Biden is under pressure to deliver on a campaign promise to pay off student loan debt. He signaled to lawmakers at a White House meeting this week that he would take action to address the problem. Since taking office, Biden has taken various steps to provide relief from student loans. It has repeatedly extended a pause to repay federal student loans, an action originally issued during the Trump administration to help borrowers in financial trouble due to the pandemic. Most recently, the White House announced that the pause would be extended until August 31. During a meeting with members of the Spanish Congressional Caucus on Monday, Biden appeared “positive” about the idea of forgiving at least $ 10,000 of American student loan debt, but did not make a final commitment on the issue, according to the Democratic MP. of California Nanette. Bargan. Barangan told CNN on Tuesday that Biden and Democrats had discussed the scope of such a plan – including whether it would include public and private institutions – but that the White House had not committed or set a timetable for such a move. Her comments on the discussion came after reports that Biden had indicated strongly during the meeting that he would take action on the issue through the executive. However, noting that Biden had announced a decision at the CHC meeting, Baragan said it was “news to me”. Some key Democratic lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Sumer of New York and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, have called on Biden to cancel a total of up to $ 50,000 in student debt. The White House has long suggested that the president would support congressional action to eliminate the $ 10,000 student loan debt write-off for borrowers, but Biden did not say whether he would use executive power to provide immediate access to the loan. Debt relief. But it is unlikely that Congress, where Democrats have a small margin, will have the votes to pass legislation that generally cancels debt. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said later Thursday that there was no conclusion on how to reduce the student debt burden as Biden weighs in on his choices. “No internal process has been completed yet,” Psaki said. Psaki said the choices Biden referred to would be made through executive action unless Congress acts. “What we are really talking about is the authorities through executive actions, which we continue to examine and he continues to examine,” he said. He said Biden was open to any kind of media test – which some lawmakers are concerned about – in any decision he makes. “He has talked in the past about how he does not think millionaires or billionaires should benefit – or even people from higher incomes – so this is definitely something he would look into,” he said. Biden on Thursday backed steps he has already taken to reduce public sector debt. “The first thing we did was to reform the existing system, which did not work for anyone who allowed people to write off debts if they had public services,” he said. CNN’s Maegan Vazquez and Manu Raju contributed to this report.
