News Wrap: Senate votes to prevent railroad strike but rejects granting more paid leave

Judy Woodruff:

A bill to block a threatened railroad strike is headed to President Biden for his signature. The U.S. Senate gave final approval today to imposing a settlement on freight railroads and labor unions.

The five-year deal includes 24 percent pay raises. It passed 80-15. Senators rejected a separate measure to grant seven days of paid sick leave for rail workers.

The U.S. Supreme Court says that the Biden administration’s plan for sweeping student debt forgiveness will stay on hold for now. Instead, the court agreed today to rule on whether the program is constitutional by early next summer. In the meantime, a presidential pause on loan repayments will continue.

And a U.S. federal appeals court has halted a special master’s review of classified documents that the FBI took from former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home. It marked a victory for the Justice Department, clearing the way for it to use all the records seized in the August search for its criminal investigation.

President Biden welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron to the White House today amid antagonism over a newly minted climate law. The French leader had charged that subsidies for American-made electric vehicles and other technology will hurt European companies.

But, at a joint news conference, Mr. Biden said that was never the bill’s intention. And he offered reassurance.

Joe Biden, President of the United States: There’s obviously going to be glitches in it and need to reconcile changes in it. But the essence of it is, we are going to make sure that the United States continues, and just as I hope Europe will be able to continue, not to have to rely on anybody else’s supply chain.