Pelosi Pulls Rank On Biden, Says He Doesn’t Have The Power To Cancel Student Debt

Conservative News DailyJuly 28, 2021

President Joe Biden does not have the power to cancel student loan debt, Speaker of the House and Democratic California Rep. Nancy Pelosi said.

“People think that the President of the United States has the power for debt forgiveness. He does not. He can postpone. He can delay. But he does not have that power. That has to be an act of Congress,” Pelosi said during a Wednesday press conference at the Capitol. RELATED: ‘Flick His Pen And Sign It’: Democrats Push Biden To Cancel $50,000 In Student Loan Debt

>> @SpeakerPelosi says Biden does *not* have the power to cancel student loan debt — as some Democrats, led by @SenSchumer, are urging him to do.

“That has to be an act of Congress,” Pelosi says. pic.twitter.com/2V7ALDDG3y

— Michael Stratford (@mstratford) July 28, 2021

Pelosi’s comments follow Senate Majority Leader and Democratic New York Sen. Chuck Schumer’s statements urging Biden to cancel up to $50,000 in student loan debt per borrower “with the flick of a pen.” Schumer was joined by Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Democratic Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley at the Tuesday press conference.

Schumer and Warren call on Biden to extend the pause on federal student loan payments and wipe out $50,000 per borrower https://t.co/JzgL6SpGtS pic.twitter.com/EChasXULjB

— The Hill (@thehill) July 27, 2021

Schumer and Warren have been holding press conferences urging student loan debt cancellation since at least the fall, according to Market Watch.

Pelosi appeared to cast some doubt on her commitment to the cause during her press conference. “Suppose your [child] decided they do not want to go to college. But you’re paying taxes to forgive somebody else’s obligations. You may not be happy about that,” she said.

Pelosi also questioned the policy wisdom of cancelling student loan debt:

“Suppose…your child just decided they, at this time, [do] not want to go to college but you’re paying taxes to forgive somebody else’s obligations. You may not be happy about that.” pic.twitter.com/eArtzO3xc1

— Michael Stratford (@mstratford) July 28, 2021

President Biden made a promise to make forgivable up to $10,000 of student loan debt while on the campaign trail as part of a COVID-19 relief measure.

Additionally, we should forgive a minimum of $10,000/person of federal student loans, as proposed by Senator Warren and colleagues. Young people and other student debt holders bore the brunt of the last crisis. It shouldn’t happen again.

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) March 22, 2020

Biden has since walked back those campaign promises. When asked during a December press conference if he would sign an executive order canceling up to $50,000 in student loan debt, he said he was “unlikely to do that,” according to The Washington Post.

Biden tells group of columnists on authority to cancel student debt: “Well, I think that’s pretty questionable. I’m unsure of that. I’d be unlikely to do that.” https://t.co/ApPzYqPqii

— Andrew Kreighbaum (@kreighbaum) December 24, 2020

He appeared to undercut his campaign promise in a May interview with The New York Times when he said “the idea that you go to Penn and you’re paying a total of 70,000 bucks a year and the public should pay for that? I don’t agree.”