On 10/25/2022, Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, “Today, I asked the President if COVID is still a national emergency. And he said, “It’s a necessity to deal with to make sure it doesn’t become one.” His answer would suggest that perhaps it’s not a national emergency right now. So is it fair to call it a national emergency under the HEROES Act to justify student loan cancellation?”
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So the student loan cancellation, first and foremost, that was decided by the appropriate agencies that that was the tool that we were going to use to make — to make sure that we give relief to Americans that need it. Let’s — we should step back for a second and understand why the President took that action when it comes to the student loan … l And we had the former administration who mishandled the COVID — the CO- — the reaction to COVID, how we would move forward out of COVID. The last administration bungled that, really.
And so the President took action … when we lift up the pause, that we gave people a little bit more breathing room. And that is where the student debt relief comes from. And we understand once that — once that pause is lifted, there’s still going to be people who are going to have a difficult time. And so, we’re — just because we’re in a different phase of the pandemic, as the President has said, COVID is still a problem. And so — and so that’s how we came to that decision to move forward with our assessment on how we’re going to provide that student relief
Heinrich: I hear what you’re saying on all that. I guess my question is: Is there another — perhaps a better mechanism to do that, because the whole program is caught up now in litigation. I know a lot of this legal argument is that it can’t be a national emergency because of actions that the administration has taken elsewhere. So I wonder —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So I actually disagree with you. What is happening is there are opponents out there of the student loan debt relief who do not want to give middle-class families a little bit more breathing room. There are opponents out there, many of them are Republicans, who are — who do not want us to make sure … They are upset that we are trying to help those very, very Americans. So that is what is happening. This is pure politics that we’re seeing out there. It is not — and the President — the way the President sees this, this is not partisan.
Heinrich: On the “national emergency” front then, what is the criteria the country would have to meet for it not to be a national emergency? Or is that even a goal?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, here’s the thing: We cannot forget that COVID is still a problem.
We just had Dr. Jha here talking to all of you. He wanted to be here, and we wanted him to be — to all of you, because you guys communicate with the American people. And we want — we want that — the American people to know that there is a new vaccine out there, and they need to get that shot in the arm because that new vaccine is going to help them ahead of the winter months … So, again, we are — we are still dealing with COVID. We’re trying to do everything that we can to make sure that it continues to not be a disrupter. Right? And the reason that it’s not a disrupter is because of the work that this President has done in the last 20 months. Okay, I’m going to move on. Go ahead.
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Q: goal to use National Emergency to cancel student loan? WH: GOPs don’t want give a little bit more breathing room.