Biden not considering $50K in student loan debt relief

Amber CoakleyApril 29, 2022

FILE – People walk on the campus at Stanford University in Stanford, Calif. A new federal report finds that record-keeping failures by the Education Department may have left thousands of Americans stuck with student debt that should have been forgiven. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

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UPDATED 9:33 AM PT – Friday, April 29, 2022

The Biden administration is taking a hard look at student loan relief. During a press conference Thursday, Joe Biden said $50,000 in debt reduction is not on the table, shutting down a mounting push from progressives.

“I am not considering $50,000 debt reduction, but I’m in the process of taking a hard look at whether or not there will be additional debt forgiveness, ” stated the President. “And I’ll have an answer on that in the next couple of weeks.”

Biden instead touted the steps he has taken while suggesting his administration reformed a system in place that didn’t work. During his 2020 campaign, The Democrat vowed to “immediately cancel at least $10,000 in relief per the nation’s roughly 43 million borrowers, which would forgive $321 billion in federal student loans.

“In terms of the loan forgiveness, there is no simple solution here,” said Miguel Cardona, Secretary of Education. “But we do know our borrowers need relief do need relief.”

This came shortly after a group of five Republican senators introduced the Stop Reckless Student Loan Actions Act, which would ban Biden from cancelling student debt. This measure is led by Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) who claims deferring student loan payments is costing the government money it doesn’t have.

“My legislation…would continued to allow our president to temporarily suspend student loan payments during a future national emergency but would limit those suspension to a period of 90 days and subject them to income congressional disapproval. It would also endure that relief is targeted to those who need it most by preventing presidents from suspending payments to higher income individuals.”

The measure would also prevent any future president from using a national emergency to cancel student loan debt. Thune said as Americans return to the workforce since the start of the pandemic, it’s time to resume repayments.