Democratic lawmakers renew calls for Biden to cancel up to $50,000 of student debt
- A group of Democratic lawmakers reintroduced a resolution on Thursday to cancel up to $50,000 in student loan debt.
- The Democrats called for President Joe Biden to take executive action on the issue, which he has previously indicated is unlikely.
- Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said canceling student debt is among the quickest ways for Biden to help the economy.
A group of Democratic lawmakers reintroduced a resolution on Thursday that called for the cancelation of up to $50,000 of federal student loan debt to address the student debt crisis in the country.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Rep. Alma Adams of North Carolina, Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, and Rep. Mondaire Jones of New York held a press conference to bring the resolution to cancel up to $50,000 of student debt back to the table.
"Canceling student loan debt is the single most effective executive action that President Biden can take to kickstart this economy," Warren said during the press conference. "Canceling student loan debt is the single most effective executive action that President Biden can take to help close the racial wealth gap. Canceling student loan debt is the single most effective executive action President Biden can take to lift the economic prospects of tens of millions of young Americans."
As of the third quarter of 2020, Americans owed more than $1.7 trillion in student loans, and although President Joe Biden has already expressed support for Congress canceling $10,000 in student debt - and signed an order to extend the pause on federal student loan payments through the end of September - he said he is unlikely to do so through executive action, which Warren and Schumer have pushed for.
"We are calling on President Biden and Vice President Harris to immediately cancel up to $50,000 in federal student loan debt," Schumer and Warren wrote in an op-ed for CNBC. "The U.S. Department of Education holds that debt and can cancel it, too. This is exactly what Joe Biden and Kamala Harris should direct their Education secretary to do."
Schumer reiterated in the press conference that Biden can use his power to cancel student debt, saying "there's very little that the president could do with the flick of a pen that would boost our economy more than canceling $50,000 in student debt."
Biden used his authority to extend the pause on loan payments under the Higher Education Act, Jones said during the press conference, and he can use that same authority to cancel student debt.