President Biden is approaching a decision on debt relief for student loans, with the president and his team focusing on the cancellation of $ 10,000 per borrower, with some possible warnings.
White House officials warned that no decision had been made, as Biden continued to weigh his options. The president is scheduled to speak at the Naval Academy graduation ceremony on Friday and the University of Delaware ceremony on Saturday.
Several reports indicated that Biden considered using the weekend’s opening ceremonies to announce some student debt forgiveness, and The Washington Post reported that the time had changed following a shooting at a school in Uvalde, Texas, which left 19 children dead. However, a White House official argued that this was the case.
“No decision has been made yet, but as a reminder that no one has been forced to pay a penny of student loans since the president took office,” said Undersecretary of Press Vedant Patel.
Several sources told The Hill in late April that Biden was considering canceling at least $ 10,000 in student debt, and indications are that the White House appears to have settled on that number, although they are working with limits. who will benefit from the loan cancellation.
The Washington Post reported Friday that the latest iteration of the plan called for limiting debt forgiveness to people who earned less than $ 150,000 last year, or $ 300,000 for married couples. It is also unclear whether the cancellation would apply to all student loan debts or to undergraduate students only.
Biden in the 2020 campaign backed to forgive at least $ 10,000 in federal student loans per person after several other candidates made student loan forgiveness a key part of their platforms.
Since taking office, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), And Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (DN.Y.) have repeatedly pushed Biden. occasions on the issue, insisting that it would immediately provide relief to low- and middle-income minorities and families. Schumer has demanded the cancellation of up to $ 50,000 in student debt per borrower.
Although this large amount has been publicly ruled out, Biden has made it increasingly clear in recent weeks that he is willing to forgive student debt.
“I am not considering a $ 50,000 debt reduction, but I am in the process of studying whether or not there will be an additional debt forgiveness and I will have a response in that regard in the coming weeks,” Biden said. on April 28, days after he reportedly told members of the Hispanic Congress Caucus that he was open to forgiving some student loans.
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The White House has not yet given an updated timeline for the month since Biden said a decision was made a couple of weeks ago, but officials have pointed to actions that have helped student loan borrowers over the past year. i mig.
Biden last month extended the pandemic moratorium on federal student loan payments and interest accruals until August. Loan payments stopped for the first time in March 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic under then-President Trump, and the moratorium has been extended several times since then.
The White House has repeatedly said Biden is willing to sign legislation to cancel student loan debt, but in the meantime is weighing what authority the president has to unilaterally eliminate some debt.
Conservative critics have urged the resumption of student loan payments, arguing that the moratorium has cost the federal government billions of dollars and that any widespread forgiveness would disproportionately benefit wealthy Americans. A study by the Committee on Responsible Federal Budgeting found that approximately 75 percent of student loan repayments come from 40 percent of the best income.