The Washington Post - USA (2022-04-01)

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Friday, April 1 | 9 a.m.

“First Look”

David Von Drehle, national affairs
and politics columnist, The
Washington Post

Jennifer Rubin, opinions columnist,
The Washington Post

Moderated by Jonathan Capehart

Washington Post Live

events

BY DANIELLE

DOUGLAS-GABRIEL

When the Education Depart-

ment told Congress last year it

was revising a restrictive bank-

ruptcy policy for federal student

loans, some lawmakers assumed

the agency would end its aggres-

sive challenges in pending cases.

Yet as recently as March, the

department was still contesting

requests for bankruptcy dis-

charges from people deep in debt

and short on resources, accord-

ing to court documents.

Now the Biden administration

is facing pressure from Senate

Democrats to change how it han-

dles those requests. Their con-

cerns follow a case that sparked a

public backlash after the depart-

ment tried to fight the court-ap-

proved discharge of debt held by

a man suffering from epilepsy, a

case first reported by the Lever.

The department dropped the ap-

peal in February, but some sena-

tors say the case was an exception

to the standard practice.

A scan of recent bankruptcy

cases involving student loans ap-

pears to support their conclusion.

Justice Department attorneys

representing the Education De-

partment opposed several dis-

charge requests in March, includ-

ing one involving a 77-year-old

retired nurse struggling to repay

about $42,000 in student loans.

“While a bipartisan effort is

underway in Congress to reform

the bankruptcy code’s treatment

of student loans, changes to ad-

ministrative policies... are also

necessary and long overdue,” a

group of 27 Senate Democrats,

led by Sen. Richard J. Durbin

(Ill.), wrote in a letter to Educa-

tion Secretary Miguel Cardona

and Attorney General Merrick

Garland on Thursday.

The Education Department

confirmed receiving the letter

and said the agency is committed

to revising its approach to ensure

that borrowers get a fair shot at

bankruptcy discharge.

Discharging education debt

through bankruptcy is difficult.

People must bring a separate

lawsuit, known as an adversary

proceeding, convince the court

that the debt would impose an

“undue hardship” and fend off

the lender from thwarting their

effort.

The Education Department, as

the creditor for $1.6 trillion in

federal student loans, has the

right to contest a bankruptcy

discharge to maintain the fiscal

integrity of the lending program.

Congressional Democrats and

advocacy groups, however, say

that, given the hurdles borrowers

must clear for the court to even

approve their claim, there is no

need for the federal agency to add

another hurdle.

In Thursday’s le tter, the law-

makers asked the Education and

Justice departments to set practi-

cal thresholds for a bankruptcy

discharge. The agencies, they

said, could forgo contesting a

request in instances of disability

or poverty. The lawmakers also

argue that a borrower’s participa-

tion in a repayment plan tied to

their income should not preclude

a claim of undue hardship.

“All too often, ED and DOJ

oppose undue hardship discharg-

es... requiring debtors to effec-

tively demonstrate a certainty of

hopelessness before they can ob-

tain relief,” the senators wrote.

“Clearing this statutorily unnec-

essary high bar is challenging

enough for individuals who are

represented by experienced at-

torneys. It is virtually impossible

for those without representa-

tion .”

Cardona has acknowledged

the challenges borrowers face in

seeking relief through bankrupt-

cy. In March, he tweeted that the

department is “working to

change our policies so that bank-

ruptcy is an option for those

struggling with student debt.”

“To ensure that every borrower

can benefit from these changes,

we have asked [the Justice De-

partment] to request a pause of

any active bankruptcy case if the

borrower wishes,” Cardona

wrote.

Senate Democrats in their let-

ter also questioned whether the

Justice Department has issued

guidance to its attorneys han-

dling active bankruptcy cases

about borrowers having the op-

tion to temporarily table their

cases during the pandemic. They

also asked for information about

public outreach to ensure that

borrowers and their attorneys are

aware of the option.

Over the past decade, the Edu-

cation Department has consid-

ered revising its bankruptcy pol-

icy several times. In 2018, the

department asked the public for

feedback on whether updates

were needed. The agency ques-

tioned whether borrowers were

being discouraged from seeking

help because its standard was too

prohibitive.

While the department could

better define what constitutes

undue hardship, Congress must

ultimately do the heavy lifting to

change how student loans are

treated in bankruptcy.

Durbin, chairman of the Sen-

ate Judiciary Committee, and

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) have

sponsored a bill that would allow

borrowers to discharge their fed-

eral student loans through bank-

ruptcy after 10 years, similar to

old bankruptcy rules. The bipar-

tisan interest from lawmakers

and the administration in bank-

ruptcy changes is reviving the

movement, after years of failed

efforts to streamline the process.

President Biden, who helped

impose tougher consumer bank-

ruptcy laws as a senator, said on

the campaign trail he now sup-

ports letting people who enter

bankruptcy discharge their stu-

dent debt — a position that girds

the department’s efforts.

Democrats seek bankruptcy relief for student loan borrowers

BY JACOB BOGAGE

A key House panel announced

plans Thursday to question senior

U.S. Postal Service officials about

the agency’s decision to buy as

many as 148,000 gasoline-pow-

ered mail-delivery trucks despite

directives from the Biden admin-

istr ation to green the federal fleet

and opposition from top environ-

mental regulators.

The House Oversight and Re-

form Committee will hold a hear-

ing Tuesday about the mail serv-

ice’s “next generation delivery ve-

hicles,” or NGDVs, which hit the

road starting in 2023. The Postal

Service will spend as much as

$11.3 billion with Oshkosh De-

fense over the next decade to re-

place its aging fleet but has com-

mitted to only 10 percent of the

new trucks being electric.

Postmaster General Louis De-

Joy placed the order for the first

50,000 NGDVs on March 24;

20 percent of that purchase was

for electric vehicles.

The Postal Service’s plan falls

well short of White House goals to

move the entire federal civilian

fleet to electric vehicles by 2035.

The mail agency’s 21 7,000 vehicles

make up the largest share of the

government’s civilian vehicles.

Transportation is the largest

single source of greenhouse gas

emissions in the United States,

and even rising sales of electrical

vehi cles — which account for

about 5 percent of new vehicle

sales — have yet to make a signifi-

cant dent in the auto market.

Electric vehicle proponents had

hoped the Postal Service purchase

would provide a lift for the indus-

try.

Private-sector fleets have flown

past the federal government in

electrification in recent years, and

the White House and EV boosters

contend that a green postal fleet

would incentivize manufacturers

to build infrastructure for more

electric vehicles and the charging

stations they need nationwide.

Victoria Stephen, head of the

Postal Service’s NGDV program,

will testify before the panel, Com-

mittee Chair Carolyn B. Maloney

(D-N.Y.) announced Thursday, as

will Postal Service Inspector Gen-

eral Tammy Whitcomb.

Whitcomb’s office released a

report this month that found that

electric vehicles would be well-

suited to mail-delivery duties and

would save the financially belea-

guered agency money in the long

term.

“It is critical for our environ-

ment and our future that the Post-

al Service rapidly transition to an

electric fleet,” Maloney said in a

statement. “The federal govern-

ment should be leading the way,

not falling behind private compa-

nies that are already moving

ahead to save money and curb

climate change by electrifying

thei r fleets.”

Key Democrats on the commit-

tee, including Reps. Alexandria

Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) and Gerald E.

Connolly (Va.), have pressed fed-

eral officials previously on lag-

ging plans to electrify federal ve-

hicles.

Senate liberals Thursday react-

ed to DeJoy’s initial order for the

trucks, urging the postal chief to

“significantly increase the per-

centage of EVs” the mail service

purchases. Nineteen Democrats

in the upper chamber, led by Sens.

Jeff Merkley (Ore.) and Thomas R.

Carper (Del.), demanded the

agency provide records on its elec-

tric-vehicle analyses and detailed

accounting information on its

transactions with Oshkosh.

“USPS accounts for roughly

one- thir d o f the federal fleet and

the actions that USPS takes will

have a significant impact on

whether the United States does its

share to combat climate chaos,”

the senators wrote. “While invest-

ing in a minimum of 20 percent

electric postal vehicles is an im-

provement, the USPS must do

more. Not only does USPS’s cur-

rent plan to invest in predomi-

nantly fossil fuel powered vehi-

cles endanger public health and

the environment, the decision is

also being made at a t ime when

companies like Federal Express

(FedEx) and United Parcel Service

(UPS) are increasingly moving to-

wards electric vehicles for eco-

nomic reasons.”

Amazon has purchased

100,000 electric vans, with the

goal that half its deliveries will be

carbon-neutral by 2030. It also

holds a roughly 20 percent stake

in electric-truck manufacturer

Rivian. (Amazon founder Jeff Be-

zos owns The Washington Post.)

FedEx and UPS also have made

electric vehicles a small but

steadily growing part of their

fleets. As of 2019, close to 10 per-

cent of FedEx’s fleet ran on battery

power.

But postal leaders contend a

largely electric fleet would be too

pricey, citing the high upfront

cost of EVs and associated infra-

structure. The Postal Service’s en-

vironmental impact statement for

the NGDVs calculated that gas-

powered vehicles would be more

cost-efficient over their projected

20-year life spans. Independent

auto and environmental experts

have said that the agency’s figures

are inaccurate and that the mail

service would save money in the

long term on lower fuel and main-

tenance costs, even if EVs have

higher upfront costs.

The inspector general’s report

backed up those arguments.

“Electric vehicles are generally

more mechanically reliable than

gas-powered vehicles and would

require less maintenance,” the re-

port said. “Energy costs will be

lower for electric vehicles, as us-

ing electricity to power an electric

vehicle is cheaper than using gas-

oline.”

The NGDVs are hardly an envi-

ronmental improvement over the

agency’s current “Long Life Vehi-

cles,” or LLVs. With the air condi-

tioning running, they get 8.6 mpg,

which is 0.4 mpg higher than

existing vehicles. Experts say the

industry standard for gasoline-

powered delivery vehicles today is

12 to 14 mpg.

Electric vehicles would offer 70

miles per charge, the agency said,

figures that auto experts and gov-

ernment regulators claim vastly

underestimates their capability.

When it awarded Oshkosh the

truck contract in February 2021,

the Postal Service said the compa-

ny could convert gas-powered ve-

hicles to run on batteries as the

agency’s financial condition and

EV technology improve. But post-

al of ficials have said they have “no

plans” to retrofit any of the vehi-

cles.

The Environmental Protection

Agency projects that greenhouse

gas emissions from the Postal

Service’s new gas-powered trucks

would total nearly 20 million

metric tons over the vehicles’ pro-

jected 20-year life span, roughly

matching the annual emissions

from 4.3 million passenger vehi-

cles.

In an interview with The Wash-

ington Post, DeJoy said that he

was not opposed to purchasing

more electric trucks but that

funding should come from Con-

gress, and only out of Postal Serv-

ice accounts if the agency’s finan-

cial condition improves. He said

he was focused on replacing the

agency’s failing fleet, not electrify-

ing it.

“From my standpoint, my mis-

sion is delivering mail and pack-

ages,” he said. “The policy of elec-

trifying the fleet of the nation is a

mission that I will support. But I

would be negligent to spend all

my money on doing that.”

The 10,019 electric vehicles the

Postal Service requested in its

first order from Oshkosh corre-

spond to 10,019 mail routes that

DeJoy said he knows are a “slam

dunk” for the trucks.

“That is how I make decisions

as we move forward,” he said.

“When I go to buy the next

amount, we will reevaluate.”

Policymakers on both sides of

the aisle agree that the mail agen-

cy’s aging LLVs are unsafe and in

dire need of replacement. LLVs

are 30 years old and don’t have air

bags or air conditioning. They’re

known to catch fire from years of

overuse.

They’re also unfit for the Postal

Service’s changing business. De-

Joy has positioned the agency to

compete more heavily on package

shipping with such competitors

as UPS, FedEx and Amazon. LLVs

are far too small to handle the

Postal Service’s pandemic influx

of parcels. And where the agency’s

mail business has declined by

45 percent since 2008, its package

business has more than doubled.

NGDVs have far more cargo area

to hold packages.

Congressional appropriators

are split on how — or whether —

to fund the new postal fleet. The

mail agency has roughly $24 bil-

lion of cash after lawmakers in

2020 approved an emergency

$10 billion pandemic grant. And

Congress in March voted to over-

haul the agency’s finances, reliev-

ing it of $107 billion in past-due

amounts and future payments.

Anna Phillips contributed to this

report.

House to grill Postal Service over new trucks

NAM Y. HUH/ASSOCIATED PRESS

A Postal Service employee loads a truck in Wheeling, Ill., in December. The agency seeks to buy up to

148,000 gasoline-powered mail-delivery trucks, despite administrative directives to green the fleet.

Democrats object to plan

for just 10% electric

vehicles in updated fleet

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