House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) lauded President Joe Biden’s “bold action” to cancel a significant amount of federally held student loans despite the fact that she had previously said the president lacked the authority to issue such a cancellation without Congress.
The White House announced Wednesday that the administration would be implementing a student loan forgiveness program that will see federal student loan borrowers with an annual income of less than $125,000 be eligible for $20,000 in loan forgiveness if they received a Pell Grant to attend college. All other borrowers in that income bracket would be eligible for $10,000 in loan forgiveness.
BIDEN ANNOUNCES MASS STUDENT LOAN FORGIVENESS PROGRAM
“People think that the president of the United States has the power for debt forgiveness. He does not,” the speaker said in 2021. “He can postpone, he can delay, but he does not have that power. That has to be an act of Congress.”
But on Wednesday, the House speaker seemingly changed her tune, calling the president’s move “a strong step in Democrats’ fight to expand access to higher education and empower every American to reach fulfillment.”
“By delivering historic targeted student debt relief to millions of borrowers, more working families will be able to meet their kitchen table needs as they continue to recover from the challenges of the pandemic,” Pelosi said. “Importantly, this action will help those most in need, easing a financial burden disproportionately harming women and people of color.”
Likewise, Melissa Byrne, the executive director of the student loan cancellation advocacy group We the 45 Million, praised the president’s action as a “historic first step” that established “the clear authority that the President has to cancel student debt.”
“Today, with President Biden’s announcement, 12 million American borrowers have had their educational debts erased, and millions more will be able to celebrate substantial cancellation that eases the indignity that predatory student loans have had on their lives,” Byrne said. “President Biden indeed made hope and history rhyme by using the power of his pen to cancel student loan debt.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) also issued a joint statement with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) celebrating the move, praising the president for taking “a giant step forward in addressing the student debt crisis by cancelling significant amounts of student debt for millions of borrowers.”
“No president or Congress has done more to relieve the burden of student debt and help millions of Americans make ends meet,” the senators said. “Make no mistake, the work — our work — will continue as we pursue every available path to address the student debt crisis, help close the racial wealth gap for borrowers, and keep our economy growing.”
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), the chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said in a statement that the president’s action was “a massive step in the right direction” and noted that her caucus, which includes lawmakers Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Maxine Waters (D-CA), and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), had long advocated the cancellation of federally held student loans.
“While not as high as we called for, this crucial step from the President goes beyond his campaign promise and responds to calls from the CPC, the Black Caucus, the Hispanic Caucus, and millions across the country to address the crippling issue of student debt, now totaling approximately $1.7 trillion — more than even credit card debt in this country,” Jayapal said. “With the President’s action, approximately 20 million people will see their loans fully canceled, and an additional 23 million will see relief with a portion of their debt canceled.”
In a statement, Patrick Gaspard, the president of the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, similarly called the cancellation a “bold step.”
“President Biden’s bold and urgent action on student debt begins to restore a promise we’ve made to generations of Americans that investment in education is their ladder to opportunity,” Gaspard said. “Devastating college costs, lack of public investment, and predatory institutions have made this a promise unfulfilled for far too many and have harmed the nation’s competitiveness. President Biden’s action tackles alarming and growing disparities in our economy by recognizing that the burden of student loans has not been shared equally.”
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Meanwhile, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), the ranking member on the House Committee on Education and Labor, called the cancellation a “wrong, unfair, and irresponsible” action that would bankrupt the nation.
“President Biden will say and do anything to appease his radical progressive base, even if it means bankrupting our country and kneecapping taxpayers in the midst of an inflation crisis,” Foxx said. “This is a slap in the face to those who never went to college, as well as borrowers who upheld their responsibility to taxpayers and paid back their loans. It’s a signal to every freshman stepping foot on campus to borrow as much as they can because taxpayers are picking up the tab.”
