Student Loans Before the Midterms? Jean-Pierre: 'That's Not Our Goal' and 'We Do Respect the Hatch Act' (October 24, 2022)

Two weeks before the 2022 midterm elections, a reporter asked the White House whether student loan forgiveness would arrive in time for voters. “In regards to students loans: If the legal challenges are resolved, do you expect that anyone would get their loans forgiven before the midterms?” [1]

“Before — be- —” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre began. “Before the midterm elections?” the reporter asked [1].

“Look, I — look, we’re not doing this — that’s not our goal here is to get this done before the midterms. That’s not — that’s not something — just want to make sure — clear that up,” Jean-Pierre said [1].

“Again, this is not about the — for us, for this President, this is not about the midterms; this is a campaign promise that he has kept,” she said [1].

The video above shows the exchange at the Oct. 24, 2022, briefing. Quotes are from the official transcript published by the American Presidency Project [1].

”We Do Respect the Hatch Act”

Another reporter asked whether Biden was doing enough campaigning, noting that “he’s gotten 16 to 18 requests to campaign in these closing weeks” but had little travel on the schedule [1].

“Of course, I have to be careful of what I say, because we do respect the Hatch Act here in this administration,” Jean-Pierre said. The Hatch Act limits political activity by federal employees [1][2].

In the same answer, she went after the other party. “And you have congressional Republicans who want to take that away, who do — who do not want to see Americans have lower healthcare costs, who do not want to see Americans have lower energy costs,” she said [1].

”Smoke and Mirrors”

A reporter challenged Biden’s economic claims from earlier that day. “He has claimed repeatedly that the administration reduced the deficit. But if you break it down, you know, spending was high because of the pandemic. Those programs expired, and that brought down the deficit,” the reporter said [1].

“And he claimed that he had created 10 million new jobs. But in reality, those jobs have mostly been added back. And the Bureau of Labor Statistics says only about 514,000 jobs have been newly created. So, how are people supposed to take this kind of messaging on their most important issue seriously when some of this feels like smoke and mirrors?” [1]

“Well, let me tell you what the American people should take very, very seriously. Let me remind you of the Trump tax cut of 2017,” Jean-Pierre answered, before describing the economy Biden inherited in January 2021 [1].

”Those Reportings Are Not True”

A reporter asked about Elon Musk, citing reports of “some kind of national security review” and of talks to provide Starlink to protesters in Iran. “We’ve — we’ve heard those reportings. Those reportings are not true,” Jean-Pierre said. “The national security review, that is not true.” [1]

“And I really don’t have more to say on that piece, as well — on the Elon Musk and what he’s choosing to do and not to do,” she said [1].

”Some Excitement in the Biden Household”

On a lighter note, a reporter asked about the first lady. “And very quickly, we saw the First Lady in a Phillies t-shirt yesterday. Should we expect that they’re going to go to the World Series?” “I don’t have anything to announce,” Jean-Pierre said. “But clearly, there is some excitement in the Biden household.” [1]

“As You Know, We Love Charts”

A reporter she called Steven raised the border. “Late Friday, the Department of Homeland Security released the latest numbers on border interactions with the Border Patrol. They show that over the course of fiscal year 2022, 2.4 million encounters happened on the southern border. That’s the most ever on record,” the reporter said. “What’s the White House’s explanation as to what happened and why?” [1]

Jean-Pierre blamed regimes in Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba, then pulled up a graphic. “Okay, there you go. (A chart is displayed on the television.) As you know, we love charts,” she said. “Convenient.” a reporter called out [1].

She then turned to Republican governors, who she said were “using them as a political pawn.” [1]

By the Numbers

2 weeks: from the briefing to the midterm elections [1].
16 to 18: campaign requests Biden had received, per the reporter [1].
514,000: newly created jobs, by the reporter’s count of BLS figures [1].
June 7, 2023: the date of the watchdog’s letter on Jean-Pierre [2].
6-3: the Supreme Court vote that ended the loan plan [4].

What Happened Next

A watchdog found she broke the Hatch Act. The Office of Special Counsel concluded that Jean-Pierre violated the law ahead of the midterms when “she repeatedly referred to ‘mega MAGA Republicans’ while acting in her role as White House press secretary,” Fox News reported [2].

“Because Ms. Jean‐Pierre made the statements while acting in her official capacity, she violated the Hatch Act prohibition against using her official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election,” the agency wrote. It called her comments “an inappropriate attempt to influence the vote” but “decided to close this matter without further action” [2].

Jean-Pierre answered that the White House “didn’t know” it was a violation. “We did not know their opinion when we were given the green light to say the comments that I made,” she said [3].

The plan never took effect. In June 2023, the Supreme Court struck down the plan in Biden v. Nebraska, with Chief Justice John Roberts writing that the law did not give the Education Secretary that power: “It does not.” [4] For Biden’s sales pitch three days before this briefing, see HYGO News’ page on Delaware State, and for the Court’s ruling, the page on the Supreme Court decision.