Experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the Biden administration’s decision to extend the student loan repayment pause until June 2023 will cost billions of dollars and worsen inflation.
Initially implemented in March 2020, the student loan repayment pause will remain in effect until June 2023, marking the eighth extension by the Department of Education.
After federal courts blocked the administration’s attempts to wipe out up to $20,000 in federally held student loans per borrower, the president announced last week that the pause on federal student loan payments would continue until June.
I'm confident that our student debt relief plan is legal. But it’s on hold because Republican officials want to block it.
— President Biden (@POTUS) November 22, 2022
That's why @SecCardona is extending the payment pause to no later than June 30, 2023, giving the Supreme Court time to hear the case in its current term. pic.twitter.com/873CurlHFZ
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that, if extended through 2024, the repayment pause will cost $275 billion, up from about $5 billion per month now.
“It’s never been necessary,” Marc Goldwein, senior vice president of the Committee for Responsible Federal Budget, told the DCNF. “It’s moved from, in the beginning it was very justifiable, to unnecessary to the point that is now damaging.”
According to current plans, extending the pause through August 2023 will cost $195 billion. According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, extending the pause extension could significantly increase inflation, resulting in the Federal Reserve increasing interest rates and adding to recession pressures.
As noted by Newsmax, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona responded to criticism in a press release that “callous efforts to block student debt relief in the courts have caused tremendous financial uncertainty for millions of borrowers who cannot set their family budgets or even plan for the holidays without a clear picture of their student debt obligations, and it’s just plain wrong. I want borrowers to know that the Biden-Harris administration has their backs and we’re as committed as ever to fighting to deliver essential student debt relief to tens of millions of Americans.”
It is unbelievable that Joe Biden would extend the student loan repayment pause again. This is just another example of him passing the buck and not taking responsibility. The initial implementation was in March 2020 and it will now remain in effect until June 2023. That is over three years of people not having to pay back their loans! And it’s not like COVID is still going on. It’s time for people to man up and take responsibility for their actions. This is a burden on taxpayers and it’s time for people to start paying their loans back. Shame on Joe Biden for extending this repayment pause again.