(Tony Sifert, Headline USA) The Biden administration is expected to announce an extension of its pause on student loan repayments through the month of August, according to a report in the Associated Press.
WASHINGTON (AP) — US official says White House to extend pandemic pause on student loan repayments through Aug. 31.
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) April 5, 2022
The AP reported that the executive action would apply to “more than 43 million Americans who own a combined $1.6 trillion in student debt held by the federal government.”
While White House press secretary Jen Psaki did not confirm the report, she did tell reporters that the current pause ends in May and bragged that “no one has been required to pay a single dime of federal student loans since the president took office.”
Reports of the extension provoked immediate calls from leftist organizations for the Biden administration to go further and cancel all student loan debt, effective immediately.
“President Biden will extend the student loan payment pause through August 31, 2022,” Public Citizen, a D.C. NGO wrote on Twitter. “Organizing works. Now, let’s cancel student debt.”
The NAACP also joined the fray, with national director of youth and college, Wisdom Cole, calling student loan debt “a racial and economic justice issue that stains the Soul of America,” reported The Hill.
Led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, numerous Democrats sent a letter to President Biden last week in which they called for the president to “extend the pause on federally-held student loan payments until at least the end of the year and to provide meaningful student debt cancellation.”
The Democrat politicians claimed that “canceling student debt would add tens of billions of dollars in GDP growth.”
For his part, Biden has called on Congress to “pass legislation that cancels $10,000 per borrower,” CNN reported.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., appeared to speak for his party when he tweeted that “President Biden’s perpetual student loan payment moratorium is an insult to every American who responsibly paid debts.”
President Biden’s perpetual student loan payment moratorium is an insult to every American who responsibly paid debts.
There’s no free lunch: this reckless move puts taxpayers on the hook for billions.
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) April 5, 2022
