Student loan fight heats up as Congress returns from break
Washington (CNN) - House Republican leaders returned to Capitol Hill on Monday after a one week break and immediately blamed Senate Democrats and the White House for a hike on interest rates for an estimated seven million students who plan to take out government-subsidized student loans this year.
"It's time for the president to lead and it's time for him to bring his Senate Democrat leaders together and develop a solution. The House has done its job. It's time for the Senate and the White House to do its job," House Speaker John Boehner said at a news conference on the steps of the Capitol surrounded by other House GOP leaders and college-age students.
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With 'fiscal cliff' looming, Congress facing compromise or confrontation
Washington (CNN) - A day after an election that both parties agreed was a mandate to find compromise and avoid the so-called fiscal cliff, Democratic and Republican congressional leaders also continued to sharply disagree over the key issue of whether top tax rates should be raised to help resolve the looming crisis.
Republicans said higher rates would damage the economy, while Democrats said it was the only equitable way to tackle the debt.
FULL STORYCongress strikes tentative deal on highway bill, sources say
Washington (CNN) - After months of difficult talks, bipartisan House and Senate negotiators reached a tentative deal on a giant transportation funding bill Wednesday, multiple sources tell CNN. A formal announcement is expected late Wednesday night after the last details are hammered out and the final language is drafted, they said.
Congressional leaders said they hoped to attach the highway bill to a measure extending a rate cut on some student loans and legislation reauthorizing national flood insurance and pass them as one bill out of the House and Senate by Friday. Doing so would let Congress beat looming deadlines when these measures expire and also would allow lawmakers to escape town for their Fourth of July recess.
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Senate deal on student loans awaits House GOP approval
(CNN) - The top Senate leaders from each party Tuesday indicated they had reached an agreement to extend a rate cut on student loans but were waiting to hear whether House Republicans would accept the deal.
House GOP leaders are expected to discuss the issue with their members at a meeting Wednesday morning.
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Senate close to deal to extend low interest rates on student loans
(CNN) - Senate negotiators were closing in on an agreement Friday to extend for one year lower interests rates on some student loans, Senate aides from both parties told CNN.
The aides predicted a deal would be reached and the legislation approved before the July 1 deadline when Stafford loans are set to double from 3.4% to 6.8%.
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Election-year politics will chart Congress' path this year
Washington (CNN) - On Capitol Hill, the beginning of this year will look a lot like the end of last year.
The fight over extending a payroll tax cut and long-term unemployment benefits picks back up Tuesday as Congress returns to work after its winter break.
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Top Senate Democrat belittles 'phony' GOP tax concessions
Washington (CNN) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid dismissed a recent GOP deficit reduction plan Thursday, saying it isn't a serious attempt at compromise despite the tax increases it includes.
Asked if he was encouraged by negotiations among members of the congressional "super committee" that is trying to forge a debt-reduction agreement, the Nevada Democrat curtly told CNN: "With that phony deal the Republicans offered? No."
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Reid pushes emergency FEMA funding while Cantor denies holding disaster aid 'hostage'
Washington (CNN) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said Wednesday he would ask the Senate to approve quickly a $6 billion emergency spending bill to replenish the Federal Emergency Management Agency's cash-strapped disaster relief fund.
The measure would then have to be voted on in the House- where Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Virginia, has insisted any federal funding to deal with the recent spate of natural disasters be offset with cuts elsewhere in the federal budget.
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House vote could be squeaker
Washington (CNN) - A Democratic official involved in the effort to secure the votes in the House and Senate for the debt deal says there is more concern about the vote tally in the House than the Senate, where it looks like it will get the 60 votes needed without much drama.
In the House, Democrats who favor the deal are concerned about a very close vote – maybe a squeaker.
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Congress curbs enthusiasm for 'Gang of Six' plan
(CNN)–The burst of enthusiasm Tuesday for the "Gang of Six" debt reduction plan as a possible way out of the debt ceiling crisis appeared to fade Wednesday as Democratic and Republican lawmakers studied and found fault with the details of the proposal.
Most notably, both sides highlighted well-worn party-line divisions: conservatives complained the plan would raise taxes while liberals warned it would cut entitlement benefits.
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