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Sen. Schumer Plans To Introduce ‘No PR Act’ To Keep Trump From History

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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has announced his plan to introduce legislation that would prohibit President Donald Trump from signing his name on future stimulus checks.

It’s legislation that some Republican lawmakers call petty.

The legislation, titled the ‘No Politics in Pandemic Recovery Act,’ or ‘No PR Act,’ would prevent taxpayer money from being used for any “promotional activity” including President Trump or Vice President Pence’s name, likeness or signature. According to a Politico report, Sen. Schumer’s goal is to add this legislation to the next coronavirus stimulus package.

The Senate Minority Leader is planning to introduce this legislation following the Treasury Department’s decision to print President Trump’s name on the $1,200 stimulus checks for millions of Americans impacted by the economic devastation of the COVID-19 outbreak and the subsequent shutdowns.

Despite calling out the President for his signatures, labeling them as a PR stunt, Sen. Schumer has never been one to shy away from the media spotlight. An old joke in Washington goes, “The most dangerous place in Washington is between Chuck Schumer and a TV camera.” There is arguably no bigger “publicity hound” in Congress than the Democrat from Brooklyn, who has been on television dozens of times in the last six weeks.

Senator Schumer elaborated on his idea in a statement to The Hill. “Trump unfortunately appears to see the pandemic as just another opportunity to promote his own political interests,” said Schumer. “The No PR Act puts an end to the president’s exploitation of taxpayer money for promotional material that only benefits his re-election campaign.”

He added that “delaying the release of stimulus checks so his signature could be added is a waste of time and money.”

Moreover, Schumer’s colleague, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin last week, in which he asked for “details about how you made this decision to benefit the president politically, which may delay delivery of critical funds to millions of Americans struggling to pay the rent and put food on the table.”

Last week, Congress passed a $484 billion coronavirus aid bill to provide $380 billion to small businesses, $75 billion for hospitals and $25 billion for testing.

The Senate is set to return to Washington on Monday, May 4.

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Economy

White House announced $6 billion student loan forgiveness for 78,000 public service workers

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United States Congress

The White House recently announced a $6 billion loan forgiveness program. Nurses, teachers and firefighters are among the 78,000 public service workers who will qualify. Fox Business reports:

Due to fixes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, workers that never received forgiveness are now having their debts partially forgiven or canceled. Only about 7,000 public service borrowers received forgiveness prior to the Biden Administration, now that total hovers closer to 870,000, the announcement said.

“Today’s announcement comes on top of the significant progress we’ve achieved for students and student loan borrowers in the past few years,” the announcement stated. “This includes: providing the largest increases in Pell Grants in over a decade to help families who earn less than roughly $60,000 a year; fixing Income-Driven Repayment plans so borrowers in repayment for years get the relief they earned; and creating the most generous Income-Driven Repayment plan in history – the SAVE plan.”

However, there is concern over fairness that older generations are still paying off student loans and could risk losing Social Security. A group of representatives wrote a letter to Congress, hoping to address the issue of seniors still paying down student loans. Currently, under the Treasury Offset Program (TOP), the government can collect funds, such as tax refunds and Social Security, to pay outstanding student loan balances, reports Fox Business.

“Under the TOP, the federal government can withhold up to 15 percent of monthly Social Security or disability benefits for defaulted student loans,” the lawmakers explained in their letter.

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