A group of Congressional Democrats is pushing for President Joe Biden to continue the payment freeze on federal student loans at least through the end of 2022.
In a letter to Biden on Monday, a group of 43 House Democrats, led by Pennsylvania Representative Conor Lamb, said that Biden needed to continue the “progress” made by Democrats in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic by extending the pause, or else the rapid transition to repayment would risk borrowers being delinquent of defaulting on their loans.
“Thank you for all your work to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic,” the Congress members wrote to Biden. “We must continue this important progress by providing relief to everyday Americans from the challenges of the pandemic. Although American families, communities, and our economy have made great strides in overcoming COVID-19, it is still impacting people’s lives,” they continued, citing a report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which claimed that 20 million households did not have enough to eat and 10 million households were behind on rent. “Unemployment remains higher than two years ago, and families are experiencing significant price increases on household goods, food, and energy,” the Democrats wrote. “Accordingly, we believe that the Administration should extend its pause on student loan repayment and interest accrual.”
via joemiller
