Pelosi Says Biden Isn’t Canceling Student Debt: ‘The President Can’t Do It’

Melina Mara-Pool/Getty Images

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday President Joe Biden lacked the power to cancel student loan debt unilaterally.

“The president can’t do it,” Pelosi told reporters in response to a question on the topic. “That’s not even a discussion.”

>> @SpeakerPelosi says Biden does *not* have the power to cancel student loan debt — as some Democrats, led by @SenSchumer, are urging him to do.

"That has to be an act of Congress," Pelosi says. pic.twitter.com/2V7ALDDG3y

— Michael Stratford (@mstratford) July 28, 2021

“People think that the President of the United States has the power for debt forgiveness. He does not,” she said. “He can postpone, he can delay, but he does not have that power. That has to be an act of Congress.”

White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain said in April the White House had asked the Justice Department and the Department of Education to produce a memo assessing Biden’s authority to forgive student loans with an executive order. The White House has maintained silence on the issue, though Klain said at the time it would “hopefully” be out within “the next few weeks.” If the memo was completed, it was never made public.

Biden promised during his presidential campaign to forgive at least $10,000 in debt for every borrower. Prominent Democrats — including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) — have pushed him to forgive up to $50,000, and suggested that he does have the authority to do so without legislation. “All you need is the flick of a pen,” Schumer said in April.

The requirement for borrowers to repay student loan payments was paused during the Covid-19 pandemic. Payments are set to resume at the end of September, though Democrats have also called on Biden to extend the pause.  “If they do both of those things, that will completely eliminate student loan debt for 85 percent of the people who currently carry it,” Warren said in an interview this month, referring to the $50,000 forgiveness and an extension of the pause through March 31. “And for the 15 percent of people who remain, it gives the Department of Education a chance to get them into the right repayment programs.”

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