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- Jen Psaki said there was no update on Biden’s legality to write off $ 50,000 in student debt per borrower.
- It’s been over six months since Biden asked the education and justice departments. to review its legality.
- Psaki said Biden would sign a bill to write off $ 10,000 in student debt – the amount he campaigned on.
President Joe Biden has campaigned for the cancellation of $ 10,000 in student debt per borrower, but some Democrats, led by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, want him to write off $ 50,000 per borrower via executive action – this that the president was not sure he had the power to do.
This is why the education and justice ministries have examined his legal capacity to do so, but White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Monday that there was still no update on these reviews. It’s been over six months.
“I have no further update,” Psaki said at the press conference. “I would say that, obviously, reducing the cost of college education or alleviating student debt is a priority for this president and vice-president.”
In February, Psaki said Biden would ask the Justice Department to review its power to use executive action to write off student debt, but it is not clear exactly when the Department began this review. However, White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain told Politico in April that Biden also asked Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to create a note on the president’s legal authority to overturn 50 $ 000 in student loans per person.
He said Biden “hasn’t made a decision on this anyway, and, in fact, has yet to receive the notes he needs to start focusing on this decision.”
But Psaki on Monday did not comment on the reason for what could delay those ratings, and she said if Congress passed a bill to write off $ 10,000 in student debt per borrower, Biden would be “happy to sign it.” .
However, $ 10,000 is significantly less than what Warren and many borrowers want, and Warren told reporters during a press call in February that following the legislative route would take too long.
“We have a lot to do, including moving to infrastructure and all kinds of other stuff,” Warren said. “I have legislation to do it, but for me that is just not a reason to wait. The president can do it, and I really hope he will.”
Millions of Americans will have to start repaying their collective $ 1.7 trillion debt again in February, after the payment hiatus is lifted. After a third major student loan company, Navient, announced it would shut down its services, Warren told Insider the best thing that can happen to borrowers before payments restart is a large forgiveness of student debt.
“At the end of the day, the student loan system is broken,” Warren said. “The only way to ensure that borrowers don’t face the same predatory behavior from Navient’s replacement is to write off student debt, so that no borrower is held hostage by companies profiting from their financial distress. . “
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