In past months, many high-profile Democrats have been urging President Biden to unilaterally forgive tens of thousands of dollars per person in student loan debt.
One of the top lawmakers doing this has been Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (NY). During a press conference this week along with Democrat Senator Elizabeth Warren (MA) and “Squad Member” Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Schumer asked Biden to extend student loan payments until next spring and also to cancel $50,000 in student loan dept.
“All the President has to do is sign with his pen, make America a better and more prosperous place,” said Schumer, who continued to reveal his “Cancel Student Debt” agenda.
But do not count Pelosi among those who are on board with his plans.
During a briefing this week, Pelosi spoke about the calls from many congressional Democrats for the president to cancel student debt and stressed that Biden could not do this because it is outside his authority.
“People believe the president of the U.S. has the power to achieve debt forgiveness. He doesn’t. He can delay, but he does not have this power. That must be an act from Congress,” said the Democratic leader.
“I do believe that what the president is putting forward in Build Back Better, in terms of the ability for all Americans to go to college or not — and they might not even want to do that, and that is fine — but we do want to get them vocational training so they can match their potential as well,” she said.
She then asked a hypothetical, saying, a family with a child who does not go to college would not be happy paying to “forgive someone else’s obligations.” She said: “We want all people to reach their potential. To the extent that they wish to attend college, we do not want them stopped from doing that because of financial reasons.”
Back in February, Biden stated that he was unwilling to cancel $50,000 in student loans from borrowers, saying he did not believe he had the ability to do that. He did, however, state that he believes he has the ability to cancel $10,000.
Author: Blake Ambrose
