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WH press secretary replies to question about stock market concerns: ‘We have the first female treasury secretary’

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When asked on Wednesday about fears regarding the stock market in light of recent developments with GameStop’s shares, White House press secretary Jen Psaki responded by saying: “We have the first female treasury secretary.”

In the course of more than a week—in an incredibly complex situation—the stock price of the declining video game vendor GameStop soared by as much as 770%. In short, after some influential users in a Reddit community dedicated to the stock market called r/WallStreetBets encouraged many other users into purchasing GameStop stock through equity and calls, which dramatically drove up its stock price, as explained by TIME.

“Is the White House concerned about the stock market activity we’re seeing around GameStop and now with some other stocks as well?” a reporter asked Psaki. “Have there been any conversations with the [Securities and Exchange Commission] about how to proceed?”

“Well, I’m also happy to repeat that we have the first female treasury secretary and a team that’s surrounding her and often questions about markets,” Psaki responded. “We’ll send [you] to them. But our team is, of course, our economic team, including Secretary [Janet] Yellen and others, are monitoring the situation.”

On Monday, the U.S. Senate confirmed Janet Yellen to the role of treasury secretary.

Psaki went on to say that the GameStop situation is “a good reminder, though, that the stock market isn’t the only measure of the health of our economy. It doesn’t reflect how working- and middle-class families are doing.”

In response to the situation, TD Ameritrade on Wednesday restricted trading for the company and has sent fears down the spines of some on Wall Street.

“In the interest of mitigating risk for our company and clients, we have put in place several restrictions on some transactions in $GME, $AMC and other securities,” a spokeswoman for TD Ameritrade told the website Market Watch. “We made these decisions out of an abundance of caution amid unprecedented market conditions and other factors.”

You can follow Douglas Braff on Twitter @Douglas_P_Braff.

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Economy

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

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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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