On Tuesday’s broadcast of “CNN This Morning,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona responded to statements by President Joe Biden that he can’t write off $50,000 of student loan debt unilaterally and then-House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) in 2021 that the President can’t unilaterally write off student loan debt by stating that the President is engaging in “targeted relief” because “90% of the dollars in this benefit would go to people making under $75,000. So, it’s not a wholesale cancellation of loans.” And “the last administration used the same authority to pause student loans.”
Co-host Poppy Harlow played clips of Biden saying that he can’t write off $50,000 in debt, because “I don’t think I have the authority to do it by signing a pen” and Pelosi stating that “People think that the President of the United States has the power for debt forgiveness. He does not. He can postpone. He can delay. But he does not have that power. That would — that has to be an act of Congress.”
Harlow then asked, “[Y]ou can see those are two key people, the administration and the then-Speaker saying there are limits to this authority. And that’s the real legal question here: How far can a President go?”
Cardona answered, “The President I think it was targeted relief. 90% of the dollars in this benefit would go to people making under $75,000. So, it’s not a wholesale cancellation of loans. We’re targeting it to people that need it most. And, with regard to whether or not there’s authority, the last administration used the same authority to pause student loans. So, if that administration can use it, we can use it as well to make sure we’re providing targeted debt relief to those who need it most, those who are affected most by the pandemic.”
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