Day: September 29, 2021

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams is moving closer to challenging Gov. Kathy Hochul in a Democratic primary next year, saying he’ll soon be touring the state as he weighs a bid.

“We’re announcing an official exploratory committee for the governor of the state of New York,” Williams said in an interview. “And that means we’re going to take some time to run around the state, speak to some folks, open up an advisory committee, open up an account, start talking about policy.”

Williams, a popular figure in New York’s progressive circles, said his campaign isn’t about “running against anyone, it’s really about running for something.”

“We are presenting a vision of a different type of Albany. As we start to recover and renew New York, we don’t want to return back to normal because normal didn’t work for most New Yorkers,” he said. “And in order to do that … you have to make a complete change of who is there, particularly in that position [of governor], so we’re going to present that vision to the people.”

Williams ran against Hochul in a primary for lieutenant governor in 2018. She defeated him by seven points. He ran on a ticket with gubernatorial aspirant Cynthia Nixon, capturing the attention of the party’s left wing, while Hochul was backed by the state Democratic Committee’s machinery. Much of the campaign was defined by Williams hammering Hochul for her alliance with then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and Hochul attacking the him for past views on abortion and same-sex marriage that she said fell short of full-fledged support.

Williams outpolled Hochul in Brooklyn and Manhattan, but the now-governor won nearly every other county in the state.

Williams said that though he has experience outside of New York City — he pointed to his previous role heading up NYS Tenants & Neighbors, a statewide organization that fights for tenants’ rights — he will need to start earlier this time to create support networks across the state.

“A lesson learned from 2018 is that we want to begin to build a lot of infrastructure in a way that we didn’t a few years ago,” he said.

The public advocate has since increased his presence upstate, spending some of his summer fundraising and holding events on topics like gun violence with fellow progressives.

Hochul, who became New York’s first woman governor after Cuomo resigned in August, did not acknowledge a question about Williams’ candidacy while walking into the Capitol on Tuesday afternoon.

Williams is the first public official to openly prepare a primary race against Hochul. But he likely won’t be the last, as different factions and leaders attempt to rearrange New York’s political landscape in a post-Cuomo world.

The most formidable potential challenger is widely considered to be Attorney General Tish James. When asked last week about her 2022 plans, James said that she “enjoy[s] serving in the office of the New York state attorney general and it’s entirely up to the people of the state of New York.”

Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) and Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone have also been musing about a campaign. So has outgoing New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. And there’s a long list of other names.

When asked on Tuesday, de Blasio said he’s not surprised to hear Williams may be jumping in — and suggested he’s still considering his own bid.

“I respect Jumaane Williams a lot. We have a good long history together, but we also obviously have areas we disagree,” de Blasio told reporters. The mayor said he intends to stay in public service after his term expires at the end of the year and is still weighing “the best way I can serve going forward.”

Erin Durkin contributed to this report.

Turkey’s controversial plan to purchase Russian defense weapons and its authoritarian regime were criticized Tuesday during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on four of President Joe Biden’s ambassador nominees.

The nominees include former Delaware Gov. Jack Markell for ambassador to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development; former ambassador to Romania Mark Gitenstein for ambassador to the European Union; former Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake for ambassador to Turkey; and Cindy Hensley McCain, businesswoman and widow to former Sen. John McCain, for ambassador to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization.

It’s unclear when the committee will be able to cast their votes or when there will be a full Senate vote, a Democratic aide said. The Senate has approved just two of Biden’s ambassador nominees, well behind previous presidents.

During the hearing, Flake criticized Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s purchase and test firing of the S-400 missile defense system from Russia, saying “any purchase of additional Russian weapons will result in additional sanctions.”

Erdogan said in an interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that he planned to purchase more of the Russian missile systems, despite objections from the United States and NATO allies.

“In the future, nobody will be able to interfere in terms of what kind of defense systems we acquire, from which country at what level,” he said. “Nobody can interfere with that. We are the only ones to make such decisions.”

Flake, who left the Senate in 2019 after one term and later endorsed Biden for president, said he will push for Erdogan to change course.

“If confirmed, I will consistently reiterate that disposing of this system is the path to removing CAATSA sanctions,” Flake said, referring to the 2017 Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act that imposes sanctions on Iran, North Korea and Russia. “I will also warn Turkey that any future purchase of Russian weapons risks triggering further CAATSA sanctions, in addition to those already imposed.”

Flake touted Turkey as an important economic partner with the U.S. and encouraged defense trade with its fellow long-time NATO member that “keep its military interoperable with NATO.” But Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), the committee chair, said he opposes arms sales to Turkey unless there is a shift in its position to purchase the S-400 missile defense systems.

“I see no arm sales going to Turkey unless there is a dramatic change around, on the S-400 and moving forward,” Menendez said.

Turkey is the U.S.’ 32nd largest goods trading partner, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, totaling $20.7 billion during 2019. And the U.S. is Turkey’s fourth-largest source of imports, totaling $10.4 billion, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity.

Menendez also lambasted Turkey’s impingement on freedom of the press and aggressive crackdown on government critics.

“Erdogan’s repression is unbefitting of a democracy and unbefitting of a NATO ally. Democracies don’t jail journalists, intimidate academics, and infringe upon freedom of religion,” Menendez said. “They don’t renege on their commitments to stop violence against women and they don’t put political opponents in prison.”

Flake promised to advocate against that authoritarianism.

“I’m troubled by Ankara’s democratic backsliding, and the negative trajectory in terms of freedom of expression, freedom of association and peaceful assembly in Turkey,” Flake said. “If confirmed, I will challenge Turkey to uphold its domestic and international human rights commitments, while also pushing Turkey to live up to its status as a NATO ally.”

In a shift east of the Mediterranean, when asked for his thoughts on permitting China entry into OECD, Markey said the bar should be “incredibly high.”

“One of the core strengths of the OECD is the shared values amongst the members: commitment to democracy, commitment to a market-oriented economic system. While there may be some that see growth in OECD membership as a metric that matters, I don’t,” said Markey, stopping short of saying China should be denied membership. “I think we should have an incredibly high bar when it comes to ascension into OECD membership.”

Gitenstein, a former ambassador to Romania during the Obama administration, said he’d work to build a unified position on energy issues as a step toward involving European allies in a multilateral approach to increase pressure on the Kremlin, while also emphasizing strengthening democracy and free markets in the EU.

“One of the main reasons I talked to the president and now secretary of State about wanting this job was because I saw the power that the EU can play on anti-corruption and energy security if all the players in the EU work together, and especially if the central Eastern European countries — as I call the borderlands — which are very much the targets of this effort,” he said. “I want to work directly with them and directly with the leadership at the EU on all of these issues.”

McCain noted her focus would include the “intersection of access to water and agricultural needs” and expanding public-private partnerships to help tackle global food insecurity.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein is headed back to Washington on Tuesday evening after spending a week away in San Francisco while her husband was hospitalized.

The California Democrat’s return comes as Congress continues to look for a solution for keeping the government open and raising the debt limit ahead of Thursday’s federal funding deadline. Republicans blocked Democratic efforts on Monday — a vote Feinstein missed.

“Senator Feinstein is returning to Washington this evening after staying in San Francisco while her husband was hospitalized,” a Feinstein spokesperson said in a statement to POLITICO. “Her husband is now recovering at home.”

The Hill was the first to note Feinstein’s absence on Monday. A spokesperson said it was a “family medical emergency,” adding that the senator would have voted with Democrats on Monday.

“The senator is carefully following the vote situation in the Senate and will return to Washington as soon as possible,” Hill reporter Jordain Carney tweeted on Monday, relaying a message from Feinstein’s team.

Feinstein voted last on Sept. 14, before the Senate took several days off. She has missed all votes since the chamber reconvened on Sept. 20.

Her husband, investment banker Richard Blum, was taken to the hospital last week with an undisclosed condition, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. He was reported to have spent four or five days in intensive care.

Blum, 86, was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2016, and Feinstein had to miss the Democratic National Convention because of his treatment plan. He’s had a crippling respiratory condition since 2018, according to the Chronicle.

Feinstein, 88, is the oldest sitting senator. She was reelected to her full fifth term in 2018, even as some Democrats have pushed for her to step aside and open the door for someone younger and more progressive.

With the Senate split 50-50 between the two parties, Feinstein’s vote this week is crucial as Democrats again try to fund the government and pass President Joe Biden’s ambitious infrastructure package. The senator’s absence has so far not cost her party any legislative wins.

Colby Bermel contributed to this report.

The Biden administration is considering approving a deal under which Navient, the student loan company reviled by many progressives, would no longer collect monthly loan payments on behalf of the Education Department and transfer the accounts of nearly six million federal borrowers to another company.

Navient announced on Tuesday that it has reached an agreement to transfer its federal loan servicing accounts to Maximus, a large government contractor that has for years managed the Education Department’s portfolio of defaulted student loans.

The deal, if green-lighted by Education Department officials, would represent one of the most dramatic shakeups of how the federal government collects student loans in recent years.

It comes as the Biden administration prepares to resume collecting federal student loan payments that have been frozen since the beginning of the pandemic while also figuring out how to respond to pressure from progressives to cancel large swaths of the $1.6 trillion of outstanding federal student debt.

Richard Cordray, the head of Federal Student Aid, said in a statement to POLITICO that his office had been monitoring the negotiations between the two companies and is now in the process of considering the deal.

Federal Student Aid officials are “reviewing documents and other information from Navient and Maximus to ensure that the proposal meets all legal requirements and properly protects borrowers and taxpayers,” Cordray said.

“Navient is pleased to work with the Department of Education and Maximus to provide a smooth transition to borrowers and Navient employees as we continue our focus on areas outside of government student loan servicing,” Jack Remondi, Navient’s president and CEO said in a statement.

The financial terms of the deal between Navient and Maximus were not disclosed. The two companies said that they expect to finalize the transaction in the fourth quarter of this year.

Navient, which spun off from Sallie Mae in 2014, has long been the most controversial of the cadre of companies hired by the Education Department. It has been repeatedly targeted by progressives over allegations that it mistreated student loan borrowers.

In 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, then led by Cordray, sued the company, accusing it of misleading and deceiving borrowers. Navient sought to settle the CFPB lawsuit during the Trump administration, but an agreement was never reached and the company is still fighting the case in court.

Six other Democratic state attorneys general have since followed with their own lawsuits that make similar allegations that the company misled or mistreated student loan borrowers. Federal judges in each of the cases have ruled that the lawsuits may proceed, though the company has denied the allegations and continues to defend itself.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has been the chief critic on Capitol Hill of the Education Department’s relationship with Navient, including when the Obama administration extended Navient’s contract in 2014. Earlier this year she called on the Biden administration to fire the company.

Navient manages the federal student loan accounts of 5.6 million borrowers who collectively owe approximately $283 billion, according to the company’s most recent financial statement.

But Navient’s work for the Education Department accounts for a relatively small share of its business, about 6 percent of its revenue, according to the company. Navient also has a private student lending business and a portfolio of older, federally-guaranteed student loans.

Monthly payments and interest on most federal student loans have been paused since March 2020 under pandemic relief approved by Congress and subsequently extended through executive actions by both then-President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden.

The Biden administration most recently extended the payment freeze and zero-percent interest benefit, which apply to roughly 40 million Americans, until January 2022. Education Department officials have said that was the final extension of relief and are preparing to resume collecting student loan payments in February.

The Navient deal further complicates that process because it is just the latest federal student loan servicer to seek to drop out of the program. Roughly 16.5 million student loan borrowers will now have a new company managing their loans in the coming months.

Besides Navient, two other loan servicers — the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency and Granite State — have announced that they want to exit the loan servicing program.

Meanwhile, Education Department officials last week extended for another two years the contracts of two other companies that collect federal student loans, Nelnet and its subsidiary, Great Lakes. The contract extensions include new requirements that the companies follow state consumer protection laws and more extensively report data to the Education Department.