Two Weeks Before Payments Resume, Progressives Tell Biden ‘Time to Cancel Student Debt’

With only two weeks before a pandemic-related pause on federal student loan payments expires, progressive lawmakers and organizations on Wednesday reiterated demands for U.S. President Joe Biden to finally take sweeping debt cancellation action.

While Biden only campaigned on forgiving $10,000 per borrower and has reportedly considered setting an income cap for relief, activists and members of Congress have called for canceling at least $50,000 per person—or even all federal student debt.

Noting the rapidly approaching deadline, U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), said Wednesday that “we must deliver immediate relief to more than 45 million Americans by canceling student debt.”

Former Democratic Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner warned that Biden’s failure to act on the nation’s student debt crisis could hinder Democrats at the ballot box in November’s midterm elections—when the GOP hopes to retake Congress.

Turner cited recent polling that shows the number of voters under age 45 who said they would support a Democrat running for Congress in their district notably rose from mid-July to mid-August—which some observers tied to recent successes such as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

After Our Revolution executive director Joseph Geevarghese tweeted, “‘Medical debt’ is simply not a phrase you should hear in a functioning society,” the group added, “Same goes for ‘student loan debt.'”

Highlighting footage of Biden handing Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.)—who negotiated the IRA with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) after months of blocking bolder packages—a pen after signing the compromise legislation Tuesday, Public Citizen told Biden, “That very same pen could cancel student debt.”

During a Tuesday appearance on “CBS Mornings,” U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said that “while I don’t have an announcement here today, I will tell you we’re having conversations daily with the White House and borrowers will know directly and soon from us when a decision is made.”

“The president has been very clear about making sure we’re leading with students first, and we’ve been proud of the $28 billion in loan forgiveness up to this point and the policies that we’ve changed to fix a broken system,” he said. “We recognize that Americans are waiting and we’ll be communicating with them as soon as we can.”

Originally published at Commondreams.org.