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Trump administration: lawsuit arrives!
By Gabriele Brambilla
The American Federation of Teachers "attacks" the Trump administration and initiates legal proceedings against the U.S. Department of Education
AFT on the attack on the Trump administration
The news is very fresh and is causing quite a stir in the United States: the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) has initiated legal proceedings against the Trump administration, specifically against the U.S. Department of Education.
The reason behind this action is the suspension of the request for new applications from students to receive income-driven payment plans. This particular method allows less affluent students to access education with reduced monthly payments, at a level considered sustainable at the discretion of the student. Furthermore, the plan provides for the cancellation of the debt after a certain period, on average between 20 and 25 years.
The Trump administration, in the wake of the cuts initiated a few weeks ago, has removed the possibility of applying for the IDR (this is the name of the tool) from the Department of Education’s website, leaving students without this valuable support.
The AFT, one of the country’s largest and most structured unions, has therefore decided to go through legal channels, starting the proceedings on Tuesday 18/03. In a statement to the press, the president of the organization, Randi Weingarten, declared that “by blocking the student loan system, the new administration is showing its intention to make life more difficult for the working class, including millions of borrowers who have contracted student debts in order to go to college”.
The decision will have a particularly heavy impact on those who have an education debt that is unmanageable without IDR support. Now the ball is in the courts’ court, but there will certainly be at least a few months of stalemate: enough to do a lot of damage.
The damage of DOGE
No, we’re not talking about Dogecoin, which in this context has done nothing at all and is quietly in ninth place in the crypto market cap. We are obviously referring to the D.O.G.E., the department for government efficiency wanted by Donald Trump and headed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
The Trump administration is eliminating many federal jobs, leaving a lot of people out of work. This could be the biggest layoff season in American history. Many economists fear the economic repercussions, especially at the local level; let’s not forget that the federal government is the largest employer in the country: changes at this level have a huge impact on the entire economic and social fabric.
The numbers are not yet clear, but there is talk of at least a few thousand layoffs, reaching into the territory of 100,000, but probably more. The first to be targeted are the most recently hired employees who have not yet accrued all the protections, but the emails inviting them to resign with deferred pay have been sent in the last month to a much larger pool, which also includes the most senior employees.
The United States is therefore going through a period of difficulty and the economy is somewhat worrying. It is therefore essential to follow the evolution of the fundamental macro metrics, as well as the decisions of the most important agencies. In this sense, don’t miss tonight’s meeting with the Federal Reserve: Jerome Powell will speak and the new interest rates on the US dollar will be announced. We’ll be following the meeting closely, see you there!
In closing, watch the markets closely these hours and keep an eye on bitcoin: anything could happen.
