In today’s news and commentary, Trump delays student loan wage garnishment, Valero Energy Corp. announces layoffs, and a federal court orders a Wisconsin medical care partnership to pay back wages.

On Friday, the Department of Education announced that it has paused efforts to garnish the wages of borrowers who have defaulted on their student loan payments. Garnishment was slated to begin last week for the first time since the pandemic, but instead will be paused “for a bit.” The decision comes as President Trump and the GOP begin to build an affordability agenda for the 2026 midterms. If the garnishment pause does come to an end, it may affect up to 5 million delinquent borrowers. 

On Thursday, Bloomberg News reported that Valero Energy Corporation plans to let go 237 employees at its Benicia refinery as part of its efforts to “wind[] down operations” at the fuel-making plant. The decision to shut down the plant was announced in 2025, and California government efforts to sustain the plant amid fuel shortages have proven unsuccessful. The affected workers are not represented by a union. Valero expects the shutdown to be permanent and to take place sometime between March 15 and July 1 of this year. 

On Thursday, the Department of Labor announced that a federal court has ordered North Central Healthcare, a Wisconsin-based medical care partnership, to pay $162,486 in back wages and liquidated damages to 68 employees following periods of unpaid work and overtime. These violations occurred between 2021 and 2023, and the department’s complaint sought relief under the Fair Labor Standards Act. This is one of the first recoveries for the department in 2026, which recovered more than $259 million in back wages for over 176,000 employees in 2025.