The president is expected to cuddle with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, New York Democrat, Georgia Democrat Sen. Rafael Warnock and Massachusetts Democrat Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Schumer and Warren were spotted arriving at the White House on Wednesday afternoon.
White House spokeswoman Carin Jean-Pierre said earlier Wednesday that Biden had not decided to forgive student debts, but noted that the president “assessed” the prospects of senators working on the issue and “looks forward to this discussion. in the afternoon ”when asked about a potential meeting with Warnock.
Biden is under pressure to keep his campaign promise to tackle student loan debt. He signaled lawmakers at a White House meeting last month that he would take steps to address the issue.
After taking office, Biden took several steps to ease student loans. He has repeatedly extended a pause to pay off federal student loans, an action that was originally issued during the Trump administration to help borrowers struggling economically because of the pandemic. The White House recently announced that the break would be extended until August 31.
During a meeting with members of the Spanish-speaking congressional group in April, Biden looked “positive” on the idea of forgiving at least $ 10,000 in US student loan debt, but did not make a firm commitment on the issue, according to California Democratic Representative Nanet Baragan. .
Baragan told CNN that Biden and Democrats had discussed the scope of such a plan – including whether it would include public and private institutions – but that the White House had made no commitment or set a time frame for such a move. Her comments on the discussion came after reports that Biden had made it clear during the meeting that he would take action on the issue through the executive branch. But announcing that Biden had handed over a decision to the CHC meeting, Baragan said, “was news to me.”
Some key Democratic lawmakers, including Schumer and Warren, called on Biden to cancel up to $ 50,000 in student loan debt on a borrower. Biden said he would not take that figure into account.
“I am considering dealing with some debt reduction. I do not consider reducing the debt by $ 50,000, “Biden told the White House after presenting new funding for Ukraine in April.
The White House has long said the president will support congressional action to eliminate $ 10,000 in debt forgiveness for student loans to borrowers, but Biden has not indicated whether he will use executive powers to provide immediate mass debt relief. . But it is unlikely that Congress, where Democrats have a small lead, will have the vote to pass a law that will abolish debt altogether.
This story has been updated with additional reports.
CNN’s Kevin Liptak, Megan Vazquez and Manu Raju contributed to this report.
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