Today in one sentence: The Supreme Court rejected Trump's legal effort to block the release of his tax returns to Congress; the Biden administration will extend the pause on federal student loan payments; members of the largest railroad unions rejected a tentative labor contract brokered by the White House; and Lindsey Graham testified before the Fulton County special grand jury investigating efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election.

1/ The Supreme Court rejected Trump’s legal effort to block the release of his tax returns to Congress. Republicans, however, are expected to end the committee’s investigation when they take control of the House on Jan. 3, 2023. The order comes after a federal appeals court ruled that the Ways and Means Committee had the right to obtain six years of Trump’s tax records, which Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily blocked. The chief lawyer for the House had urged the Supreme Court not to intervene, saying: “Delaying Treasury from providing the requested tax information would leave the Committee and Congress as a whole little or no time to complete their legislative work during this Congress, which is quickly approaching its end.” The committee first sought the tax returns from the IRS in 2019. (CNBC / New York Times / Washington Post / Bloomberg / NBC News / Axios / CNN / Wall Street Journal)

2/ The Biden administration will extend the pause on federal student loan payments through June 30, 2023. The extension, which began in March 2020 to help people who were struggling financially due to the Covid-19 pandemic, comes as the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness plan remains blocked by federal courts. Federal student loan bills had been scheduled to resume in January. “We’re extending the payment pause because it would be deeply unfair to ask borrowers to pay a debt that they wouldn’t have to pay, were it not for the baseless lawsuits brought by Republican officials and special interests,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement. (CNBC / Axios / CNN / Bloomberg)

3/ Members of the largest railroad unions rejected a tentative labor contract brokered by the White House. Four of the 12 rail unions have now rejected the proposed contract, which the Biden administration had negotiated in September to avert a strike before the midterm elections. At issue are attendance policies that penalize workers for taking time off when they are sick or for personal time, as well as grueling, unpredictable schedules. Both sides have agreed to a cooling-off period until early December. Roughly 40% of freight moves by rail in the U.S. A national rail strike, which could happen as early as Dec. 5, could cost the economy more than $2 billion per day. (Washington Post / NPR / New York Times / CNN / Wall Street Journal / Associated Press)

4/ Lindsey Graham testified before the Fulton County special grand jury investigating efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election. Graham’s testimony came after a monthslong legal battle that went all the way to the Supreme Court, which declined to block the subpoena requiring him to appear. Prosecutors in Fulton County to question Graham about calls he made to Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state, in the weeks after the 2020 election, as well as his interactions with the Trump campaign, and other issues related to the election. Graham reportedly testified for “just over two hours and answered all questions.” (Washington Post / Axios / CNN)