CNBC
by Annie Nova
January 26, 2022
Over 80 House and Senate members wrote a letter to President Joe Biden on Wednesday urging his administration to publicly release the memo outlining his legal authority to cancel student debt.
The president requested the department to prepare that report last year.
The lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., also called on the president to immediately forgive $50,000 per borrower. The price tag on such a move would be around $1 trillion and 80% of student loan borrowers, or 36 million people, would have their debt cleared entirely.
Outstanding student loan debt in the U.S. has exceeded $1.7 trillion and poses a larger burden to households than credit card or auto debt. Roughly 10 million borrowers are likely in delinquency or default.