President Joe Biden is planning to extend the moratorium on federal student loan payments through August, Politico is reporting.
The news outlet attributed the information to unnamed people familiar with the matter.
The announcement on the extension is expected to come on Wednesday. The moratorium was set to expire May 1. Politico noted that the planned extension is not as long as some Democrats had hoped for. Some wanted to extend the moratorium through at least the end of the year.
"Tens of millions of people with student debt are once again in limbo as Washington plays politics with borrowers' financial lives," said Student Borrower Protection Center Executive Director Mike Pierce. "Joe Biden needs to keep his promises to fix the broken student loan system and cancel student debt. As voters head to the polls in November, they will not settle for anything less."
Some progressives have been looking for the moratorium to be extended as a precursor to wide-scale debt cancellation that they want the White House to pursue, Politico pointed out. However, some of the more moderate Democrats, who are facing reelection this year, have been looking for the White House to extend the moratorium into next year.
But Republicans have been urging the Biden administration to restart student payments. The GOP lawmakers are concerned about the cost to taxpayers. The various extensions have cost more than $100 billion, according to Education Department estimates.
The new extension could also spark a congressional fight just months before the midterms, Politico said.
Former president Donald Trump imposed a moratorium when the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020, and Biden extended it repeatedly, according to AFP.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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