Democrats call on Biden to extend student loan pause

• Democrat lawmakers called on the Biden administration to extend the student loan pause and erase $50,000 per borrower.
• Sen. Charles Schumer, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and Rep. Ayanna Pressley urged President Biden to act urgently since the federal protections are set to expire at the end of September.
• They argued that most of the borrowers are still struggling with the impact of the pandemic and should be allowed a reprieve from the loans.

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) held a press conference at the Capitol on Tuesday to call for an extension of the student loan pause and erasure of $50,000 per borrower.

The total college debt for millions of Americans amounts to over $1.6 trillion.

Schumer, Warren, and Pressley have been urging President Joe Biden to forgive student loans since his election last year. Now, they are calling for more urgency as the federal protections are set to expire at the end of September.

Warren remarked, “These people live with a sword hanging over their heads. And every day that goes by that sword draws a little closer… The president of the United States can remove this sword. The president can prevent this pain.”

In March 2020, former President Trump signed an order pausing debt payments and interest accrual. This includes roughly 43 million Americans with federal student loans. This pause has been extended by the Biden administration twice, but there is no news yet of another extension.

Schumer declared, “To make borrowers repay their debts now would be unfair, would be harsh, and in many instances would be cruel. People were thrown off their stride by COVID. Give them a chance to recover.”

While Schumer didn’t ask for a specific length of extension, he suggested waiting “until at least spring” to restart payments.

More than half of the jobs lost at the beginning of the pandemic have since been recovered. Still, employment remains roughly 6.8 million below its pre-pandemic peak in February 2020.

Pressley stressed the urgency of extending pandemic protections amid the spread of the COVID-19 delta variant.

Pressley pointed out, “These crises are layered. People have to remain safely housed. They should not be trying to decide between paying a student loan bill, or whether or not they should be paying rent to remain safely housed while we are still in the midst of a pandemic.”

Source: The Hill