The president said he is prepared to write off debts of up to $ 10,000.
President Joe Biden is facing a negative reaction for rejecting a proposal to cancel $ 50,000 in student debt and point out at point blank range: “I’m not going to make it happen.”
During a meeting at CNN City Council on Tuesday, a participant asked Biden about Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Elizabeth Warren’s proposal to cancel up to $ 50,000 in federal student debt per borrower.
“It depends on whether or not you go to a public or private university,” said Biden.
The president said he did not want to forgive the debts of people who attended elite schools like Harvard and Yale, who often earn high salaries, and added that he would instead prioritize early childhood education for underserved communities.
“I am prepared to cancel debts of $ 10,000, but not 50, because I don’t think I have the authority to do so by signing” an executive order, said Biden.
The president also said that families earning less than $ 125,000 and whose children go to a state university should attend for free. He also expressed support for paying off debts as part of someone’s salary
However, his comments have drawn intense criticism.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York spoke out against Biden’s comments, tweeting, “Who cares which school someone went to?”
She argued that generations of working class children are “encouraged to incur more debt in the guise of elitism”, adding, “This is wrong.”
She added that early childhood education does not have to be compensation for student loan forgiveness. “We can have both,” she said.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts also joined the conversation, claiming that Biden has the authority to cancel student debt “with the stroke of a pen.”
“He can and should use it. People don’t deserve anything less,” she said.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, from Minnesota, similarly called Biden, saying, “We also need to make college tuition free so that there is no accumulated debt in the future and invest in universal early childhood education. This is not at odds ! “
On Wednesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki noted that Biden had previously said that any relief over $ 10,000 should be directed based on the borrower’s income, the type of debt in question, if the school is public or private and whether it is for undergraduate or graduate.
“If Congress goes ahead and sends him a package that, you know, provides $ 10,000 in student debt relief, he will be eager to sign it,” said Psaki.
Schumer and Warren increased the pressure and issued a joint statement on Wednesday, urging Biden to cancel the debt of up to $ 50,000.
“An ocean of student loan debt is holding back 43 million borrowers and weighing black and brown Americans disproportionately,” the statement said.
“Presidents Obama and Trump used their executive authority to cancel student loan debt,” the statement continues.
“The Biden government said it is reviewing options to cancel up to $ 50,000 in student debt through executive measures, and we are confident that they will agree with the standards used by Obama and Trump, as well as with the leading legal experts who concluded that the government has broad authority to immediately deliver the much needed relief to millions of Americans. “