Michigan governor signs bill limiting citizen initiatives
Education Department cancels $150M in student loan debt
The Education Department says it will cancel $150 million in federal student loan debt, despite Secretary Betsy DeVos’ efforts to overhaul the Obamaera policy.
DeVos proposed restricting “borrower defense” claims filed by former students whose schools closed or made false promises, but has to carry out regulations after court rulings sided with students.
Three months ago, a federal judge ruled that DeVos’ attempts to kill the 2016 regulations were illegal, Politico reported. The department said Thursday it will forgive loans for about 15,000 borrowers whose schools closed.
Pompeo condemns detention of 2 Canadians by China
WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned the arrest of two Canadians in China and called on Beijing to release them after a high stakes meeting Friday with his Canadian counterpart.
China detained two Canadians this week in apparent retaliation for the arrest of a top Chinese tech executive in Canada on behalf of the United States. The arrests escalated a dispute with China that threatens to further complicate ties between the North American neighbors.
“The unlawful detention of two Canadian citizens is unacceptable. They ought to be returned,” Pompeo said.
McCain replacement Kyl resigning from Senate at end of year
U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl will resign Dec. 31, setting up a second appointment by Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey to the seat once occupied by the late John McCain, the governor announced Friday.
Ducey is required under law to name another Republican to the seat. A replacement to the Senate seat “will be announced in the near future,” according to the governor’s office.
Kyl wrote a letter dated Dec. 12 to Ducey, informing him of his resignation. The letter was hand-delivered to the governor’s office late Thursday afternoon.
Special counsel disputes claim Flynn was tricked by FBI
WASHINGTON – Russia special counsel Robert Mueller on Friday rejected any notion that former national security adviser Michael Flynn was tricked by FBI agents into lying about his communications with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, resulting in his prosecution.
“The interview was voluntary, and lacked any indicia of coercion,” Mueller’s team asserted in new court documents, referring to the Jan. 24, 2017, interview at the White House just days after President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
The new filings come after Flynn’s attorneys suggested earlier this week that the FBI duped the former national security adviser by not warning him about the criminal consequences for lying to agents during the interview. Flynn has now acknowledged falsely denying that his conversation with Kislyak included a discussion of Russia sanctions.
LANSING, Mich. – Gov. Rick Snyder on Friday signed laws to significantly scale back citizen-initiated measures to raise Michigan’s minimum wage and require paid sick leave for workers, completing a Republican legislative maneuver that opponents vowed to challenge in court.
To prevent minimum wage and earned sick time initiatives from going to voters last month, GOP lawmakers approved them in September so they