On Tuesday, February 16, President Joe Biden announced that he will not eliminate $50,000 in student loan debt. This elimination proposal was brought up by Democrats hoping to decrease the amount of debt Americans live with every single day.

Biden claims that he “understands the impact” but he does not believe that he has the authority to cancel $50,000 of it. Biden claims that congress must be involved to take some sort of action concerning this issue. This being said, President Biden claims that he is “prepared to write off the $10,000 debt, but not 50,000”.

The proposal from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Senator Elizabeth Warren, both Democrats, was formed in early February. Schumer, Warren, and other lawmakers asked Biden to use executive action to excuse up to $50,000 in student loan debt. As a rebuttal to President Biden’s claim for not having the authority, lawmakers brought up the point that the Secretary of Education has this authority.

Schumer and Warren persisted and wrote a joint statement on Wednesday, attempting to convince President Biden to “agree with the experts”. Biden showed support to those struggling and spoke about his plan to make community college free and to give financial support to families who earn less than $125,000. Americans are struggling financially, especially due to the COVID 19 pandemic, and lawmakers believe that those in debt need assistance.