December 22, 2021

Warren, Schumer, Pressley Applaud Extension of Student Loan Payment Pause, Reiterate Calls for Biden to Cancel Student Debt

Washington, DC – Today, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), issued the following statement applauding the Biden Administration’s extension of the student loan payment pause and reiterating their calls for him to cancel $50,000 in federal student debt by executive action.

“We’re pleased the Biden administration has heeded our call to extend the pause on student loan payments. As we stated in our December 8th letter, the pause on federal student loan payments, interest, and collections has improved borrowers’ economic security, allowing them to invest in their families, save for emergencies, and pay down other debt. Extending the pause will help millions of Americans make ends meet, especially as we overcome the Omicron variant. We continue to call on President Biden to take executive action to cancel $50,000 in student debt, which will help close the racial wealth gap for borrowers and accelerate our economic recovery.”

Earlier this month, the lawmakers sent a bicameral letter to President Biden releasing new data about the adverse economic impact of restarting student loan payments and calling on him to act without delay to cancel up to $50,000 of student debt. The lawmakers’ letter cited data from the Roosevelt Institute, which found that if the payments resumed as scheduled on February 1, 2022, approximately $7 billion a month and $85 billion annually will be stripped from over 18 million student loan borrowers’ budgets.

Warren, Schumer, and Pressley have consistently called on President Biden to cancel student debt. Earlier this year, they led their colleagues in reintroducing their bicameral resolution outlining a bold plan for President Biden to tackle the student loan debt crisis by using existing authority under the Higher Education Act to cancel $50,000 in student loan debt for Federal student loan borrowers.

In July, Sen. Warren, Majority Leader Schumer, and Rep. Pressley, led their colleagues on a bicameral letter to President Biden calling on him to extend the pause on federal student loan payments until at least March 31, 2022, and applauded his decision in August to extend the payment pause through January.  

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