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Warren delaying confirmation of Biden education nominee over student loan policies
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is delaying the confirmation of President Biden’s pick to lead higher-education policy at the Education Department as she pushes for reforms of the federal student loans program, according to a source familiar with the matter. The state of play: The negotiations have hampered the swift confirmation of James Kvaal as undersecretary of education, whose nomination to the position was advanced with bipartisan support by the Senate’s education panel in April. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free. Warren is in talks with the Biden administration to make changes to the management of the program, with “tougher oversight of loan servicing…
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren blocks confirmation of Biden education nominee, presses for fed student loan overhauls
Sen. Elizabeth Warren reportedly wants the Biden administration to agree to substantial overhauls of the $1.6 trillion federal student loan program before she joins other Democrats in approving President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead higher education policy, James Kvall. Warren, who’s led calls on the president to cancel up to $50,000 in borrowers’ federal student loan debt, is ramping up pressure for reforms including broader oversight of the companies who service loans, according to The Washington Post and Politico. On Monday, Warren — and her Massachusetts colleague Sen. Ed Markey and Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota — sent letters to the CEOs of all federal student loan servicers, pressing them…
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Ed secretary nominee to Latino educators: Lean on your ‘superpower’
FARMINGTON — Education Secretary nominee Miguel Cardona told Latino school leaders from four Western states Friday to embrace their “Latino-ness” as they support one another personally and as aspiring education leaders. “Embrace your Latino-ness. Embrace the fact that, Latinos, when we come together, within five minutes we’re family. That’s a superpower that we have,” said Cardona, addressing participants of the Four Corners Latinx Leadership Academy Summit conducted virtually but based in Farmington. Earlier this week, Cardona faced tough questions during his Senate confirmation hearing. Senators pressed him for his positions on issues such as transgender participation in athletics, student loan forgiveness and reopening schools, which President Joe Biden has promised…
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Education secretary nominee urges aspiring Latinos school leaders to lean on their ‘superpower’
FARMINGTON — Education secretary nominee Miguel Cardona told Latino school leaders from four Western states Friday to embrace their “Latino-ness” as they support one another personally and as aspiring education leaders. “Embrace your Latino-ness. Embrace the fact that, Latinos, when we come together, within five minutes we’re family. That’s a superpower that we have,” said Cardona, addressing participants of the Four Corners Latinx Leadership Academy Summit conducted virtually but based in Farmington. Earlier this week, Cardona faced tough questions during his Senate confirmation hearing. Senators pressed him for his positions on issues such as transgender participation in athletics, student loan forgiveness and reopening schools, which President Joe Biden has promised…
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Cassidy grills labor secretary nominee Walsh on when unemployed Keystone pipeline workers will find jobs
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., challenged President Biden’s labor secretary nominee Marty Walsh regarding the administration’s plans for the economy and the decision to halt work on the Keystone XL pipeline. Biden signed an executive order putting a stop to the pipeline and costing an estimated 11,000 jobs, approximately 8,000 of them being for union workers. The administration’s main talking point has been that as the U.S. pivots to a more climate-friendly economy, more new jobs will be created. Cassidy challenged Walsh by addressing what will happen between now and when those jobs are created. “Will those jobs be available tomorrow?” Cassidy asked. Walsh started to respond by stressing the need…
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Five key moments from education secretary nominee Miguel Cardona’s confirmation hearing
The most charged conversation at the hearing was started and fueled by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who raised the issue of whether transgender athletes should be able to compete in school sports. “What do you think about boys in girls’ track meets like in Connecticut?” Paul asked Cardona, referring to transgender girls as boys. Connecticut, where Cardona is state education commissioner, allows students to join sports teams based on their gender identity, and last year, the U.S. Education Department under Betsy DeVos threatened to withhold federal funding from the state because of that position. Cardona was clear in backing Biden’s support for the rights of transgender Americans. “If confirmed, it…
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Education Secretary nominee Miguel Cardona testifies about returning children to school amid COVID-19
Washington outsider Miguel Cardona, President Biden’s nominee to lead the Education Department faced tough questions at his Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday, on political hot-button issues like student loan forgiveness, transgender participation in women’s sports and most pressing: how to make good on Mr. Biden’s promise to reopen schools within 100 days of his inauguration. If confirmed, the Connecticut education commissioner will inherit an educational crisis brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. “We’re here today in the midst of one of the most challenging school years in American history,” Cardona said Wednesday in his opening statement. “For far too many of our students, this year has piled on crisis after crisis.”…
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