One of President-elect Joe Biden’s campaign promises included student-loan relief, and it is a promise he seems to be holding true. Announced by an aide, Biden will immediately ask Congress to suspend $10,000 in student debt for all borrowers.
Once in office, Biden will be under immense pressure to increase the amount he wishes to cancel. According to CNBC, Top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., challenges Biden “to forgive $50,000 per borrower on the first day of his presidency.” Congress is irrelevant, he says, “all you need is the flick of a pen.”
Biden’s aide also mentioned he hopes to “extend the payment pause that’s scheduled to end this month.
Since March, 90% of burrowers decided to opt-out of student-loan payments for the time being. But when the $900 billion pandemic aid package passed in December, it “didn’t include an extension of the payment pause for student loan borrowers.”
According to a Pew survey, 6 in 10 borrowers are already struggling with finding student-debt payments feasible in the coming months.
Biden will likely run into court challenges, but the process is more hopeful since Democrats secured the majority in Congress. But, not all Democrats agree on student-loan forgiveness. According to CNBC, “it will be hard to get nine Republicans in support of a debt jubilee.”
