President Joe Biden says he will have more information about whether he will take action to provide student “debt reduction” in the coming weeks.
On Thursday, Biden said, “I am considering dealing with some debt reduction. I am not considering [a] $50,000 debt reduction.”
“But I’m in the process of taking a hard look at whether or not there will be additional debt forgiveness,” he continued.
Finally, Biden added, “I’ll have an answer on that in the next couple weeks.”
Watch the video below:
President Biden asked about his plan for student debt forgiveness:
— The Recount (@therecount) April 28, 2022
“I am considering dealing with some debt reduction. I am not considering $50,000 debt reduction … I’ll have an answer on that in the next couple weeks.” pic.twitter.com/P61bXZfb4C
Biden’s comments come amid reports that he is considering taking executive action to forgive student loans.
As a candidate, Biden called for canceling up to $10,000 of student loan debt per borrower.
And White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has said he would be “happy” to sign a bill to cancel student loans up to $10,000.
Biden has previously argued he does not believe he has the power to unilaterally cancel student loan debt.
However, that view may be changing.
According to The Wall Street Journal, “Biden signaled to House Democrats this week that he is seriously considering taking action to forgive student-loan debt on a large scale, according to congressional aides and others familiar with the discussions.”
“Following a Monday meeting with the president at the White House, members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus said they felt confident that Mr. Biden is warming to calls from progressive Democrats to take executive action to erase at least some of the debt held by borrowers with federal student loans,” it added.
However, the Journal reports that Biden “told the lawmakers that he was weighing the timing of any announcement and wanted to make sure it didn’t contribute to inflation.”
The president also reportedly signaled that he would be willing to extend the freeze on student loan payments again.
The Journal notes that roughly 40 million people owe federal student loan debt.