has advocated for each pause on the repayment of student loans, including this most recent one,” the official told POLITICO.

— What are the political implications? A range of Dems have urged the White House to extend the pause on payments through the end of 2022, which would be long enough to avoid requiring borrowers to make payments just before the midterm elections. On the left: Many progressives want the payment pause extended as a precursor to wide-scale debt cancellation that they want the White House to pursue through executive action. Closer to the center: Centrist Dems, some of whom are up for reelection this year, generally don’t support broader debt cancellation, but have called on the administration to extend the repayment moratorium into next year.

BIG RETIREMENT — Rep. FRED UPTON (R-Mich.) is not seeking reelection, the end to the congressional career of one of the House’s longest-serving Republicans, Alex Isenstadt and Olivia Beavers report. That also makes him the fourth of the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach DONALD TRUMP to head for the exits. But he cited redistricting as the reason, telling reporters, “This was our decision, independent of what I did with Trump.”

Upton, who was first elected in 1986, had amassed a hefty reelection war chest this year, and was facing Trump-endorsed Rep. BILL HUIZENGA (R-Mich.) in a primary. The announcement comes just weeks ahead of the state’s filing deadline. “Even the best stories [have] a last chapter,” Upton said on the House floor. “This is it for me.”

HAPPENING TODAY — IVANKA TRUMP is testifying before the Jan. 6 committee today, NBC’s Ryan Reilly, Garrett Haake and Haley Talbot scooped.

Good Tuesday afternoon.

CONGRESS

COVID AID LATEST — After Senate negotiators struck a $10 billion deal on Covid aid funding that leaves out global assistance, House Majority Leader STENY HOYER today didn’t sound too concerned about House Dems defecting in protest over the omission. “There may be one or two,” he said, per Fox News’ Chad Pergram.

— Rep. TOM MALINOWSKI (D-N.J.), a leading voice on global human rights, said he wasn’t sure how he’d vote, per ABC’s Ben Siegel.

— Sen. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) said he wouldn’t support a GOP effort to link the Covid aid with a restoration of the Title 42 border policy, per Bloomberg Government’s Ellen Gilmer : “I’m not going to hold Covid relief up and the well-being of the citizens of the United States on policy.”

— BUT, BUT, BUT: This new infusion of money could last only a couple of months, according to experts and administration officials, forcing Congress to go through this rigmarole again as soon as this summer, Alice Miranda Ollstein and Erin Banco report . And that’ll get even tougher as the election draws nearer. “Public health leaders warn that these short-term bursts of cash are creating gaps in preparedness, leaving millions vulnerable to a new Covid surge.”

BUDGET BATTLE — Biden proposed historic levels of funding for the military, despite Democrats’ previous desires to rein in defense spending. Now Democrats have a choice, Connor O’Brien reports: Go along with the White House — or push for even higher numbers? Inflation and the war in Ukraine are among the factors prompting Republicans on the Hill to try to drive the budget higher. It’s not clear how many Dems will jump on board, but House Armed Services member ELAINE LURIA (D-Va.) is already supporting an increase. And it doesn’t take many Democratic defections.

IN THE CAPITOL — Ahead of layoffs that workers say would leave 81 Senate cafeteria employees without a job next week, they “went door-to-door in the Senate office buildings on Monday, pleading with staffers and senators to save their jobs,” Latino Rebels’ Pablo Manríquez reports.

A message from Amazon:

Benefits from day one. “At Amazon, your health benefits start the day you sign on the dotted line,” said Carlton, who made a doctor's appointment shortly after joining Amazon. That visit likely saved his life. “I wouldn’t be here today without those benefits.”

ALL POLITICS

FROM THE GROUND UP — The States Project and the Forward Majority super PAC are pumping a whopping $20 million into 40 state legislative races to try to flip at least one chamber each in Arizona, Michigan and Pennsylvania ahead of the 2024 presidential election, CNN’s Isaac Dovere reports. Their goal is to save democracy by preventing all-GOP state legislatures from overturning election results. It’s “a level of spending on state legislative races that Democrats have never had from outside groups before,” Dovere writes. He has plenty more details on how DANIEL SQUADRON and VICKY HAUSMAN are rolling out their single-minded mission of “securing the 2024 election results -- regardless of which party wins.”

CASH DASH — House Minority Leader KEVIN MCCARTHY pulled in a record $31.5 million fundraising haul in the first quarter of the year, per Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser. That’s the most a House Republican has ever raised in a single quarter. McCarthy has raised $104 million so far in this election cycle. Last quarter, he transferred $12 million to the NRCC, $2.3 million to state parties and $1.1 million to specific candidates.

GEORGIA ON MY MIND — STACEY ABRAMS is now a (multi)millionaire: Her latest filings show a net worth of $3.17 million, way up from the $109,000 she disclosed when she first ran for Georgia governor four years ago, AP’s Jeff Amy reports. Last election, Republicans criticized her for her debts; this time, they’re calling her a wealthy elite. “It is remarkable to me that success is now being demonized by the Republicans,” Abrams told the AP.

— Gov. BRIAN KEMP, meanwhile, ended the legislative session by getting just about everything he wanted from fellow Republicans, teeing up a series of bills he’ll sign to shore up support ahead of his primary with DAVID PERDUE, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Greg Bluestein reports. “It was almost as if top Republican lawmakers — who have either backed Kemp or stayed away from Perdue — used the legislative session to endorse the governor’s reelection campaign by giving him every key item he wanted.”

WHAT THE DCCC IS READING — MATT MOWERS voted twice in the 2016 primary — once in New Hampshire, once in New Jersey, AP’s Brian Slodysko and Holly Ramer report. That raises the prospect that Mowers, a former top Trump aide who’s challenging Rep. CHRIS PAPPAS (D-N.H.) for the second time, violated federal law. It’ll provide political ammo to his opponents in the swing district, especially since Mowers has highlighted “election integrity” as a policy priority. That said, there’s no chance Mowers could be prosecuted and some experts say it’s actually a gray area of the law.

GREITENS LATEST — A new filing from SHEENA GREITENS says she has evidence of the abuse she alleges ERIC GREITENS inflicted on their family, including photographic documentation of an injured child, The Kansas City Star’s Jonathan Shorman and Daniel Desrochers report. Contrary to the former governor’s claims that she hadn’t reported the abuse before, she also said “multiple lawyers, therapists and their mediator” had been told. Eric Greitens has denied his ex-wife’s allegations and painted them as a political smear concocted by KARL ROVE and Senate Minority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL. In the new filing, Sheena Greitens says neither of them was involved in her affidavit.

AD WARS — In the Ohio GOP Senate primary, one of the leading issues is fighting against being called “racist.” That’s the takeaway from two new ads released by JOSH MANDEL and J.D. VANCE, who both take umbrage at the criticism, as NBC’s Henry Gomez notes. Mandel shot his ad from the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., invoking Rev. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., while Vance linked his own views on the border to his family’s experience with addiction.

WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE — NEWT GINGRICH changed his endorsement in a Georgia congressional race from MIKE COLLINS, whom he’s known since Collins was a kid, to VERNON JONES, a former Democrat who has Trump’s backing, per CNN’s Alex Rogers.

JUDICIARY SQUARE

THOMASES UNDER SCRUTINY — VIRGINIA THOMAS has a consulting firm that could pose additional conflict-of-interest questions for her husband, Justice CLARENCE THOMAS, CNBC’s Brian Schwartz reports. RICHARD PAINTER calls it “very problematic.” Liberty Consulting’s conservative clients aren’t well known, but Schwartz found that they include a PAC that supported ROY MOORE and Trump’s 2020 campaign. Ginni Thomas has rejected the idea that her work and political activism are tied to her husband’s work.

INTRODUCING DIGITAL FUTURE DAILY - OUR MORNING TECHNOLOGY NEWSLETTER, RE-IMAGINED: Technology is always evolving, and our new tech-obsessed newsletter is too! Digital Future Daily unlocks the most important stories determining the future of technology, from Washington to Silicon Valley and innovation power centers around the world. Readers get an in-depth look at how the next wave of tech will reshape civic and political life, including activism, fundraising, lobbying and legislating. Go inside the minds of the biggest tech players, policymakers and regulators to learn how their decisions affect our lives. Don't miss out, subscribe today.

THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION

NOT READY FOR TAKEOFF — Boeing’s troubled production of the new Air Force Ones saw new mishaps earlier this year, WSJ’s Andrew Tangel scooped . The incidents, “which involved a pair of attempts to place one of the two of jets under development onto jacks, risked damaging the aircraft whose development is already behind schedule.” Negotiations with the government are ongoing for the delivery timetable for the new presidential jets.

MILESTONE — Biden is nominating Adm. LINDA FAGAN to head the Coast Guard — a role that would make her, if confirmed, the first woman ever to lead a U.S. military service, USNI News’ Sam LaGrone scooped.

WAR IN UKRAINE

LATEST UPDATES …

— Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY addressed the U.N. Security Council this morning, challenging the global body to save his country amid what he described as the worst crimes since World War II — or to dissolve itself. “Are you ready to close the U.N.?” he asked. “Do you think that the time of international law is gone? If your answer is no, then you need to act immediately.”

— Treasury won’t allow Russian debt payments from U.S. bank accounts to be paid in American dollars, the department said today. “The Kremlin must now choose between draining remaining valuable dollar reserves, new revenue coming in or default,” AP’s Fatima Hussein reports.

— More incoming: New sanctions coming Wednesday from the U.S. and allies will bar new investment in Russia and impose other financial penalties, CNN’s Phil Mattingly and Kaitlan Collins report.

— New EU sanctions would ban Russian coal and other imports, WSJ’s Laurence Norman scooped. The EU is also considering sanctioning Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN’s daughters, per Bloomberg’s Alberto Nardelli and Jordan Fabian.

— The Czech Republic is quietly giving tanks to Ukraine, the first foreign country to do so in the war, WSJ’s Drew Hinshaw and Yaroslav Trofimov scooped.

MUST READ — WaPo’s Max Bearak and Siobhán O'Grady have the story of Chernihiv after the siege , where residents described Russian atrocities and brutality to reporters who are just now able to reenter for the first time. “ALEXEY PAVLIUK, 26, described one incident in which TITAN and two other soldiers stormed into his house, dragged him and a friend into the backyard, hung them by their arms with rope from a tree branch and stripped them naked before pressing guns to their chests.”

THE WAR CRIMES QUESTION — In the wake of the latest reported atrocities in Ukraine, French prosecutors today opened three war crimes probes into potential Russian crimes against French citizens in Ukraine, per WaPo. NYT’s Rick Gladstone has a good step back looking at how the photographs out of Ukraine this weekend set off a global firestorm of outrage.

And WaPo’s Robert Klemko follows the work on the ground of Ukrainian prosecutors gathering evidence from one town to the next, building potential war crimes cases for the future. “The prosecutor general’s office estimates the country is using about 50,000 investigators from five different law enforcement agencies to investigate war crimes. They are conducting interviews across the country and meticulously documenting evidence.”

A message from Amazon:

AMERICA AND THE WORLD

PANDORA’S BOX — In the latest massive installment of the Pandora Papers investigation, WaPo’s Debbie Cenziper, Will Fitzgibbon, Emily Anderson Stern, Michael Korsh and Alice Crites dive into the world of registered agents. They allow shell companies and secret owners to remain hidden in the U.S. financial system, sometimes providing safe haven for the world’s wealthy, its oligarchs and its white-collar criminals. The industry is particularly robust in Wyoming, Nevada and Delaware. And now lawmakers are trying to change the system, forcing registered agents to identify the owners they represent and report and red flags in a new bill before Congress.

THE NEW GOP — Fresh off reelection, autocratic right-wing Hungarian PM VIKTOR ORBAN will be the keynote speaker at a Conservative Political Action Conference happening in Budapest next month. It’s “a test of how closely American conservatives are willing [to] align themselves with a global movement of far-right, Russia-friendly strongmen,” Reuters’ Peter Eisler, Alexandra Ulmer, Anita Komuves and Andrew Marshall report . Meanwhile, DOJ has received a complaint that the American Conservative Union is violating the law by failing to report foreign money.

IMMIGRATION FILES — Declining numbers of immigrants coming to the U.S. since the start of the Trump administration are a little-discussed contributor to the country’s labor market woes, WSJ’s Michelle Hackman reports . In industries like nursing homes and trucking, employers are struggling to find workers (and wages are rising) because the country has 2.4 million fewer working-age immigrants than we would have at previous trend levels. And the administration has been hesitant to take steps to bolster legal immigration because of border politics, Hackman reports.

VALLEY TALK

IN THE BIRDHOUSE — ELON MUSK, a day after revealing he’s now Twitter’s largest shareholder, is also joining the board, CEO PARAG AGRAWAL announced. Musk said he’s excited “to make significant improvements to Twitter.”

DON'T MISS ANYTHING FROM THE 2022 MILKEN INSTITUTE GLOBAL CONFERENCE: POLITICO is excited to partner with the Milken Institute to produce a special edition "Global Insider" newsletter featuring exclusive coverage and insights from the 25th annual Global Conference. This year's event, May 1-4, brings together more than 3,000 of the world’s most influential leaders, including 700+ speakers representing more than 80 countries. "Celebrating the Power of Connection" is this year's theme, setting the stage to connect influencers with the resources to change the world with leading experts and thinkers whose insight and creativity can implement that change. Whether you're attending in person or following along from somewhere else in the world, keep up with this year's conference with POLITICO’s special edition “Global Insider” so you don't miss a beat. Subscribe today.

PLAYBOOKERS

SPOTTED at the Faith Angle Forum on Monday and Tuesday at the Palms Hotel and Spa in Miami Beach, where journalists heard from Elliott Abrams, David Gergen and Alan Cooperman, among others: Carl Cannon, Matt Lewis, Will Saletan, Jackie Calmes, Mara Gay, Jon Ward, Krissah Thompson, Daniel Lippman, Michelle Cottle, Yair Rosenberg, Mona Charen, Seung Min Kim and Josh Good.

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Paul Boykas is retiring from PepsiCo, where he’s been SVP for North America government affairs after a nearly 33-year career. He’ll be replaced by Brigitte Gwyn, who most recently was president and CEO of the Association of Magazine Media, and is an Accenture alum.

MEDIA MOVE — Renuka Rayasam is joining Kaiser Health News as a senior correspondent in the Southern bureau. She previously was a national correspondent at POLITICO.

TRANSITIONS — Makan Delrahim is now a partner at Latham & Watkins. He previously was assistant A.G., leading DOJ’s Antitrust Division during the Trump administration. … Andy Dockham and Janet Hyojeong Kim are joining Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati’s newly launched strategic risk and crisis management group as partners. Dockham previously was chief counsel and deputy staff director for Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio). Kim previously was associate counsel to the president in the Office of the White House Counsel. …

… Justin Goldberger is now VP of technology at the Retail Industry Leaders Association. He previously was senior policy adviser to Rep. Donald McEachin (D-Va.) handling tech and telecom work on the Energy and Commerce Committee. … Miriam Smallman is joining the Atlantic Council as associate director of media relations at the Atlantic Council. She most recently was chief comms officer for trade and economics at the British Embassy, and is an Israeli Embassy alum.

WEEKEND WEDDING — Annie Starke, senior director of federal affairs for the Beer Institute, and Justin Lange, supercharger market lead for the mid-Atlantic at Tesla, got married in Aspen, Colo., on Saturday. After a weekend on the slopes, the couple exchanged vows at Aspen Chapel and danced the night away at the historic Hotel Jerome. Pic … SPOTTED: maids of honor Jill Barclay and Alexandra de Buhr, best men Alec Regulinski and Jim Devine, Win and Emily Huffman, Paige and Jake Starke, Tom Snedeker, Justin Griffin and Alyssa Farah Griffin, Bobby Blair, Nick Magallanes, Meridith McGraw, Brooke Lorenz and Courtney Johnson.