Biden’s backup plan for student loan debt relief is underway after Supreme Court ruling
With his ambitious student loan debt cancellation plan shattered by the Supreme Court, President Joe Biden has launched a lengthy process to cancel borrowers’ debt by other means.
The president’s plan B is only beginning to take shape. But Biden said last week that the plan, rooted in the Higher Education Act of 1965, is “legally sound” and the “best path” left.
Shortly after the high court delivered its ruling Friday, the federal Education Department launched a so-called negotiated rulemaking process to pursue student debt relief, according to the White House. An initial virtual public hearing is scheduled for July 18.
The text of the Higher Education Act dictates that the Education Department must “obtain public involvement in the development” of new rules related to the law.
—New York Daily News
Harvard legacy admissions targeted after Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action
Harvard University was accused by minority groups of violating federal law by giving preferential treatment in the admissions process to children of alumni and wealthy donors, days after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the use of race-based affirmative action policies.
The long-standing practice of legacy admissions flouts a provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that bars racial discrimination in programs that receive federal funds, because about 70% of legacy admissions are White, the groups said in a complaint filed Monday with the U.S. Department of Education.
“Each year, Harvard College grants special preference in its admissions process to hundreds of mostly White students — not because of anything they have accomplished, but rather solely because of who their relatives are,” they said in the complaint.
The minority groups seek a probe into Harvard’s use of donor and legacy preferences as well as a declaration that the school will lose federal funds if it doesn’t end the practice. The groups also want Harvard to ensure that applicants with family ties “have no way to identify” themselves in the admissions process.
—Bloomberg News
A Texas teenager went missing 8 years ago. He was just found alive
A Texas teenager who went missing eight years ago has been found alive. Rudolph “Rudy” Farias IV was 17 years old when he went missing in Houston in March 2015, according to the Texas Center for the Missing.
Farias, now 25, was found alive, the center announced Saturday on Twitter. “After 8 long years, Rudy has been located safe,” the organization said. “Please continue to keep his family in your prayers as Rudy recovers in the hospital.”
Farias was transported to the hospital after being found unresponsive outside a church with cuts and bruises on his body and blood in his hair, Farias’ mom told ABC13 in Houston. She told the news station she believed he has been beaten and abused.
In March 2015, Farias was walking his dogs when he disappeared, according to news reports. His family reported him missing after the dogs were found, but he was not.
—The Dallas Morning News
China says it wants more cooperation with Russia’s military
China said it wants closer ties with Russia’s military, a sign Moscow still has Beijing’s support after the aborted Wagner mutiny.
Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu said in a meeting Monday with Nikolai Yevmenov, commander-in-chief of Russia’s navy, that “with the joint efforts of both sides, the relations between the two militaries will continue to deepen and solidify, constantly make new progress and reach a new level.”
Li said he hoped the two navies could strengthen communication, regularly hold joint exercises and “expand practical cooperation,” according to a statement from Defense Ministry in Beijing.
The comments add to signs Beijing is shoring up ties with Moscow in the wake of the Wagner mercenary group’s uprising last month, the biggest ever threat to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rule. China’s Foreign Ministry said shortly afterward that it supported Russia’s actions to maintain national stability, and Foreign Minister Qin Gang met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko.
—Bloomberg News
