Elizabeth Warren wants Biden to follow Trump, Obama in canceling student loan debt

Elizabeth Warren wants President Biden to follow in former President Donald Trump’s footsteps — in canceling student loan debt.

The Massachusetts senator called on her constituents to “send a note to President Biden” to wipe out $50,000 per borrower during a virtual town hall on Tuesday.

“This is one of those things that doesn’t have to go through Congress. The authority is already there in law for the president and his team, the administration, the secretary of education, to cancel out the student loan debt,” Warren said. “President Obama used it to cancel some student loan debt, President Trump used it to cancel some student loan debt. I want to see President Biden use it.”

Biden rejected calls to erase up to $50,000 in federal student loan debt during a CNN town hall on Tuesday, saying, “I’m prepared to write off a $10,000 debt, but not 50.” He also shot down the idea of the federal government forgiving debt for students who went to elite schools like “Harvard and Yale and Penn.”

Warren and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer hit back on Wednesday, saying “an ocean of student loan debt is holding back 43 million borrowers and disproportionately weighing down Black and Brown Americans” and piling on pressure for Biden to exert executive authority.

“If he would cancel $50,000 in student loan debt, it would make an enormous difference in the lives of tens of millions of Americans and help build our entire nation a stronger future going forward,” Warren said during her town hall. “If we could persuade the president, we could do this one fast.”

U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley has also joined the progressives pushing Biden to forgive more student loan debt than he says he’s comfortable with.

“President Biden has the power to cancel billions in student loan debt, providing much-needed relief to individuals and families across the country,” Pressley said in a statement through LeftNet. “Cancelling student loan debt is not only an issue of economic and racial justice, but also a critical step toward jumpstarting our economy.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3jVFCyI