It’s still unclear Biden has the legal authority to waive up to $50,000 in student loan debt per borrower, according to the White House.
It’s still unclear Biden has the legal authority to waive up to $50,000 in student loan debt per borrower, according to the White House.
Some Democrats, led by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, want President Joe Biden to cancel $50,000 in student debt per borrower via executive action – something the president was unsure he had the authority to do. President Joe Biden campaigned on cancelling $10,000 in student debt per borrower.
There are reasons for this, but White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Monday that the department of education and the department of justice are still looking into his legal ability to do so It’s now been more than six months since the incident.
During the briefing, Psaki stated, “I don’t have any other update.” It’s clear to me that cutting college costs or relieving student debt is important to the President and Vice President, and it should be to everyone.”
There has been no official word from the Justice Department since Psaki said in February that Biden would ask for a review of his authority to use executive action to cancel student debt. According to Politico, White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain told the publication in April that Biden also asked Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to draught a memo outlining the president’s legal authority to forgive $50,000 in student loan debt per person. Biden
Even so, Warren and many other borrowers consider $10,000 a pittance. In a February press conference, Warren told reporters that the legislative route would take too long.
According to Warren, “we have a lot on our plate, including moving to infrastructure and all sorts of other things.” “Although I have the legislation to make it happen, that in and of itself is not a good enough reason for me to put it off. The president has the power to make this happen, and I sincerely hope he does
Once the payment moratorium ends in February, millions of Americans will be forced to resume making payments on their combined student loan debt of $1.7 trillion. After Navient, a third major student-loan company, announced it would shut down its services, Warren told Insider that the best thing that can happen to borrowers before payments resume is the general cancellation of student debt.
