Transcript

2.21.26 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of Today's Washington Post for Saturday,
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February twenty first of twenty twenty six. We only have
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a week left in the month, and it's the second
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month of the year. Down already, goodness, gracious time flies
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at top headline across the whole top of the paper.
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High Court strikes down most of Trump's tariffs. On the
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left part President loses his favorite tool to wrangle deals
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by kat Zorinski and Isaac Arensdolf and Michael Birnbaum. And
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in the middle is a picture of the President flanked
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by let's see picture of flank about three of his
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staff members. He's in front of a backdrop of the
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picture of the White House in the oval circle with
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the American flag and the presidential flag on either side
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of him, at a podium with the Presidential seal in
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front of it, hands going up asking questions, and it
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says the pictures. Donald Trump speaks Friday, a few hours
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after the ruling. The President lashed out at the Supreme
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Court just just does it in unprecedented terms and said
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he would replace the import taxes the port overturned with
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a ten percent global tariff and other levies using different laws.
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And here's Chief Justice John G. Roberts Junior his comment,
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the President asserts the extraordinary now our power to unilaterally
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impose tariffs of unlimited duration and scope. In light of
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the breadth history and constitutional context of that asserted authority,
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he must identify clear congressional authorization to exercise it. And
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Donald Trump's comment, I'm ashamed of certain members of the court,
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absolutely ashamed for not having the courage to do what's
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right for our country. They're very unpatriotic and disloyal to
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our constitution. And on the right hand side of that picture,
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underneath the headline he lacks authority under a nineteen seventy
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seven act. President slams justices as disgrace to nation. It's
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by Justin d Old, David Lynch, and Julian Marx and
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below the fold and all in a straight line across
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the bottom of the paper. On the left, hearing on
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journalists seized gear turns testy Judge scold's doj lawyers who
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seek to search devices taken from home? That is by
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Kerry Stein. Then is a picture of saving the best
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for last. Alex Ferrera celebrates his win Friday in the
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Men's freestyle skiing half pipe, adding gold to his silver
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and bronze from the last path two games to finish
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the rainbow, as his mother said. And this is in
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the Olympics. And there's a picture of him with his
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back to us, and you see the flag held up
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behind him and his white shirt. You just see the
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SSA of the USA, and you see a red line
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around the waist of him in his pants. And in
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the background you see everybody cheering along for him in
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their hats and gloves. And Parker's his victory in the
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men's freestyle skiing halfpipe. To the right of that picture,
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Trump talks peace as he rattles saber at iran split
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screen of Vonnamie and belligerents strikes critics as incoherent by
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Adam Taylor. And then the very last article at the
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very bottom, investigation shows Meta's failure to protect kids from
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predators by Ian Duncan. Man solicited a girl on Facebook
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even after the company banned him. Our first article. Trump
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slams justices after Supreme Court strikes down most of his tariffs.
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The ruling deals a major blow to the president's signature
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economic policy and represents a stinging political setback by justin
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juvenile David J. Lynch and Julian Mark. The Supreme Court
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on Friday struck down most of President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs,
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a ruling that deals a major blow to his signature
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economic policy and represents a stinging political setback. Trump, who
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has largely been deferential to the High Court's previous decisions,
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lashed out at the justices in unprecedented terms a few
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hours after the ruling at a White House news conference.
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He called the justices who sided against him a disgrace
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to our nation. He said he would replace the import
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taxes the court overturned with a ten percent global tariff
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and the other levies under trade laws other than the
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one the Court ruled on. The new global tariffs will
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going to effect at twelve oh one a m. Eastern
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time Tuesday. The White House said, I'm ashamed of certain
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members of the court, absolutely ashamed for not having the
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courage to do its right for our country, the President said.
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The justices six to three ruling said the President did
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not have the authority under the nineteen seventy seven International
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Emergency Economic Powers Act the IEEPA to impose a vast
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array of import levies on goods for nearly all of
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the nation's trading partners. The decision imperils the core of
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the president's economic agenda and is expected to reverberate widely,
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affecting global trade, consumers, companies, inflation, and the pocketbooks of
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every American. The ruling is the most significant check to
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date on Trump's bid to vastly expand executive authority in
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his second term, and is most consequential setback before Supreme
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Court that, over the last year has given a green
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light to most of his policies in a series of
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emergency rulings. Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. Who wrote
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the majority opinion, was unsparing in dismissing most of the
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administration's key arguments. The ruling was strike in its timing,
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landing just days before some of the justices are scheduled
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to attend Trump's State of the Union address. The President
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asserts the extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration,
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and scope. In light of the breadth, history and constitutional
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context of that asserted authority, he must identify clear congressional
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authorization to exercise it. Roberts wrote, Trump cannot Roberts wrote.
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Roberts pointed out iee Pa made no mention of tariffs
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and that he could find little in the law to
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authorize such massive levies, writing bluntly, those words cannot bear
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us such weight, He said, Trump's move ran a foul
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of the Major Questions Doctrine, a rule the Court has
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enunciated in recent years that holds any presidential action that
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has major economic or political ramifications must have explicit authorization
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by Congress. The stakes of the ruling are enormous. The
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tariffs affect trillions of dollars in trade, and the government
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collected nearly one hundred and thirty four billion dollars in
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levies through December fourteenth under the authority challenged in the case.
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The majority did not offer clarity, however, on whether the
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administration will have to enact a massive refund of the
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funds collected to date. As Roberts read the tariff's opinion
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from the bench, Solicitor General d John Sower, who argued
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the case for the Trump administration in November, watched largely stonefaced,
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seated at a table in front of the justices. Sourer's
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hands were folded in his lap with fingers fidgeting slightly
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as Roberts got deeper into the opinion. The justices sent
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the case back to a lower court for further proceedings,
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and those justices will probably have to hash out the
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question of refunds. White House officials have given or warned
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a give back would be a strain on the nation's finances,
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required disbursements to more than three hundred thousand importers, and
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would be a logistical mess. Business groups have said that
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returning the money is imperative since the administration had no
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legal authority to take it. Trump did not commit to
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refunding the levees at his news conference and said the
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issue could be tied up in litigation for years. On Friday,
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some Democrats called on the Trump administration to begin reimbursing companies.
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Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Neil M. Gorsuch, Elena Kagan, Amy Coney Barrett,
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and Katanji Brown Jackson joined parts of Robert's majority opinion. Gorsuch, Barrett,
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and Kagan vowed concurring opinions in the case. In his
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concurring opinion, Gorsuch rejected the administration's argument that the president
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has substantial discretion over tariff's history does not support the
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notion that presidents have traditionally enjoyed so much power. More
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nearly history refutes it, Gorsuch wrote, adding Americans fought the
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Revolution in no small part because they believed that only
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their elected representatives in parens, not the King, not even
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Parliament in parentheses, possessed authority to tax them. He wrote,
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the framers gave Congress alone access to the pockets of
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the people. In dissent, Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh wrote he
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firmly disagreed with the decision. Text, history, and precedent all
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show that the ee PA law was clearly used properly.
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He wrote, Like quotas and embargoes, tariffs are a traditional
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and common tool to regulate importation, Kavanaugh wrote. Justices Clarence
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Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Junior joined him in dissenting.
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Kavanaugh added that the majority essentially concluded Trump checked the
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wrong statutory box, but had several other options to impose tariffs.
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Although I firmly disagree with the Court's ruling today, the
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decision might not substantially constrain a president's ability to order
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tariffs going forward, Kavanaugh wrote, as he listed other laws
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that Trump could use to continue his trade agenda. Trump
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approvingly cited Kavanaugh's opinion at his news conference and praised
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the three dissenting justices, even as he excoriated those in
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the majority. As the president's Friday announcement indicated, the ruling
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is not the end of all of Trump's tariffs. In
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addition to the new across the board tariff, other levies
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on materials such as steel and aluminum are not affected
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by the decision. Nonetheless, the decision represents a major blow
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to a core part of Trump's agenda and is a
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historic ruling on presidential power. This is probably the most
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significant example of the Court holding a presidential action illegal
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since President Truman c tried to seize the steel mills
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during the Korean War, said Richard H. Pildes, a New
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York University law professor, who added the dramatic nature of
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this decision should not be underestimated. Pildes was referring to
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a landmark nineteen fifty two decision in which the Supreme
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Court blocked Harry S. Truman from intending to put steel
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mills under government control during a strike. The work action
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threatened production necessary for the war effort, Truman said in
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media post. Trump has repeatedly exhorted the justices to uphold
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the tariffs, warning that their demise would be the biggest
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threat in history to national security and framing the case
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as literally life or a death all in caps for
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our country. Economists say the tariffs have been a drag
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on the US economy, raising prices for consumers and businesses
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at a time of concern about inflation. The unemployment rate
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crept up last year before dropping a bit in recent months.
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Inflation has remained higher than policymakers would like, despite cooling
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more than expected in January. US economic growth slowed sharply
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at the end of twenty twenty five. Despite the tariffs,
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the nation's trade deficit has continued at a high level.
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The deficit in trade of physical goods hit a record
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one point two trillion dollars in twenty twenty five, the
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Commerce Department reported Thursday. The Supreme Court signaled the importance
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of the tariff by agreeing in September to hear two
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challenges on an expedited basis. The ruling arrived about two
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months after the November arguments in the case. A relatively
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quick decision from the High Court. Trump has said tariffs
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will revive American manufacturing and protect jobs, but he has
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wielded them more broadly in his second term as a
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favored tool to punish enemies, win concessions, and give his
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administration leverage in a range of international disputes. His habit
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of imposing massive import taxes, then quickly rolling them back
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or delaying them has royaled global trade and occasionally upset
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the markets, while many voters have expressed concern about price
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increases and economic follow no previous precedent has used IEEPA
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to impose tariffs In its nearly fifty year history. I
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ee PA has typically been employed to levy sanctions against
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enemies of the United States. The law allows the president
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to declare an emergency to regulate doc dot dot importation
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of foreign goods to deal with any unusual and extraordinary
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threat to national security, foreign policy, or economy. Trump began
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announcing emergencies last February, slapping tariffs of between ten and
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twenty five percent on China, Mexico, and Canada for broadly
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failing to stem the flow of fentannel and other drugs
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across the border. In April and an event dubbed Liberation Day,
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Trump announced a universal ten percent tariff for nearly every
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US trading partner and higher levees on some nations. Trump
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said the annual trade deficits that the United States has
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posted each year since nineteen seventy five were an emergency,
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claiming that they have decimated American manufacturing. The Yale Budget
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Lab calculates that the current average trade or tariff rate
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of about seventeen percent is the highest since the Great Depression.
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A handful of small businesses and a group of states
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filed separate lawsuits against the tariffs, saying the levees would
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mean a major hit for their bottom lines and economies.
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The small businesses called Trump's imposition of worldwide levees a
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power grab. A federal judge, a specialized trade court, and
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an appeals court all ruled against the president in the
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two cases before the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court
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to take up the case. Bretique A. Shah, an attorney
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for some of the businesses challenging Trump's tariffs, said in
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his statement that the court arrived at the right decision.
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Shaw said the Supreme Court upheld the foundational separation of
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powers principle that our small business client has been fighting for.
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No president has boundless power to tax Americans. The ruling
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marked a departure from a string of victories for Trump
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at the High Court. The justices have overwhelmingly ruled for
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Trump in temporary rulings, clearing the way for him to
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ban transgender troops from the military, give the US Doege
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Service access to sensitive data, and deeply cut the Education Department.
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As legal challenges play out, there have been some setbacks.
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In December, the justices blocked the Trump administration from deploying
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National Guard troops to Chicago, in a significant blow to
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the president. Other issues the Justices are weighing related to
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the president's agenda include whether to clear the way for
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Trump to fire the heads of independent agencies without cause,
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which would be one of the largest changes to the
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structure of the federal government in decades. In conjunction with
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that article, Trump loses his favorite negotiating tool he toted
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to make peace and money advises view to Supreme Court
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ruling invalidating tariffs as a release valve for economic pressure
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and political divisions, Trump instead doubled down. And there's that
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picture I described earlier but this one tells you who's
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in it. To his left is Solicitor General d John Sauer,
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the one who spoke before the Supreme Court, and then
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well that he's too the president's right, and on the
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left is second Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and then Trade
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Representative Jamison Grier, and the four of them are at
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that podium by kat Zurzuski, Isaac Earnsdorff, and Michael Brenbaum.
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The Supreme Court's decision to invalidate the Trump administration's broad
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tariffs strips the president of a central instrument of his
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foreign policy, undercutting his ability to coerce global leaders and
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reshape the world order in his second term president that
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Donald Trump and his aides have celebrated his tariffs as
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a foreign policy innovation, wielding the import taxes to extract
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concessions from other governments on issues that extend far beyond
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traditional trade negotiations. In the first week of his presidency,
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Trump threatened to impose twenty five percent tariffs on all
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Colombian goods to pressure Bogutar to accept two deportation flights
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that Colombian President Gustavo Petro initially turned away. Since then,
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he has threatened tariffs to advance his foreign policy goals,
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to disputes over greenland, Gaza, and an influx of fentonal
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ingredients from China. In a news conference Friday, Trump said
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that he had used tariffs to settle five of the
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eight wars that he has claimed credit for ending, including
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a ten day conflict between India and Pakistan. They were
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getting ready to do some bad things, but they've given
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us great national security, these tariffs have, Trump said, while
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standing under purpolighting in the White House briefing room. The
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court decision could unsettle Trump's upcoming negotiations with world leaders,
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including a visit to Beijing next month. The Supreme Court
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struck down the tariffs, Trump has leveraged in negotiations with
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China in his second term, but he could use the
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alternative legal authorities he used to implement tariffs against Beijing
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in his first term. What he's lost is his speediest weapon,
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but not his only weapon for raising tariffs, said Kirie Hermann,
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a senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution.
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In anticipation of the ruling, White officials acknowledged that losing
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would be a psychological and rhetorical defeat from one of
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Trump's signature initiatives. At the same time, they said the
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ruling would remove an unpopular and divisive issue within Trump's
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coalition and reassure investors and businesses concerned that the tariffs
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contribute to inflation, a potential political gift. Trump opted not
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to take that off ramp on Friday. Instead, he announced
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an immediate ten percent global tariff under a different legal authority,
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and warned that more drastic measures could follow. I can't embargo.
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I can do anything I want, but I can't charge
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one dollar, he said. It doesn't matter because we have
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very powerful alternatives that have been approved by this decision.
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You know, they've been approved by the decision for those
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that thought they had us. Those alternatives, however, are less
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flexible than the emergency power of the Supreme Court struck
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down one authority requires significant justification to impose another never
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used before. Expires in one hundred and fifty days unless
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Congress extends it. It's a little bit longer process, Trump
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said Friday, adding I thought I'd make things simple, but
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they didn't let us do that. Despite his efforts to
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downplay the impact of the ruling on his authority. Trump
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attacked the Supreme Court justices who ruled against him as
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fools and lapdobs for the in brackets Republicans in name
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only that's rhinos, and the radical left Democrats. He claimed
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without evidence that they were swayed by foreign interest and
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call them unpatriotic, escalating his attacks on the judiciary in
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the wake of a rare unfavorable ruling from the nation's
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highest court. The ruling significantly restricts Trump's ability to dial
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threats up for ordon on a whim, targeting leaders in
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nations that displease him or from whom he wants a
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quick concession. These completely random linkages to various foreign policy
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or other issues that Trump cares about, that kind of
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goes away, said Jacob funk Kircaguard, a senior fellow at
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Bourugill of Brussels based think tank that focuses on economic
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policy other countries in trading blocks. It's as European Union
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will have an easier time engaging with Washington on the
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more traditional, narrower basis of trade talks, even if Trump
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finds a way to maintain substantive tariffs, he said. One
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senior foreign diplomat who has worked extensively on trade negotiations
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with the Trump administration. Said that terrors were likely to
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still pose a major threat to trade with the United States,
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even if Trump won't be able to tailor them as
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easily as leverage for non trade related demands. By now,
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we've all learned that the guy is viciously created, said
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the diplomat, speaking on the condition of an inimity to
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discuss sensitive negotiations that could prompt retaliation by the White House.
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Trump learned about the Supreme Court's decision when an aid
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passed him a note during a meeting with governors. He
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called the ruling of disgrace and ended the meeting about
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ten minutes later. According to a person briefed, Trump frequently
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says that tariffs is his favorite word, toting the import
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taxes as a tool to boast or boost American manufacturing,
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reduce reliance on foreign imports, generate government revenue, and strengthen
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his negotiating power abroad. If the Supreme Court rules against
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the United States of America on this national security bonanza,
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we're screwed. We're screwed. In caps, Trump wrote on truth
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Social last month. The ruling is likely to have an
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immediate impact on at least one trade deal reached last
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year between the European Union and the United States then
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has not yet been finalized by the European Parliament. After
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Trump imposed broad tariffs on European goods, EU leaders agreed
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to a deal to reduce trade breas in exchange for
28:41
lower tariff rates and arrangement some acknowledged disproportionately favored the
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United States. European lawmakers said that the European Parliament was
28:52
likely to approving the deal as they're studying the ruling's implications.
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Economists have challenged many of the president's claims of tariffs,
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which consistently rank among Trump's most unpopular policies. Businesses paid
29:08
the tariffs when they import goods, and often pass those
29:12
costs on to consumers, driving up prices as affordability has
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emerged as a key pain point for Republicans in the
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mid term elections. Americans have broadly disapproved of Trump's handling
29:27
of tariffs since he first introduced them in April. Sixty
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four percent of respondents in the Washington Post ABC News
29:36
ipso's poll released Friday disapprove of Trump's handling of tariffs.
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Ratings nearly identical to April polling. Despite Trump's efforts to
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sway public opinion on the issue, tariffs also emerged as
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one of the first issues that fractured Trump's fraying coalition.
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After his April announcement of the taxes prompted wild strings
30:00
swings in the markets, Some of the corporate titans, podcasters,
30:05
and even Republican lawmakers who served as Trump's biggest boosters
30:10
during the campaign, publicly criticized the policy. A legal center
30:15
funded by wealthy conservatives backed the lawsuit against the tariffs.
30:20
The failure could further isolate Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who
30:25
was champion tariffs and maintained the president's fable but irritated
30:30
other advisers. Lutnick accompanied Trump to Friday's press briefing, but
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did not speak Judge Scold's prosecutors. In hearing on search
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of Washington Post reporter's home, the judge appeared inclined to
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find a middle ground that would allow the court to
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do a search of the devices on behalf of the
30:55
government by Perry Stein, a federal judge in Virginia scolded
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Justice Department attorneys on Friday for not mentioning the nineteen
31:07
eighty Privacy Protection Act when they submitted their application for
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a warrant to search a Washington Post reporter's home and
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seize her devices. The Privacy Protection Act limits the government's
31:21
ability to search and seize journalists materials. Did you not
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tell me intentionally or did you not know? Magistrate Judge
31:33
William Porter asked the testing exchange unfolded in the middle
31:38
of a hearing, to determine whether the government should be
31:41
permitted to search through the devices seized from Post reporter
31:45
Hannah Natsenson, or whether the government must return those devices
31:50
to Madison without an extensive search. The judge appeared inclined
31:56
to find a middle ground that would allow the court
31:59
to do a search of the devices on behalf of
32:01
the government, and then hand information relevant to the search
32:05
warrant over to prosecutors. This would prevent the government from
32:09
having potentially unfettered access to Madison's devices, which the Post
32:15
said the reporter has used to communicate with roughly twelve
32:18
hundred confidential sources. I have a pretty good sense of
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what I'm going to do here, Porter said, adding that
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he wanted to spend some more time thoroughly considering his
32:31
options before making a ruling. He scheduled another hearing from
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March fourth, and said he expects to issue his ruling
32:39
before then. Friday's hearing marked the first time that prosecutors
32:45
and attorneys for the post have met in court since
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the unprecedented January fourteenth search of Madison's home in Virginia.
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Federal agents seized a phone, two laptops, a recorder of
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Hortable hard to Drive, and a garment watch. Law enforcement
33:04
officials said the search was part of their investigation into
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government contractor Orilio Perez Lugni's, a systems administrator with top
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secret clearance who was indicted in Maryland last month on
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charges of lawfully obtaining and sharing classified materials. The discussion
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of the Privacy Protection Act reflected the tense moment of
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the nearly hour long hearing in the Alexandria, Virginia Federal
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cortos Porter said he was particularly frustrated because he had
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spent two days going back and forth with the government
33:43
in January before he approved the warrant. He said he
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rejected multiple versions of the warrant request before settling on
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a relatively narrow warrant to seize the information on Madison's
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devices pertaining to her communications with the government contract them.
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The nineteen eighties Act is intended to prevent the criminalization
34:07
of a reporter gathering information. It says that a journalist's
34:11
materials should be seized only if that journalist is suspected
34:16
of committing a crime with those materials. The law says
34:20
that a reporter's possessions can be seized if investigators suspect
34:25
they contained certain materials related to sensitive national security information.
34:32
Justice Department trial attorney Christian Dibley apologized to the judge
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and said he could not answer the questions about why
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the government had not discussed that law because he was
34:44
not involved in the submission of the warrant. Another prosecutor
34:49
who submitted the warrant, Gordon Kromberg, a veteran attorney in
34:53
the Eastern District of Virginia, chimed in and said he
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did not mention the law because he does not believe
35:00
applied to the case. Porters suggested that whether or not
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the law applied in this instance, prosecutors should have included
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it in the application so that the judge could determine
35:12
its relevance. That's minimizing it. Porter told the government trial
35:18
attorney when he said he understood the judge's frustration. It's
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exceptionally rare for law enforcement officials to search reporters' homes
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to further cases in which the journalist is not a target.
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The law allows such searches under some circumstances, but federal
35:36
red leglatians intended to protect a free press, are designed
35:41
to make it more difficult to use aggressive law enforcement
35:44
tactics against reporters to obtain the identities of their sources.
35:50
The Post in Madison's attorneys have decried the search as
35:53
one that floats the First Amendment and ignores federal statutory
35:58
safeguards for journalists. They have demanded that the government returned
36:02
the devices so Maison continue can continue reporting, and said
36:07
that almost none of the materials on the devices are
36:11
relevant to the case against the contractor. Attorneys for the
36:15
Post and Madison argued in court that the seizures have
36:19
premitted Madison from doing her job because she cannot publish
36:24
material without her devices and sources. They also said that
36:28
the government seizure could have a chilling effect on future
36:31
government sources who may want to speak out about their
36:34
workplaces to reporters it's not about one reporter and one journalist.
36:41
It has to do with confidential sources, an attorney for
36:44
the Post, Simon Lakovich, told the judge. The Justice Department
36:50
attorneys conceded that they seized more materials from Maison than
36:54
is relevant to the search warrant, but they said that's
36:57
a standard reality in such search. The government planned to
37:02
set up a filter team to sift through materials then
37:05
hand over only relevant information to the investigators. The prosecutors said,
37:12
the government takes seriously that you did not authorize a
37:15
phishing expedition. Dibly told Porto. Perezlogone is pleaded not guilty
37:23
last month to counts of retaining and sharing sensitive national
37:27
security information. The Justice Department has said that Perezlagones had
37:32
been messaging Notison shortly before his arrest. Notison covers the
37:37
federal workforce and has been part of the Post's most
37:42
high profile and sensitive coverage related to government firings, national security,
37:48
and diplomacy during the first year of the second Trump administration.
37:53
She contributed reporting to a number of recent articles around
37:57
the United States. Capture of Venezuela's leader Nicholas Maduro in
38:03
December Nadison wrote a first person account about her experience
38:07
covering the federal workforce as the Trump administration created upheaval
38:12
across the government. She detailed how she posted her secure
38:16
phone number to an online forum for government workers and
38:20
amassed more than a thousand sources, with federal workers frequently
38:24
contacting her to share frustrations and accounts from their offices.
38:30
Nadison wrote in a declaration to the court last month
38:33
that she typically receives anywhere from dozens to upward of
38:36
a hundred tips from sources per day on signal. Since
38:41
the seizure, the number of tips has fallen to zero.
38:46
Prosecutors also served the Post with the subpoena seeking information
38:51
related to the same government contractor. The subpoena asked the
38:55
Post to hand over any communications between the contractor and
38:59
other employees. Porter said at the hearing that he took
39:03
issue with the framing of the search as an unprecedented
39:07
because it was executed at a journalist home. He noted
39:11
that Madison wrote in her first person essay that she
39:14
often works from home, which would make it a logical
39:18
place to execute a search warrant. I think that's an
39:21
inflammatory fact. Porter said, attorneys for the Post in Madison
39:28
repeatedly suggested that the government search was in overreach because
39:32
the agent sealed all of her devices, which comprised the
39:37
entirety of her reporting materials. Porta asked multiple times whether
39:42
there was an alternative way the government could have conducted
39:45
its search, since the materials are stored together on electronic
39:49
devices and not, for example, on individual pages or notebooks.
39:55
I still haven't heard some alternative way that you think
39:58
this could have been done, Porter said to the attorneys
40:03
going inside. In rare move, Veterans Affairs pulls back on
40:09
controversial disability rule. Veteran groups had warned that the change
40:15
would have disadvantaged veterans who need medications. By Meryl Cornfield,
40:23
the Department of Veteran Affairs has halted plans to enforce
40:26
a controversial rule they would have cut disability compensation for
40:31
veterans making claims. The decision follows a backlash from veterans groups,
40:37
which had criticized the rules impact on benefits. VA Secretary
40:42
Douglas A. Collins posted on x on Thursday that the
40:46
agency will not enforce the rule, but will continue to
40:50
collect public comments. The department had initially issued the rule Monday,
40:56
saying it would take effect immediately. The policy was set
41:01
to require that examine has taken to consideration the effects
41:05
of medication, essentially making it easier for the agency to
41:10
consider veterans less disabled if their medicine effectively treats their disability.
41:18
While VA does not agree with the way this rule
41:21
has been characterized, the Department always takes veterans concerned seriously,
41:27
Collins wrote. Veterans groups including disabled veterans, veterans of foreign wars,
41:34
and vote vets, had protested the rule this week, arguing
41:38
that it disadvantaged veterans who need medicine for health reasons.
41:43
Several groups also argued that the quick implementation of the
41:46
rule had effectively shut them out of discussions. Disabled veterans
41:52
should never be forced to choose between following their doctor's
41:56
orders and protecting their earned benefits of the UN National
42:01
Commander Carol Whitmoss and in statement, adding this interim rule
42:06
puts that stability at risk and it must be withdrawn.
42:12
The agency had implemented the change because the court ruled
42:16
last year that VA examiners should determine baseline severity without medication.
42:24
In the text of the new rule. VA called that
42:27
an erroneous interpretation that would have created systemic delays and
42:33
caused an overall increase in in compensation expenditures based on
42:38
a disability level that veterans are not actually experiencing. The
42:44
case is currently in the appeals process. The rule change
42:49
had stirred debate over how the agency decides the severity
42:53
of disabilities for veterans and how much to compensate them.
42:57
The ba's one hundred and ninety three billion dollar disability program,
43:02
which makes up a considerable and growing portion of federal spending,
43:07
compensates about six point nine million disabled veterans. The Trump
43:12
administration has sought terrain in waste, fraud, and abuse, though
43:17
mandatory spending like VA benefits and Social Security checks continues
43:24
to flow without impediment of Washington Post investigation last year
43:30
found that the increasingly costly disability program had been gained
43:35
by dubious claims and fraud, including millions of claims for
43:39
minor and treatable afflictions that would not permit veterans from
43:43
finding employment. The agency has said most veterans disability claims
43:49
are legitimate. The decision to pull back on the immediate
43:54
implementation of the rule is unusual. Social Security had been
43:59
weighing a rule to change how it considered age as
44:02
a factor in disability claims, though Commissioner Frank Bisignano later
44:08
told advocates he had no plans to move forward with
44:12
such a proposal, which would have blocked older Americans from
44:16
qualifying for disability benefits. One in four people or behind
44:23
on student loans. These groups blame Trump. Delinquencies on student
44:30
loans are nearly three times higher now than before the pandemic.
44:34
According to a report released Friday by Danielle Douglas Gabriel,
44:42
one in four people with a student loan due is
44:44
behind on their payments, nearly three terms the delinquency rate
44:50
as that before the coronavirus pandemic brought repayment to a halt.
44:54
According to a report released Friday, a trove of federal
45:00
data separately shows that increasing numbers of borrowers a barreling
45:04
toward a full blown default on their student loans, putting
45:08
them at risk of having their wages seized and making
45:11
it harder to buy a car or even rent an apartment,
45:15
all of which could impact the economy. The report released
45:20
Friday by two left leaning groups the Century Foundation and
45:24
Protect Borrowers largely blames the crisis on Trump administration actions,
45:30
including the government's decision to temporarily suspend applications for some
45:35
of the most affordable loan repayment plans, delay the processing
45:40
of those forms, and reject applicants on mass. The groups
45:44
say those actions have cut off the lifeline that income
45:49
driven repayment plans offer and deterred borrows from getting a
45:53
handle on their debts. But some higher education experts say
45:59
the accusations leveled in the report ignore the problem's complexities
46:04
and the shortcomings of Biden error policies. They gave borrowers
46:08
little reason to stay on top of their payments. Understanding
46:13
the dynamics of the payment problem is critical, as economists
46:17
warned that it could get much worse. The arguments revealed
46:21
deep divisions over the root causes of why so many
46:24
people are not repaying their loans and what the federal
46:27
government should do to help. It's a perfect storm that
46:31
has taken borrower distress to another level, said Isa Canchalabannez,
46:38
policy director at Protect Borrowers, a group that advocates for
46:43
alleviating student debt. The authors of the new report used
46:47
outa from the University of California Consumer Credit Panel for
46:51
their analysis. The other day, it confirms a historic rise
46:57
in missed payments. A report released this month by the
47:01
Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows the flow of
47:04
student loans into early delinquency at least a month past
47:08
due stood at sixteen point thirty five percent at the
47:12
end of twenty twenty five, compared to nine to four
47:15
percent nine point four percent at the close of twenty nineteen.
47:20
Student loan borrowers are transitioning into delinquency at a faster
47:26
rate than any other time in at least twenty years.
47:30
While the trend of past due payments is indisputable, the
47:34
Education Department says it's a mischaracterization of the factors that
47:38
play for the reporter's offers to blame the Trump administration.
47:44
Agency officials said there was only one month last year
47:47
in which borrowers could not access or access their application
47:52
for income driven repayment plans, which tie payments to earnings
47:57
and family size with the promise of eventual loan forgiveness.
48:03
The Department suspended the form in February twenty twenty five
48:06
after a court order blocking President Joe Biden's saving on
48:10
a valuable education repayment plan known as SAVE, raised questions
48:17
about the legality of other income driven options. The agency
48:23
said it had to make changes to the form, which
48:26
is used to enroll in all income driven repayment plans
48:31
to comply with the court ruling. Officials said the ongoing
48:36
litigation is also responsible for the hundreds of thousands of
48:40
applications that had been rejected or stuck in limbo since
48:44
the court order. After a ruling in the case, the
48:49
Education Department instructed its loan services to deny borrowers who
48:54
had selected the lowest payment amount on their income driven
48:59
repayment application because it would be the contested SAVE plan.
49:05
Several loan services said the majority of seven hundred and
49:09
thirty four thousand, two hundred and twenty one pending applications
49:14
are also from people who wanted to enroll in SAVE.
49:19
In both cases, the Education Department is encouraging borrowers to
49:24
select an alternative repayment and notes that services have processed
49:29
about a quarter million applications a month. Education Department spokesperson
49:36
Ellen Keast said the real culprit behind the looming default
49:40
cliff is the reckless student loan policies of the previous administration.
49:46
She criticized Biden's decision to repeatedly extend a payment pause
49:51
that began in the first Trump administration and the implemation
49:56
implementation of a twelve month grace period after payment restarted
50:01
in October of twenty twenty three. Those actions and the
50:05
controversial attempts at widespread student loan forgiveness, she said, have
50:11
lulled borrowers into believing their loans wouldn't need to be repaid.
50:17
The Biden administration massed delinquency and default rates, he said,
50:23
because there was irresponsible and unlawful policies, the federal student
50:29
loan portfolio is at a physical cliff. Benez A protect borrowers,
50:36
said the notion that people don't want to repay their
50:39
debt ignores the reality of the hundreds of thousands of
50:43
borrowers who have been trying to enroll in a low
50:46
cost plan. She and her co authors say the Trump
50:50
administration could have pursued policies to smooth the transition back
50:54
to repayment, but chose to leave people in the lurch
50:58
as higher prices for grocery utilities and other necessities have
51:03
stretched them thin. We've been living through an unprecedent affordability crisis,
51:09
and the student loan delinquency and default crisis stems from
51:14
and exacerbates this crisis. The same folks who are struggling
51:19
to keep up with their student loan payments are also
51:22
struggling to keep up with the rising cost Vaniez, said.
51:29
President Cooper, a senior fellow at the conservative think tank
51:33
American Enterprise Institute, argues that the economy doesn't look all
51:39
that different from twenty nineteen, and that research shows that
51:43
borrowers with high credit scores and high incomes are missing
51:48
payments people who should be in a position to pay.
51:53
This is an administrative and communications challenge more than anything.
51:58
When you have loan payments turned off for several years
52:02
and you try to turn them back on, it's just
52:05
going to be a major challenge, and one that we're
52:08
not meeting right now, Cooper said. Cooper and Sarah Suttlemaya
52:14
at New America, a center left think tank, said problems
52:19
in the repayment system span many administrations. They called for
52:24
systemic reforms, including more automation and upgrades to technology. Sattlemaya
52:31
the Project director for Education, Opportunity and Mobility on New
52:35
America's Higher Education program, said the payment system is overly
52:41
complex and not designed to provide a streamlined pathway for
52:47
borrowers to get back on their feet. She and other
52:52
higher education experts say both administrations could have done more
52:57
to communicate the resumption of payments. The education departments that
53:01
it has sent nearly twenty million emails to borrowers in
53:05
delinquency and default, urging them to re enter repayment and
53:09
highlighting repayment tools. When more than a million borrowers saw
53:15
that credit scores dip in the first three months of
53:17
twenty twenty five, many complained of not realizing payments had resumed.
53:23
Student loan services say many of those people have brought
53:28
their loans back into good standing, but other distressed borrowers
53:33
are ignoring them. The people with the most severe delinquencies
53:38
are not answering phone calls, not clicking on emails. There's
53:41
no active engagement since Scott Buchanan, executive director of the
53:47
Student Loan Servicing Alliance trade group. He said some services
53:51
are reporting that only four point four percent of people
53:54
in default are engaging at all. Caroline A. Sixty years
54:00
old barrower in Los Angeles, who spoke on the condition
54:03
that her last name be withheld because she is in default,
54:07
said she feels stuck. Her poor health has kept her
54:11
from holding down a steady job, she said, and made
54:14
repairing the thirty thousand dollars she owes from design school
54:18
seem impossible. A lay awake at night thinking what can
54:23
I possibly do to repay this debt? Sometimes I can
54:27
barely afford to keep the lights on, Caroline said. She
54:32
said she hasn't been in touch with her loan servicer
54:34
in part because she is embarrassed. In some ways. Payment
54:39
behavior has turned to pre pandemic days when loan defaults
54:43
were stubbornly hot. Back then, about a million people went
54:47
into default a year, roughly the same number who defaulted
54:51
on their federal student loans last year, according to the
54:54
Federal Reserve Bank of New York. What has changed, however,
54:59
is the of people becoming delinquent missing a month or
55:02
two or three on their payments. That rate has increased significantly,
55:08
creating much larger pipeline of people who could end up
55:11
defaulting on their loans. Student loan borrowers are considered in
55:17
default after missing two hundred and seventy days of payments.
55:21
Nearly nine million people are at least that late, with
55:24
five point two million of them more than three hundred
55:27
and sixty days behind as of September thirtieth, according to
55:32
the latest Education Department data. In response to the high
55:37
default rates, the Education Department on Wednesday implored colleges and
55:42
universities to do more to council former students who were
55:46
behind on their loans. Peter Granville, a fellow at the
55:51
Century Foundation, said he anticipates the delinquencies in defaults could
55:57
climb much higher than the seven million people of the
56:00
beleaguered SAVE plan are forced to exit. The federal government
56:05
has postponed payments for those borrowers through forbearans since twenty
56:11
twenty four because of the ongoing SAVE lawsuit. In December,
56:17
the Education Department reached a settlement with seven states to
56:21
resolve the lawsuit. If the court approves the deal, borrowers
56:26
will have to quickly find a new plan. Gramble noted
56:30
that many SAVE and rollees have incomes so low that
56:34
they qualified to have zero monthly payments, which means they
56:38
will likely struggle to afford any of the more expensive
56:42
loan student loan repayment plans. This is not simply a
56:47
return to normalcy in the repayment system. Gramble said, we
56:52
could see waves of delinquence in defaults, and the ripple
56:55
effects on the economy will be felt widely. I has
57:01
seen this earlier. I would have read the whole thing,
57:03
but I'm going to read what I can. This is
57:06
an opinion piece. This slap in the face to rule
57:10
America is a chance to turn it blue. Democrats should
57:15
be the party of aspiration and talk like normal human beings.
57:20
By Andy Basheer. Andy Bashir is Governor of Kentucky and
57:25
incoming chair of the Democratic Governors Association. As we watch
57:30
the consequences of the Trump presidency play out in real time,
57:35
Democrats face a critical inflection point. We must meet this
57:40
moment with urgency and focus, and with clear and tangible
57:44
vision it requires. Trump has given Democrats a huge opening.
57:49
He is making it so much harder for people to
57:52
get by. During the government shutdown, he was willing to
57:56
use the hunger of Americans, including children and seniors, as
57:59
a bargain. It was cruel and wrong, and importantly at
58:03
back by it. His one big, ugly bill will kick
58:07
seventeen million Americans, including two hundred thousand Kentuckians, off their
58:12
healthcare and threatens to close thirty five rural hospitals in
58:15
the state and three hundred and thirty eight nationwide. His
58:20
tariffs are jacking up prices across the board for no reason,
58:25
Butsheer says, Democrats are good at explaining our what. Let's
58:29
get good at explaining our why. That's how we will
58:33
win back the American people. We will have to do
58:35
the hard work of convincing American families that Democrats are
58:39
the party committed to addressing their day to day concerns,
58:42
that we believe in a bright future for their children,
58:46
and that we will always give them straight talk, that
58:49
we will do, in other words, what Donald Trump and
58:51
the Republicans have shown they will not. And with that
58:56
end today's reading of The Washington Post. Please can continue
59:00
listening to radio hour throughout the day. Have a good weekend.
59:04
BA