President biden
Joe BidenBiden refuses the student loan forgiveness plan K Biden offers to help a woman get vaccine for a child with pre-existing illness. Optimistic US biden will be in ‘very different circumstances’ with the Christmas pandemic MORE it is facing intense reaction from progressive lawmakers after saying on Tuesday that it would not sign a measure to forgive up to $ 50,000 in student debt held by the federal government by borrower through executive action.
During a meeting at CNN City Council, Biden overturned the debt-relief plan promoted by leading Democratic lawmakers and prominent progressives, including the Senate majority leader Charles Schumer
Chuck SchumerREAD: Trump’s statement hitting McConnell A powerful tool to face the Supreme Court – if Democrats use it correctly, the Senate passes a bill to award the Congressional gold medal to a Capitol police officer MORE (NY), Sen. Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth WarrenBiden rejects student loan forgiveness plan K Jamaal Bowman’s mother dies of COVID-19: ‘I share your legacy with all of you’ Impeachment managers end case with new Trump warning MORE (Mass.) And Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
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“I’m not going to make it happen,” said Biden when asked if he would support $ 50,000 in student loan forgiveness.
He reiterated his previous support for up to $ 10,000 in debt relief per borrower, but expressed concern that a higher total forgiven through executive action would disproportionately help the wealthy and potentially violate the law.
“I think that, in this time of economic pain and tension, we should eliminate the interest on the debts that accumulate, number 1. And number 2, I am prepared to cancel the debt of $ 10,000, but not [$50,000]. “
Biden had previously expressed opposition to a $ 50,000 pardon plan and the White House has repeatedly said that the president preferred to ease student debt through an act of Congress. But Biden’s public and unequivocal refusal to go as far as the progressives want has sparked the president’s first big fight with the left since taking office.
“An ocean of student loan debt is trapping 43 million borrowers and disproportionately weighing black and brown Americans,” said Schumer and Warren in a joint statement on Wednesday. The two reintroduced a resolution earlier this month asking Biden to cancel up to $ 50,000 per borrower, a bill they first introduced in September.
“It is time to act. We will continue to fight, ”they said.
There are about 43 million Americans who owe a total of $ 1.6 trillion in student loans to the federal government. While progressives have argued for years that forgiving student debt is essential to reducing inequality and bridging the racial wealth gap, moderates like Biden have resorted to this as a way of easing the damage from the coronavirus recession.
The battle over how far to go for student debt forgiveness has been simmering since Biden’s election in November and escalated when Democrats took control of the Senate in January.
The small Democratic majority gave Biden a way to take his favorite plan – a bill, not an executive order, to forgive up to $ 10,000 per borrower – in Congress.
But progressives had been putting more pressure on Biden to aim higher and use executive action long before the Democratic takeover of the Senate.
Schumer, who is expected to face a primary challenge from the left in 2022, said in November that the incoming president had the power to unilaterally eliminate $ 50,000 in debt per borrower. Warren in December went even further, insisting that Biden had a “moral obligation” to follow the plan she proposed with Schumer.
Biden is open to an executive debt relief order, but he suggested on Tuesday that there may be legal limits on how much he could forgive. The president also said that he did not feel comfortable settling debts held by graduates from prestigious universities and preferred to reform pre-existing forgiveness programs based on public service.
“The idea that I say to a community, I will forgive billions of dollars is dead for the people who went to Harvard, Yale and Penn … that will be forgiven instead of using that money to provide early childhood education for young children who come from circumstances disadvantaged? “Biden said.
While Biden’s refusal to aim higher at debt relief disappointed progressives, his justification infuriated them.
“Who cares what school someone went to? Entire generations of working-class children were encouraged to go into more debt under the guise of elitism. This is wrong, ”said Ocasio-Cortez on Wednesday. “Nowhere is it written that we should exchange early childhood education for the forgiveness of the student loan. We can have both. “
Despite growing pressure from progressives, it may take months for Biden to take action on student loan forgiveness.
Biden extended the pause in federal student loan payments and interest accrual until September, which alleviates the urgency of dealing with debt somewhat.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki
Jen PsakiBiden refuses the student loan forgiveness plan K Biden says the goal is to reopen schools five days a week for the first 100 days. Biden officials measure priorities after coronavirus relief bill MORE said on Wednesday that the previously announced legal review of its debt forgiveness authority would not take place until after the designated attorney general Merrick Garland
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“What the president said to Sens. Schumer and Warren is that, as soon as his team is formed in the Department of Justice … he will ask them to conduct a legal review of his authority to act through executive action, ”said Psaki.
“There is a legal consideration there, as I think everyone agrees, and there is a political consideration and, once completed, he will decide the way forward,” she added.
Biden’s legal authority to ease student debt is not an established law. While progressive legal analysts say the Higher Education Act gives Biden the ability to direct the Secretary of Education to zero student loan balances, conservative strata say debt forgiveness is beyond the limits of the law.
Former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos
Betsy DeVosWhen Randi Weingarten echoes Betsy Devos Schumer, Warren presents a bill that asks Biden to eliminate student loan debt Former Trump employees find the job market difficult MORE debated whether she had the authority to forgive student loan debt amid the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, but Trump administration lawyers determined it would be illegal. His analysis, however, is not legally binding and the Biden government’s lawyers could come to a different conclusion.
Psaki also suggested on Wednesday that Biden would limit debt relief based on the borrower’s income and educational level – a far cry from progressive unilateral elimination.
“He said earlier that relief above $ 10,000 should be directed based on the borrower’s income, based on the type of debt in question – public schools versus private schools, graduate schools versus graduate schools – obviously, there are many considerations at stake, ”she said.
Even if Biden determines that he has the power to forgive student debts through executive order, he is still likely to face a blowback from progressives based on the scope of his forgiveness plan.
“We have the * Senate Majority Leader * on board to forgive $ 50k. Biden is holding back, but many of the arguments against it just don’t hold up to close inspection, ”tweeted Ocasio-Cortez.
“We can and must do this. Keep pushing! “