White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki says President Joe Biden has not made a final decision on whether he has the authority to cancel up to $50,000 in student loan debt per borrower.
During a press briefing on Wednesday, Psaki was asked about Biden’s belief that he does not have the authority to cancel up to $50,000 in federal student loan debt.
The reporter noted that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released a statement that said they were informed his administration was still examining whether he would have the authority to cancel that amount of debt.
The reporter asked, “So, if your lawyers would determine that canceling this is legal, would the president go ahead with this? And if not, why not?”
“First on last night’s town hall… [Biden] was reiterating his previously stated position, which is he doesn’t favor $50,000 in student loan relief without limitation,” she responded.
She went to explain that Biden believes student loan relief for amounts over $10,000, should be targeted based on whether the borrower went to a public or private school, whether they went to a graduate or undergraduate school, and what their income is.
“Obviously, there’s a lot of considerations at play,” she added. “What the president has told Sens. Schumer and Warren is that once his team is in place at the Justice Department… he will ask them to conduct a legal review of his authority to act by executive action.”
Watch the video below:
STUDENT DEBT:
— Forbes (@Forbes) February 17, 2021
Jen Psaki says President Biden "doesn't favor $50,000 in student loan relief without limitation." https://t.co/dTpOeennP5 pic.twitter.com/o0LxxJ9Sf3
Psaki said that once the review is done, Biden will “decide the path forward.” Still, she said the president would be “eager” to sign a bill that would erase up to $10,000 in student loan debt.
Her comments come after Biden was asked about his student loan plan during a town hall event hosted by CNN.
Biden said he would “not” make canceling $50,000 of student loan debt “happen.”
He clarified, “I’m prepared to write off the $10,000 debt, but not [$50,000].”
Schumer and Warren have been pushing Biden to take executive action to erase up to $50,000 in student loan debt per borrower. However, the president has so far voiced support for only canceling up to $10,000.
After Biden’s comments during the town hall, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) wrote on Twitter, “The case against student loan forgiveness is looking shakier by the day. We’ve got the Senate Majority Leader on board to forgive $50k. Biden’s holding back, but many of the arguments against it just don’t hold water on close inspection. We can and should do it. Keep pushing!”
“Who cares what school someone went to? Entire generations of working class kids were encouraged to go into more debt under the guise of elitism. This is wrong,” she added.