Democratic lawmakers urge Biden admin to expand new student loan relief plan
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U.S. Senate Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer and Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren on Capitol Hill. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images
A group of Democratic lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), are calling on the Biden administration to revise its new student debt relief plan to include more borrowers.
The big picture: In a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, the lawmakers expressed support for the department's efforts to pursue student loan forgiveness but said their proposal will "fall far short of providing the full scale of debt relief that low- and middle-income Americans urgently need."
- The letter released Monday was signed by Sens. Schumer, Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), and Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Frederica Wilson (D-Fl.).
Zoom out: President Biden has been working to find ways to deliver relief to student loan borrowers despite the Supreme Court blocking his wide-scale relief plan in June.
- He's has used the Department of Education's existing authority to wipe $132 billion for more than 3.6 million Americans thus far.
What we're watching: The department is now working on a new proposal in place of Biden's initial student loan relief plan, and is hosting public hearings on it Monday and Tuesday.
Zoom in: Ahead of the December hearings, the Education Department issued a draft proposal of the "negotiated rulemaking" process that would make four sets of borrowers eligible for student debt relief. They include:
- Borrowers with outstanding federal student loan balances that exceed their original principal balance due to interest
- Borrowers with loans that have been in repayment for over 20 or 25 years
- Borrowers who are eligible for forgiveness under an enumerated repayment plan or loan program but have not enrolled
- Certain borrowers who took on loans to attend programs that "provide insufficient financial value," lost Title IV eligibility, or were found to have committed misconduct
Of note: The letter from the Democrats lays out recommendations for the new plan, largely to expand the number of people who qualify and the amount of debt cancellation they would receive under the program.
- Among the recommendations are extending relief to borrowers with financial hardship, and eliminating the need for borrowers to submit applications by basing eligibility on information the department already has.
- Representatives for the Education Department did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.
Go deeper: How Biden forgives student debt despite the Supreme Court ruling
