President Biden paused federal student loan repayments again, extending the moratorium on payments for Department of Education-managed loans until 2022.
The announcement comes shortly after top Democratic lawmakers publicly disagreed about the legal implications of student debt policy. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) pushed Biden to extend repayment forgiveness — if not entirely cancel up to $50,000 of debt per borrower.
In response, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) argued that although Biden can postpone repayments, he cannot cancel debt without approval from Congress.
Nevertheless, the Biden administration announced on Friday that federal borrowers will not need to complete payments for the next several months.
A statement from the White House reads:
As today’s jobs numbers show, we have the tools that will allow us to beat COVID-19 and keep our economy recovering at a record rate. But we know there is more work to do and the road will still be long for many people — especially for the one in six adults and one in three young people who have federal student loans.
That’s why today, my administration is extending the pause on federal student loan repayments one final time until January 31, 2022. This will give the Department of Education and borrowers more time and more certainty as they prepare to restart student loan payments. It will also ensure a smoother transition that minimizes loan defaults and delinquencies that hurt families and undermine our economic recovery.
The announcement comes as the Biden administration faces criticism for extending the federal government’s eviction moratorium, which was enacted in September by President Trump. On Friday, President Biden indicated that he was unsure of the constitutionality of the move, despite the fact that the Supreme Court ruled that the legislature — not the CDC — should issue any extension of the rule. Biden nevertheless said that the appeals process could “keep this going for a while.”
Buddy Shoup — a landlord from North Carolina — recently told Fox & Friends that he is missing $24,000 in rental income while his tenants are “buying boats.”
“[The money] was used, they went and bought brand new boats, but I mean, you know in a time of crisis like what we’ve been through, you’re evidently getting money from somewhere, but it’s not getting to me,” Shoup said. “It goes way beyond the loss of rental income, we’re still bound by county rules and laws. We have to maintain the property.”