Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (NY) said this week that President Joe Biden and his advisers are closer “than ever before” to canceling student debt.
Schumer has long been a proponent of extending the federal student loan pause that began at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and canceling student debt altogether.
“I have talked personally to the president on this issue a whole bunch of times,” Schumer told the State of Student Debt Summit on Wednesday, The Hill reported. “I have told him that this is more important than just about anything else that he can do on his own.”
He added that “the White House seems more open to it than ever before.”
Townhall reported this month that the Biden administration will extend federal student loan repayments through August. The pause was previously scheduled to end in May. The pause, which began under President Donald Trump, has been extended several times.
“Don’t get me wrong, the pause is a good thing, but it ain’t enough. It ain’t close to enough,” Schumer reportedly said in his remarks on Wednesday. He said that families will face an average student debt payment close to $400 a month when the pause is lifted.
“That is so much money. How does anybody live knowing every month I got to pay this $400?” he said. “The pause has stopped that, but make no mistake about it. This pause isn’t going to stay forever and the canceling of student debt is the way to go.”
Last week, GOP Sen. Tom Cotton (AR) said that Biden’s student loan payment pause is an “insult” to Americans who pay their debts.
President Biden's perpetual student loan payment moratorium is an insult to every American who responsibly paid debts.
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) April 5, 2022
There's no free lunch: this reckless move puts taxpayers on the hook for billions.
“This reckless move puts taxpayers on the hook for billions.”