BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Top Democratic leaders in Massachusetts called on the Biden administration to cancel $50,000 of federal student loan debt on Thursday.
At a joint press conference in the Attorney General's office, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said the President has the authority to cancel the student loans using the Higher Education Act. They say he can cancel the debt by executive order, without needing to involve Congress.
"The presidents has the power to make this change today...We can't allow families to be pushed further and further behind on the opportunity to build their future," Healey said.
Sen. Warren said the thousands of dollars in debt that some students have could prevent them from buying a home or starting a small business.
The White House had previously encouraged Congress to cancel $10,000 in student loan debts. Rep. Pressley said that "...in all the conversations that I’ve been a part of with impacted people, they see that $10,000 is not even interest," i.e. would not even cover the interest racked up by those who have taken out student loans.
Sen. Warren said the three Democratic leaders looked at the data and found that the President could erase all student loan debt for 85% of people that have it by sticking to the $50,000 figure.
WBZ's Mike Macklin (@mikemacklinwbz) reports:
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(Photo: Attorney General's Office)