Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi called President Joe Biden’s announcement to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for certain borrowers “bold” despite saying last year Biden lacked the authority to do so.
Biden announced Wednesday he would be canceling up to $20,000 in student debt for Pell Grant recipients while canceling up to $10,000 in student loans for those making under $125,000 a year.
A report by the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business found the move to cancel student debt could cost taxpayers more than $300 billion over the next ten years.
“POTUS’ bold action is a strong step in Democrats’ fight to expand access to higher education,” Pelosi tweeted Wednesday. “By delivering historic targeted student debt relief to millions of borrowers, more working families will be able to meet their kitchen table needs as they recover from the pandemic.” (RELATED: ‘Who Is Paying For This?’: Doocy Hammers Jean-Pierre On Student Loan Forgiveness)
@POTUS’ bold action is a strong step in Democrats’ fight to expand access to higher education.
By delivering historic targeted student debt relief to millions of borrowers, more working families will be able to meet their kitchen table needs as they recover from the pandemic. https://t.co/nHkBLNvqeG
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) August 24, 2022
Pelosi’s comments are a change of tune from remarks made in July 2021 when she said Biden had no authority to cancel student debt.
“People think that the President of the United States has the power for debt forgiveness. He does not.”
FLASHBACK to April:
Pelosi: “People think that the President of the United States has the power for debt forgiveness. He does not.” pic.twitter.com/w3g9mAbFsb
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) August 24, 2022
“He can postpone. He can delay. But he does not have that power. That has to be an act of Congress. And I don’t even like to call it forgiveness because that implies a transgression. It’s not to be forgiven, just freeing people from those obligations.”
“The President can’t do it. So that’s not even a discussion. Not everybody realizes that. But the President can only postpone, delay, but not forgive.”
The Biden administration is relying on a post-9/11 law to cancel $10,000 in student debt. The “HEROES Act” was first proposed in 2003 and was intended for military members serving the U.S. in the wake of the deadly terrorist attacks. The Department of Education cited the “COVID-19 pandemic” as a reason Biden could use the HEROES Act to legally cancel student debt since the law allows for the modification of federal student loans in the midst of a “war or other military operation or national emergency.”