WTF Just Happened Today

Thursday, March 21, 2024

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1/ The Biden administration will cancel nearly $6 billion in federal student loans for 78,000 Americans through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. The latest student debt cancellation allows eligible borrowers to have their remaining debt forgiven if they have made a certain number of payments and are working for approved employers, like teachers, nurses, and firefighters. An additional 380,000 borrowers in the public sector are one to two years away from qualifying for the same debt forgiveness. In total, Biden has canceled $144 billion of federal student loan debt for nearly 4 million borrowers. (USA Today / NBC News / NPR / CNN / CBS News / Associated Press / CNBC / Axios)

2/ Congressional leaders released details of their $1.2 trillion deal to fund the government and avert a partial government shutdown. The package would fund about three-quarters of the federal government for the next six months, including defense, homeland security, financial services, and health agencies. The House will vote on the package on Friday, meaning lawmakers will need to waive a rule giving members 72 hours to consider legislation before voting on it. Meanwhile, Rand Paul and other Senate conservatives have threatened to slow swift passage of the bill down by introducing amendments. Government funding expires at midnight Friday. (Axios / Associated Press / Politico / NPR / Washington Post / New York Times)

3/ New York Attorney General Letitia James took her first step toward seizing Trump’s golf club and private estate in Westchester County, formally entering the judgments with the clerk’s office. James said she’s prepared to start seizing assets if Trump misses the March 25 deadline to post a $454 million bond for the civil fraud judgment she won against him. Trump’s lawyers claim it’s “a practical impossibility” to get the more than $350 million, plus roughly $100 million in interest, together by the deadline. Trump asked the appeals court to pause the judgment, saying 30 bonding companies have turned him down and he’ll be forced to sell properties in a “fire sale” to raise money if the court doesn’t waive the bond or allow him to post a smaller one for $100 million. (