White House press secretary Jen Psaki doubled down Tuesday on the fact that student loan payments will restart in February - and borrowers shouldn't expect forgiveness unless the president is delivered a bill from Congress.
'If Congress sends him a bill he's happy to sign it. They haven't sent him a bill on that yet,' Psaki said after a reporter asked her if President Joe Biden planned to make good on his pledge to absolve Americans of $10,000 of their student loan debt.
On Friday, Psaki said that student loan repayment would start again on February 1 and the White House would 'release more details about our plans' for the transition.
Americans with federal student loans haven't had to pay them since early 2020, due to the CARES Act. The student loan freeze has been extended several times.
On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer came to the Senate floor and asked the White House to extend the moratorium once again.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki doubled down Tuesday on the fact that student loan payments will restart in February - and borrowers shouldn't expect forgiveness unless the president is delivered a bill from Congress
On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer came to the Senate floor and asked the White House to extend the moratorium on student loans once again. American borrowers will have to start repaying their student loans on February 1
'We've been paused because of COVID. It ought to be extended, COVID is not over,' Schumer said.
'Students still have these huge burdens and they're just readjusting to life where they may have missed school or missed jobs or not gotten fully paid. So we need to certainly pause these payments,' he continued.
'But we also urge the administration to take the next important step in granting borrowers relief by cancelling student loan debt,' the New York senator added.
He said he was joined by progressives including Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Ayanna Pressley in the effort.
Schumer has previously backed an effort to have Biden cancel $50,000 in debt for each borrower - a plan the president has resisted.
On Friday, the White House pledged to 'engage directly with federal student loan borrowers to ensure they have the resources they need and are in the appropriate repayment plan,' Psaki said.
'We're still assessing the impact of the Omicron variant. But a smooth transition back into repayment is a high priority for the administration,' she added.
She confirmed that February 1 would be the end of the feeze.
'The Department of Education is already communicating with borrowers to help them to prepare for return to repayment on February 1st and has secured contract extensions with loan servicers,' she said.
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