Student loan forgiveness remains on hold as loan repayments get delayed again

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - President Biden is once again delaying student loan repayments, a major reversal for the president who has said the COVID-era measure would stop this year. This gives borrowers another reprieve as his loan forgiveness program has been tied up in legal battles.

“I’m never going to apologize for helping working-class and middle-class families recover from the economic crisis created by the pandemic,” said Biden.

Student loan repayment was scheduled to start up again in January. However, the Biden administration announced Tuesday its pushing back repayments until next summer, or until litigation is resolved, whichever comes first.

“It isn’t fair to ask tens of millions of borrowers eligible for relief to resume their student debt payments while the courts consider the lawsuit,” said Biden.

About 45 million people in the U.S. have student debt.

According to the Virginia Mercury, over a million borrowers in Virginia collectively have $43 billion in outstanding loans. Many challengers of the forgiveness program say it’s unfair to those taxpayers who paid off their loans or didn’t attend college.

”The administration decided to insult working Americans about unleashing yet another reckless giveaway that would actually transfer even more wealth toward highly educated people who already tend to be more well off,” said U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.

About 16 million borrowers already received letters, letting them know they’re approved for debt relief. However, the letter don’t say hoe much debt will be erased or when. Another 10 million borrowers are still waiting on word of their status.

”We can’t have people hanging in the balance for much longer than that. And quite frankly, I’m hopeful that we get a response sooner than that to get back on their feet,” said Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, who believes challenges to the forgiveness program are meritless.

The Biden administration is banking on the high court to pass the forgiveness plan, eliminating as much as $20,000 dollars of debt for many borrowers.

”I’ll continue working to make government work to deliver for all Americans. For all Americans. This is important,” said Biden.

This all comes down to whether this is Constitutional - Can the President cancel debt without authorization from Congress?

If the program remains blocked in court, repayments will resume 60 days after June 30.

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