A coalition of states has filed a legal challenge to President Joe Biden’s latest executive effort to forgive a portion of Americans' student loan debt.

The lawsuit comes after Biden on Monday announced the plan, which the states in question say is an overreach of executive authority. The White House claims that Biden has so far canceled at least some of the debt for 4 million Americans, totaling $146 billion so far.

The White House said the newest effort would partially forgive debt for 30 million Americans, though independent analyses have not confirmed that figure.

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President Joe Biden this week touted what he called a major drop in inflation, saying prices had fallen more than 60%. Those comments come on the heels of more federal data showing prices are on the rise, raising the question: Has inflation really fallen or is something else going on? The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its Consumer Price Index, a key marker of inflation that has spiked recently. BLS found the CPI rose another 0.4% last month, part of a 3.5% increase over the previous twelve months. Soon after that data was released, Biden released a statement boasting of a drop in inflation.

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The federal government reported hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars in improper payments last fiscal year and trillions over the last two decades.

According to a new report from the Government Accountability Office, the federal government reported $236 billion in improper payments in fiscal year 2023. The true number, though, is actually much higher, but federal reporting is often lacking.

“GAO has found that these payments represent a material deficiency or weakness in internal controls,” GAO said. “Specifically, GAO has noted that the federal government is unable to determine the full extent of its improper payments or to reasonably assure that appropriate actions are taken to reduce them.”

Full Story: https://www.thecentersquare.com/national/article_e0f897fc-f137-11ee-811d-5b4aa35ab139.html

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Republican members of the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security are demanding answers from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas after learning that Border Patrol agents are releasing known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) into the country.

The demand comes after Republican members led the charge to impeach Mayorkas in February and after FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before Congress expressing concerns about those illegally entering the U.S. with ties to the terrorist group ISIS.

Full Story: https://www.thecentersquare.com/national/article_24207312-f2b7-11ee-9fd7-df016d720a58.html

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U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., blasted the Biden administration Wednesday for cutting back on a federal effort to increase union accountability and transparency. The Center Square exclusively obtained a letter this week that was sent from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management to 10 U.S. senators. In the letter, OPM Director Kiran Ahuja defended the agency’s decision to remove a webpage built to hold unions accountable. The federal webpage in question included data on “official time,” a common practice where federal employees use work time to do union business and are therefore paid by taxpayers to do so.

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(The Center Square) – Americans want states to have a role in stopping the flood of illegal immigration, which comes as the federal government and Texas grapple over who has the right to secure the southern border amidst the ongoing crisis there. According to the survey, 29% said border states, 29% said the federal government, and 37% said a combination of both should have the final say on immigration policy. The rest are unsure. This new poll comes as the Biden administration and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott are embroiled in a legal battle over what Abbott says is the state's right to defend itself from an invasion.

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(The Center Square) – The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday in a case evaluating how the federal government censored Americans’ speech online, especially about COVID-19 and other controversial topics. During the arguments, justices seemed to express doubts about a prior ruling that limited federal cooperation and coercion of social media companies, particularly when the federal government pushes those companies to censor Americans’ speech. “My biggest concern is that your view has the First Amendment hamstringing the government in significant ways in most important time periods,” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said during oral arguments for Murthy v. Missouri Monday.

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(The Center Square) – Former President Donald Trump is narrowly beating President Joe Biden in a head-to-head faceoff going into November, a new national poll shows. The Center Square’s Voter’s Voice poll conducted with Noble Predictive Insights was released Wednesday, showing Trump beating Biden 46%-45% with likely voters. The rest are unsure. When you include options to vote for third party candidates as well, Trump’s lead over Biden grows. When the poll includes Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Cornel West and Jill Stein, Trump’s lead grows to 3 points.

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FBI Director Christopher Wray on Monday confirmed that a smuggling organization working with the terrorist organization ISIS is funneling criminals through the U.S. border. He also said the FBI is currently investigating its operations that “we’re very concerned about.” In a U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing held on Monday on worldwide threats to the United States, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, asked Wray about threats coming through the U.S. border. “Over the last three years, millions of people crossed the U.S. border illegally and many have been released into the country,” Rubio said, asking first about “people with ties to dangerous gangs.”

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President Joe Biden's budget proposal seeks to set aside billions of dollars to push progressive gender, sexuality and race ideology at home and around the globe. Released this week, the $7.3 trillion budget also proposes spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to train school teachers in diversity, equity, and inclusion dogma. The White House touted the spending in its announcement of Biden’s budget, which includes $3 billion to “advance gender equity and equality worldwide.”

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