Karine Jean-Pierre says Biden STILL has no decision on forgiving up to $10,000 in student loan debt — nearly two weeks after he said he would make a decision “in a couple of weeks.”
- New White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Tuesday that President Biden has “not yet” taken steps to forgive student loans
- Biden said in late April he would make a decision in “a couple of weeks” on whether to take executive action on student loan debt forgiveness.
- That was more than two weeks ago
- Biden said he is not considering forgiving $50,000 in loans to individuals
- Jen Psaki – Biden’s former press secretary – said earlier this month that forgiveness would apply to those earning less than $125,000 in annual salary
Joe Biden still hasn’t announced any action on student loan forgiveness, despite claiming two weeks ago he would make a decision “in a couple of weeks.”
“We have no policy to announce yet,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Air Force One Tuesday morning.
“But as a reminder,” she added, “since the president took office, nobody has had to pay a penny on student loans.”
Federal student loans were deferred early in the coronavirus pandemic, when former President Donald Trump was in office, to ease the strain on the finances of people who still owed money on their college education.
Democrats have long pushed for student loan waivers — with a $10,000 waiver for those earning less than $125,000 seems the most likely course of action for Biden.
Jean-Pierre also insisted on Tuesday that student loan pauses were unlikely to affect inflation at all, despite warnings from some economists that it could further exacerbate economic problems amid worsening record-high inflation and ongoing supply chain shortages.
“I want to note that Jared Bernstein has spoken about this before,” said Biden’s new spokesman. “And he has mentioned that he said the impact on inflation from halting federal loan repayments would be almost negligible. About 0.001 percent.”
New White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre (pictured, left, Monday) told reporters Tuesday that President Joe Biden (pictured, right, Tuesday in New York) has “not yet” taken any action on whether to pay $10,000 in federal student loans after saying so two weeks ago, he would make a decision on the matter in “a couple of weeks”.
Bernstein is Chief Economist and Economic Policy Advisor to Vice President Kamala Harris.
Biden said on April 28 he was “not considering $50,000 in debt reduction” for Americans, but announced he could take executive action to relieve some outstanding student loans.
“But I’m looking closely at whether or not there will be another write-off,” he said, adding that he would make a decision in the “next few weeks.”
There is still no announcement or executive action taken more than two weeks after Biden’s comments.
The President has previously released a figure of $10,000 per borrower, significantly lower than Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and some progressive leaders, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, have called for $50,000 per borrower.
Just days later, on May 3, Jen Psaki, during her final days as Biden’s press secretary, said that if the president decided to start paying off student debt, it would only apply to Americans earning less than $125,000 a year earn.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (pictured Tuesday in Buffalo, New York) has joined other progressives in pushing for forgiveness of up to 50,000 per borrower the president has shot down
Protesters gather outside the Department of Education in DC on April 4, 2022 to call on Biden to forgive student loan debt – as loan repayments are still on hold due to the pandemic
“Well, the President spoke during the campaign of taking steps or considering steps to help people who make less than $125,000 a year. So that’s the framework in which he’s considering — pondering at that point,” Psaki said aboard Air Force One as president, traveling to Alabama earlier this month to tour a Lockheed Martin facility.
Despite forgiveness’s popularity among federal borrowers and liberals, far-right and moderate Republicans are attempting to quash voter desire for the move.
Dovish GOP Senator Mitt Romney tweeted in late April, “Desperate Polls Call for Desperate Action: Dems Consider Making Trillions in Student Loans.” Other Bribe Proposals: Giving Car Loans? Credit Card Debt Forgive? mortgages granted? And impose a wealth tax on the super-rich to pay for it all. What could possibly go wrong?’
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy wrote in his own tweet that “debt cannot be forgiven”.
