FEBRUARY 4: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks during a press conference about student debt outside the U.S. Capitol on February 4, 2021 in Washington, DC. Also pictured, L-R, Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-NY), Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC), Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA). The group of Democrats re-introduced their resolution calling on President Joe Biden to take executive action to cancel up to $50,000 in debt for federal student loan borrowers. Drew Angerer/Getty Images
85 Democratic lawmakers called on Biden to release a long-awaited memo on his legal ability to cancel student debt broadly.
85 Democratic lawmakers called on Biden to release a long-awaited memo on his legal ability to cancel student debt broadly.
They also urged him to "immediately" cancel up to $50,000 in student debt per borrower before payments resume on May 1.
Redacted documents found Biden has had the memo since at least April but is choosing not to release it.
It's been eight months since White House officials saw a memo detailing whether President Joe Biden can legally cancel student debt broadly. Dozens of Democratic lawmakers are tired of waiting for its results.
On Wednesday, Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Chuck Schumer, along with Reps. Pramila Jayapal, Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, and Katie Porter, led 79 of their Democratic colleagues in demanding Biden release the memo outlining his legal ability to cancel federal student debt broadly, along with "immediately" canceling up to $50,000 in student debt per borrower.
"Publicly releasing the memo outlining your existing authority on cancelling student debt and broadly doing so is crucial to making a meaningful difference in the lives of current students, borrowers, and families," the lawmakers wrote. "It has been widely reported that the Department of Education has had this memo since April 5, 2020 after being directed to draft it."
White House chief of staff Ron Klain told Politico last April that Biden had asked Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to create a memo on the president's legal authority to forgive $50,000 in student loans per person. As Insider reported in November, redacted documents obtained by the Debt Collective, the nation's first debtors' union, indicated that the memo has existed since April 5, and White House officials have seen what is says but have yet to make its contents public.
Even before those documents were revealed, though, Democrats were calling for the release of the memo to give 43 million federal student-loan borrowers needed relief. In October, Minnesota Rep. Omar gave the Education Department two weeks to release it, but that deadline came and went with no response.
"Millions of borrowers across the country are desperately asking for student debt relief," Omar had told Insider. "We know the President can do it with the stroke of a pen. We were told over six months ago that they were just waiting on a memo to determine whether they would give relief, and weeks since we sent a letter asking them to do so. Release the memo. Cancel student debt."
New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez said during a roundtable on Wednesday that "it would be good to be publicly known" whether Biden has the legal authority to cancel student debt.
"I have not read the memo, but it is my view that the memo should ultimately certify that the president has the authority to do exactly what we're advocating for," Menendez said.
And beyond the release of the memo, the push for broad student-loan forgiveness continues to amplify. As Warren previously told Insider, her proposal to cancel $50,000 in student loans per borrower would completely eliminate debt for 36 million, or 84%, of all federal borrowers.
"This is the single most effective executive action President Biden could take to jumpstart our economy and begin to narrow the racial wealth gap," she said.
While Biden promised during his campaign to approve $10,000 in student-loan forgiveness per borrower, he has remained largely silent on that promise since taking office. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki recently said Biden would sign a bill passed by Congress to cancel student debt, but his promise to do so "immediately" remains unfulfilled. He even ignored a question on that promise during his first solo press conference of the year.
Still, while Biden extended the pause on student-loan payments through May 1, giving borrowers an additional 90 days of relief, lawmakers want to ensure millions of Americans will not be stuck with monthly bills they cannot afford.
They wrote that "eliminating debt before the pause ends is a commonsense step so that millions of borrowers have more breathing room in their family budgets and our national economy is not further held back."
A Majority of Voters Support Extending the Pause on Student Loan Payments
By Ahmad Ali
In December of last year, the Biden administration announced it would extend the pause on federally-held student loan payments through May 1st of 2022. New polling from Data for Progress finds that, by a +35-point margin, a majority of voters support the current pause on student loan payments. Support includes a majority of Democrats and Independents by margins of +76 and +31 points, respectively.
We also find that, by a +26-point margin, a majority of voters support extending the pause on federally-held student loan payments through December 31, 2022 — the end of the year. Support includes a majority of Democrats and Independents by margins of +68 and +19 points, respectively.
Ahmad Ali (@UhmadAli) is Press Secretary at Data for Progress.
JANUARY 26, 2022
Over 80 Democrats Say It’s Time for Biden to Cancel $50,000 of Student Debt
Rep. Ayanna Pressley speaks as Sen. Elizabeth Warren looks on during a press conference about student debt outside the U.S. Capitol on February 4, 2021, in Washington, D.C.
DREW ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES
BYSharon Zhang, Truthout
PUBLISHEDJanuary 27, 2022
Over 80 Democrats have demanded that President Joe Biden cancel a portion of student debt and release an Education Department memo on his legal authority to do so, in an effort led by Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Massachusetts) and Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and Chuck Schumer (D-New York) this week.
In a letter to the president, the lawmakers wrote that Biden should immediately cancel up to $50,000 of student debt per borrower – a move that would boost the economy and provide a lifeline to the millions of Americans with student loans. The lawmakers emphasized that the president should act with urgency, as student loan payments are due to restart in three months.
“Canceling $50,000 of student debt would give 36 million Americans permanent relief and aid the millions more who will eventually resume payments their best chance at thriving in our recovering economy,” the lawmakers said. “In light of high COVID-19 case counts and corresponding economic disruptions, restarting student loan payments without this broad cancellation would be disastrous for millions of borrowers and their families.”
Data released on Thursday shows that the U.S. economy was on an upswing last year despite the pandemic; restarting student loan payments could impede that process. The data also demonstrates that the payment pause, which was in place for all of 2021, didn’t stop the economy from beginning to recover from the impact of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, resuming payments will have an enormous impact on many borrowers’ lives. Thousands of borrowers have reported that student loan payments take a large portion of their income, making it difficult to afford bills and essentials. A recent report for Warren and Schumer found that borrowers will lose out on $85 billion annually once loan payments resume.
The burden of student debt is holding back nearly an entire generation from being able to make financial decisions freely, even impeding upon borrowers’ ability to buy a house. Canceling this debt could raise homeownership rates and credit scores; such a move would also likely result in a higher gross domestic product (GDP).
“[T]he enduring weight of student loan debt has negated opportunities for many borrowers to truly transform their lives and our country,” the lawmakers wrote. “More than 80 percent of borrowers with student loan debt report that it holds them back from being able to afford a home. Without this debt, many would be in a better position to begin saving for homeownership as well as retirement and starting a business.”
The lawmakers also urged Biden to release a memo assessing the legality of canceling student debt via executive order. Although the Education Department prepared the memo in April, the administration refused to publicly acknowledge it for months. Ultimately, the existence of the memo was uncovered by the Debt Collective through a Freedom of Information Act request, but the contents of the document were completely redacted.
“Publicly releasing the memo outlining your existing authority on cancelling student debt and broadly doing so is crucial to making a meaningful difference in the lives of current students, borrowers, and their families,” the lawmakers wrote. Debt activists have also been organizing efforts to pressure Biden on the issue.
The Biden administration’s refusal to release the memo has led debt activists to speculate that the document confirms that the president has the legal authority to cancel student debt with a stroke of his pen – but that he doesn’t actually want to do so.
On the campaign trail, Biden promised to cancel up to $10,000 in student debt per borrower, a promise he has repeatedly come under fire for breaking. Last week, Biden dodged a question from a journalist who asked him about his plan to cancel student loans during a press conference; the president answered a second question from the reporter, said nothing about the student loan question and promptly left the conference.
Many progressives and activists say that even cancelling up to $10,000 of debt per borrower wouldn’t be enough. Student debt cancellation advocates like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), who signed on to the Democrats’ letter this week, have encouraged Biden to cancel student debt completely.
Over 80 Democrats have demanded that President Joe Biden cancel a portion of student debt and release an Education Department memo on his legal authority to do so, in an effort led by Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Massachusetts) and Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and Chuck Schumer (D-New York) this week.
In a letter to the president, the lawmakers wrote that Biden should immediately cancel up to $50,000 of student debt per borrower – a move that would boost the economy and provide a lifeline to the millions of Americans with student loans. The lawmakers emphasized that the president should act with urgency, as student loan payments are due to restart in three months.
“Canceling $50,000 of student debt would give 36 million Americans permanent relief and aid the millions more who will eventually resume payments their best chance at thriving in our recovering economy,” the lawmakers said. “In light of high COVID-19 case counts and corresponding economic disruptions, restarting student loan payments without this broad cancellation would be disastrous for millions of borrowers and their families.”
Data released on Thursday shows that the U.S. economy was on an upswing last year despite the pandemic; restarting student loan payments could impede that process. The data also demonstrates that the payment pause, which was in place for all of 2021, didn’t stop the economy from beginning to recover from the impact of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, resuming payments will have an enormous impact on many borrowers’ lives. Thousands of borrowers have reported that student loan payments take a large portion of their income, making it difficult to afford bills and essentials. A recent report for Warren and Schumer found that borrowers will lose out on $85 billion annually once loan payments resume.
The burden of student debt is holding back nearly an entire generation from being able to make financial decisions freely, even impeding upon borrowers’ ability to buy a house. Canceling this debt could raise homeownership rates and credit scores; such a move would also likely result in a higher gross domestic product (GDP).
“[T]he enduring weight of student loan debt has negated opportunities for many borrowers to truly transform their lives and our country,” the lawmakers wrote. “More than 80 percent of borrowers with student loan debt report that it holds them back from being able to afford a home. Without this debt, many would be in a better position to begin saving for homeownership as well as retirement and starting a business.”
The lawmakers also urged Biden to release a memo assessing the legality of canceling student debt via executive order. Although the Education Department prepared the memo in April, the administration refused to publicly acknowledge it for months. Ultimately, the existence of the memo was uncovered by the Debt Collective through a Freedom of Information Act request, but the contents of the document were completely redacted.
“Publicly releasing the memo outlining your existing authority on cancelling student debt and broadly doing so is crucial to making a meaningful difference in the lives of current students, borrowers, and their families,” the lawmakers wrote. Debt activists have also been organizing efforts to pressure Biden on the issue.
The Biden administration’s refusal to release the memo has led debt activists to speculate that the document confirms that the president has the legal authority to cancel student debt with a stroke of his pen – but that he doesn’t actually want to do so.
On the campaign trail, Biden promised to cancel up to $10,000 in student debt per borrower, a promise he has repeatedly come under fire for breaking. Last week, Biden dodged a question from a journalist who asked him about his plan to cancel student loans during a press conference; the president answered a second question from the reporter, said nothing about the student loan question and promptly left the conference.
Many progressives and activists say that even cancelling up to $10,000 of debt per borrower wouldn’t be enough. Student debt cancellation advocates like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), who signed on to the Democrats’ letter this week, have encouraged Biden to cancel student debt completely.
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