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Schumer Pushes Biden To Wipe Out $50,000 In Federal Student Loan Debt Per Borrower
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Feb 4, 2021
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By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Feb 4, 2021
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A group of Congressional Democrats led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Elizabeth Warren are ramping up pressure on President Joe Biden to cancel up to $50,000 in federal student loan debt for individual borrowers.
"We are very hopeful that the cry from one end of America to the other — 'take this student loan debt off our backs' — will be heard in the White House," Schumer said at a press conference on Thursday, where he was joined by Representatives Maxine Waters, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Presley, and Mondaire Jones. "We are not going to let up until we accomplish it."
On Thursday, Schumer and Senator Warren re-introduced a resolution — previously floated prior to the election — calling on Biden to use his executive authority to immediately eliminate student debt up to the $50,000 limit.
Schumer emphasized that the policy was a "civil rights issue," since student debt disproportionately impacts Black Americans. "There’s very little that the president can do with the flick of a pen that would boost our entire economy more than cancelling $50,000 in student debt," he added.
The push from Schumer comes as political insiders say the New York Senator is attempting to shore up support on his left, amid fears of a possible primary challenge next year. As the Senate's top-ranking Democrat, Schumer's comments could also set up a potential showdown over student debt relief, a progressive priority that Biden campaigned on, but made no mention of in his $1.9 trillion stimulus package unveiled last month.
On Thursday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the president "already took a step through an executive action" — a reference to his extension on a loan payment pause — "and he would look to Congress to take the next step.”
Biden has previously said he would eliminate up to $10,000 in student debt for all borrowers, and the remainder of debt for those who attended public or historically Black colleges and earn less than $125,000 a year. But he has left open the question over whether this should be done through executive action or legislation.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren has repeatedly pointed to legal arguments made at the Project on Predatory Student Lending at Harvard Law School that forgiveness can be achieved legally and efficiently through executive action.
The proposal would cost roughly $650 billion — but would ultimately boost the economy, proponents argue.
"Cancelling student loan debt is good for you whether you have student debt or not because it is good for our economy," Warren said on Thursday. "We cancel $50,000 in student loan debt and we lift the prospects, we lift the future of all Americans."
"We're going to get this done," she added.
Tagged
student loans
chuck schumer
joe biden
student debt
Jake Offenhartz
Jake Offenhartz is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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