President Joe Biden intends to extend the pause on federal student loan payments through Aug. 31, according to The Associated Press. The announcement marks the fifth extension of the payment moratorium since it first began in March 2020.
Federal student loan debt affects 41 million Americans and totals nearly $1.7 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve. The Department of Education says that the pause saves borrowers $5 billion a month.
Democratic lawmakers have continued to push Biden to use executive action to forgive student loans. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), along with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), wants Biden to cancel up to $50,000 in student debt per borrower.
Biden, although in support of some form of student loan forgiveness, has insisted that debt cancellation should be initiated by Congress, according to USA Today.
However, debt cancellation is not supported by all in Congress. House Republicans on the Committee for Education and Labor took a stance against the policy in a recent statement. Americans for Tax Reform, a conservative advocacy group, sent a letter to the Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona urging an end to the payment freezes, believing the policy to be wasteful to taxpayers and worsen inflation.
Despite the obstacles to broad student loan forgiveness, the Department of Education has announced loan forgiveness programs for certain borrowers. For example, changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program are expected to clear $6.2 billion in debt for 100,000 borrowers in October.
