President Biden said he’s considering a plan to relieve student debt in the coming weeks, but that it would fall short of the sweeping forgiveness sought by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and progressive Democrats.
“I am considering dealing with some debt reduction,” Biden told reporters Thursday. “I am not considering $50,000 debt reduction, but I’m in the process of taking a hard look at whether or not there are going to — there will be additional debt forgiveness, and I’ll have an answer on that in the next couple of weeks.”
On Wednesday, Schumer told reporters that he had relentlessly lobbied Biden on the issue and expressed optimism that the president was getting closer to canceling in federal student loan debt in the amount of $50,000 per person.
Biden has previously advocated for Congress to pass legislation that would forgive $10,000 in debt, but in recent weeks administration officials have said he is considering forgiveness through executive action.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden would either extend an existing moratorium on student loan payments or decide whether he plans to cancel student debt through executive action before the moratorium expires Aug. 31. The standstill was put in place by former President Donald Trump in 2020, as part of federal efforts to minimize the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
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Biden would likely cite a law that gives the education secretary the power to discharge debts to undertake the action, though the White House so far has declined to lay out what specific authority the president would use in a forgiveness program. Psaki has said the White House prefers a legislative solution to executive action because of the possibility of a court challenge.
Earlier this month, the Education Department also unveiled new measures designed to make it easier for public servants to discharge their student debt under an existing loan forgiveness program.
The Committee for a Responsible Budget, an independent watchdog group, has
