Wanting more, Democrats tell Biden to withhold executive action on student loans
Three Democrat senators have asked President Biden to pause any executive action on student loan cancelation.
Biden is not expected to come to a final decision on student loans until the end of August.
Three Democrat senators have asked President Biden to pause any executive action on student loan cancelation.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senators Elizabeth Warner and Raphael Warnock requested a meeting with the President to urge him to reconsider a more progressive attack on student loan forgiveness, Politico reports.
In the meantime, the lawmakers asked that the President refrain from using executive action to cancel student loans.
[RELATED: Hunger strike, singing: A day of college student protests at the White House]
The White House announced in April that the COVID-era freeze on student loan repayment would be extended until Aug. 31.
There has also been disagreement among the Democrat party as to how much student loan debt should be forgiven.
Biden has been adamant that he will not consider forgiving above $50,000 in debt per borrower despite requests from the more progressive wing of his party.
Rather, the administration has been toying with the $10,000 amount promised during the 2020 campaign.
“I am considering dealing with some debt reduction,” Biden stated last month. “I am not considering $50,000 debt reduction.”
The White House confirmed the president’s intent in a statement to Campus Reform, saying that Biden will continue “to support legislation providing $10,000 in debt relief to all federal borrowers.”
According to The Brookings Institution, $50,000 per borrower would cost approximately $1 trillion. Biden’s proposed plan, on the other hand, would cost $373 billion.
Still, the President is not expected to come to a final decision until the end of August.
Former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki did tell reporters on May 3 that Biden is looking to curb repayments for borrowers who earn “less than $125,000 a year.”
Campus Reform has contacted all parties mentioned in this article and will update accordingly.
