Biden needs to 'make clear' to student-loan borrowers his 'intention to cancel a meaningful amount' of debt, nearly 100 Democratic lawmakers say

• Nearly 100 Democratic lawmakers urged Biden to extend the student-loan payment pause before May 1.
• They also wrote he should cancel a "meaningful amount" of student debt.

Democratic lawmakers aren't too worried about clogging President Joe Biden's mailbox when it comes to the student debt crisis.

On Thursday, nearly 100 of them sent yet another letter to Biden urging him to "act now" to extend the student-loan payment pause beyond its expiration date on May 1, along with cancelling a "meaningful amount" of student debt. Led in part by Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Chuck Schumer — two of the biggest voices for student-loan forgiveness in Congress — the lawmakers noted that White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain's recent comments about the potential for student-loan relief were encouraging, and it's time for Biden to finish the job.

"Although there may be different ideas about the best way to structure cancellation, we all agree that you should cancel student debt now," they wrote, adding that "given the fast-approaching deadline for borrowers to resume payments, your administration must act as quickly as possible to extend the pause and make clear to the American public your intention to cancel a meaningful amount of student debt."

This is just the latest of letters from Democratic lawmakers asking for student-debt relief in the form of loan forgiveness, an extension of the payment pause, and fixes to the student-loan industry. While Klain said earlier this month Biden will decide to either extend the pause or determine what he can do using executive action, relief has yet to be announced and the payment resumption date is just a month away, worrying borrowers who know they cannot afford another monthly bill.

Notably, the lawmakers' Thursday letter does not specify a specific amount of student debt they would like to see canceled, splitting from some of their previous efforts urging Biden to cancel at least $50,000 in debt for every federal borrower. That's also the strategy the Congressional Progressive Caucus recently took on — canceling student debt was on the list of priorities it wants Biden to take on via executive action, but chair of the caucus Pramila Jayapal told reporters that she did not recommend a specific amount of relief because the goal right now is to "make progress" on the crisis.

"I have been calling for at least $50,000. The president promised at least $10,000 during the campaign. So the number is somewhere in the midst of that," Jayapal said.

The stakes are especially high now, with midterm elections approaching. A Data for Progress/Rise survey provided exclusively to Insider found that nearly half of likely voters in key battleground states would be more likely to go to the polls if Biden fulfilled his $10,000 student-loan forgiveness campaign pledge.

To be sure, Biden has canceled student debt for targeted groups of borrowers, like those defrauded by for-profit schools, but lawmakers and advocates argue it's not enough, and now's the time to deliver.

"While we applaud your efforts to date – including targeted relief for disabled borrowers, victims of for-profit colleges, and others as well as working to fix existing programs like Public Service Loan Forgiveness – these efforts still leave the majority of federal student loan borrowers out," the lawmakers wrote. "Right now, your administration has a historic opportunity to repair the damage caused by decades of policy failures, government mismanagement, and industry abuses by extending pandemic relief and canceling student debt."