- Several key Democrats backed down against Biden’s unwillingness to cancel $ 50,000 in student loan debt per person.
- Warren, Schumer and AOC called on the Democrats to continue the pressure on the White House to act immediately.
- “It’s time to act. We will keep fighting,” Schumer and Warren said.
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Several top Democrats pushed back on Wednesday against the dismissal of President Joe Biden on Tuesday night of their proposal to forgive up to $ 50,000 in student loan debt.
Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts issued a joint statement defending their plan, saying student loan forgiveness is a step both of Biden’s predecessors in the White House have taken in the past.
The pair expressed confidence that the president had the authority to act unilaterally, arguing that their proposal would help reduce the racial wealth gap and stimulate the economy. “It’s time to act. We will keep fighting,” Schumer and Warren said.
Other Democrats have criticized Biden, doubling their support for major student debt relief. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, a house sponsor of the plan, tweeted that Biden does have the power to act on his own. “He can and should use it,” she said. “The people deserve nothing less.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York tweeted that Democrats ‘must keep pushing’.
“Who cares what school someone went to?” Ocasio-Cortez wrote. “Whole generations of working class children have been encouraged to incur more debt under the guise of elitism. This is wrong. Nowhere does it say that we should exchange pre-school education for forgiveness for student loans. We can have both.”
Ocasio-Cortez’s remarks appear to refer to remarks made by Biden in City Hall, questioning the fairness of ‘forgiving billions of dollars in debt to people who went to Harvard and Yale and Penn’.
“I will not let this happen”
At City Hall, Biden answered a question about the proposed aid measure: “I will not make it happen.”
Instead, the president said he was willing to forgive up to $ 10,000 in student debt and proposed other measures to provide tuition-free community college and to allow families earning $ 125,000 or less to send their children to state universities for free. send.
Biden raised the six-figure college debt of his three children and said they gradually paid it off over time.
“I do not think anyone should pay for it, but I think you should be able to finish it,” he said. “I understand the impact of the debt.”
Last year, House Democrats included $ 10,000 in student debt forgiveness in a pandemic relief proposal. But the measure was omitted from the $ 1.9 billion federal rescue package now moving through Congress.
Some experts argue that a broad cancellation of student debt will boost the economy by releasing expenditures that could go to savings or other consumer goods.
Biden’s administration said it was reviewing legal options to determine whether he could act to forgive debt unilaterally. Shortly after his tenure, Biden extended a break on student loan payments until September 30 and waived interest.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Wednesday that Biden “does not favor $ 50,000 loan relief without restrictions” and said the president believes a cancellation of loans above $ 10,000 per borrower should be “targeted”. word.