Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Biden is serious about student loans: “It’s official: The administration of President Joe Biden launched a student loan repayment plan Tuesday that it describes as the ‘most affordable’ option yet for reducing that debt. Through the plan, called Saving on A Valuable Education (SAVE), participating borrowers could see their payments cut in half, while some will see their amounts zero out.”
* Eastman in Atlanta: “John Eastman, the lawyer charged with orchestrating the so-called fake electors scheme designed to keep Donald Trump in office after his election loss, said in a statement that he was surrendering to authorities in Georgia today over ‘an indictment that should never have been brought.’”
* In related news: “Scott Hall, a Georgia bail bondsman who was charged in connection with the Coffee County election data breach, has been booked into the Fulton County Jail, according to jail records. Hall was among the 19 charged with Trump. His bond is set at $10,000. He was one of five co-defendants whose consent bond agreement was made public yesterday.”
* The message to Meadows: “Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis told an attorney for former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows that she won’t grant any ‘extensions’ to her Friday noon deadline for voluntary surrenders.”
* Along the Gulf Coast: “Tropical Storm Harold made landfall Tuesday with sustained winds of 50 mph on Padre Island, Texas, bringing the potential for flash flooding and isolated tornadoes. Harold is moving quickly inland at 21 mph but is expected to weaken as it moves west-northwest across southern Texas and toward Mexico.”
* Encouraging labor news: “UPS workers ratified the Teamsters-negotiated labor deal unveiled nearly a month ago, allowing the next five-year contract covering 340,000 employees to take effect at the package carrier.”
* Appeals court clears way for Alabama to take a step backward: “A federal appeals court ruled Monday that Alabama can enforce a ban outlawing the use of puberty blockers and hormones to treat transgender children, the second such appellate victory for gender-affirming care restrictions that have been adopted by a growing number of Republican-led states.”
* House Republicans should keep expectations low: “Two GOP House committee chairmen sent subpoenas to IRS and FBI officials Monday compelling them to testify before Congress about a meeting last year at which the Justice Department’s investigation into Hunter Biden was purportedly discussed.”
* It seems implausible that Elon Musk would deliberately try to destroy the social media platform that he spent so much money to buy, but if he wanted to drive people away, he’d probably make decisions like these: “X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter, is planning a major change in how news articles appear on the service, stripping out the headline and other text so that tweets with links display only an article’s lead image, according to material viewed by Fortune.”
* On a related note: “As Meta tries to revive flagging interest in its Threads social media offering, the company is launching a desktop version of its rival to Elon Musk’s Twitter, now called X. Meta on Tuesday announced it’s launching a version of Threads that can be used on web browsers, which will roll out to users in the coming days. The text-based platform originally was only available through smartphone apps when it debuted last month.”
See you tomorrow.
