Fox News White House Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich cornered Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre during Thursday’s briefing, asking why the pandemic only seemed to be an “emergency” when it suited President Joe Biden’s agenda.
Heinrich noted that the Biden administration had argued — even in court — that the COVID “emergency” had passed when the goal was to lift Title 42 restrictions and allow illegal immigrants to flood across the U.S.-Mexico border. She then pointed out that the Biden administration was relying on a loose interpretation of the HEROES Act — and the ongoing COVID “emergency” to justify his sweeping plan to cancel billions of dollars worth of federal student debt.
WATCH:
JACQUI TIME: "The Heroes Act hinges on student debt…being tied to the pandemic & that being a national emergency, but the administration argued in court that [it's] over…So, how is…COVID a national emergency when it comes to student debt?"
KJP: "It's a very good question" pic.twitter.com/JmwUD97jjc
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 25, 2022
“I want to ask about the legal basis for canceling student debt,” Heinrich began.
“The HEROES Act hinges on student debt cancellation being tied to the pandemic and that being a national emergency, but the administration argued in court that the pandemic is over at the southern border to lift Title 42,” she said. “It’s so over that the government is going to stop buying vaccines in the fall and shift to the private sector. So, how is this a national emergency? How is COVID a national emergency when it comes to student debt?”
“It’s a very good question and I’m glad you asked it,” Jean-Pierre replied, saying that the Biden administration had used the HEROES Act because there were still people who would “suffer” when the freeze on student loan repayment was lifted.
She went on to say that some people might have been able to save money while those payments were paused, but that some would still have “a hard time” once the payment schedule was reinstated.
“Because of the economy?” Heinrich asked.
Jean-Pierre said that the people who were likely to struggle probably had been struggling prior to the pandemic because they were “in a different bracket,” and had benefitted from the pause — but she made no move to address how skyrocketing inflation and gas prices might have impacted their ability to pick up their payments where they had left off two years ago.
Jean-Pierre concluded by claiming — without offering any evidence of how the administration intended to implement reforms — that the plan had been undertaken in part to “reform the system” to help the first-responders who had suffered so much over the last two years.