With the pause on student loan payments slated to expire on Aug. 31, questions are swirling about what the future holds for borrowers.
Will the Biden administration extend the freeze on payments again? Will it let the freeze end and require borrowers to make payments for the first time since Mar. 2020?
Or will President Joe Biden cancel some amount of student loan debt?
Former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner (D) took to Twitter on Sunday with a statement about student loan forgiveness that generated a lot of conversation.
āFYIāStudent debt cancelation isnāt paid for by the taxpayers, the federal government is the lender,ā Turner wrote.
She added, āItās costlier for the government to hold on to the debt.ā
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) asked, āNina, who funds the government?ā
āAnd we all know the federal government gets its revenues from the planet Xanthu,ā conservative commentator Jonah Goldberg wrote.
Check out some of the other reactions below:
https://twitter.com/charlescwcooke/status/1561481831320616960
https://twitter.com/ishapiro/status/1561468094450655235
https://twitter.com/AdamBaldwin/status/1561697421381357569
Turner reacted to the backlash, tweeting, āI see the truth made some people mad!ā
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told NBCās Chuck Todd on āMeet the Pressā that Americans will soon be hearing a decision about the student loan payments.
āWeāve been talking daily about this, and I can tell you the American people will hear within the next week or so from the President and the Department of Education on what weāre going to be doing around that,ā he said.
Biden is reportedly considering canceling some student loan debt.
CNN notes that borrowers currently hold $1.6 trillion in student loan debt.
Fifty-four percent of borrowers owed less than $20,000, as of March 2021, per the College Board. Meanwhile, roughly 45% of the outstanding debt was owed by 10% of borrowers who owe at least $80,000.