WATCH: Jen Psaki Dodges Reporter’s Questions About Biden’s Student Debt Promise

White House press secretary Jen Psaki demurred on Wednesday when a reporter asked whether President Joe Biden planned to follow through on his campaign promise to forgive a portion of student loan debts.

Biden detailed “economic equity” measures in his agenda during a Tuesday speech, but failed to mention a campaign promise he made to forgive $10,000 in student loan debt for every borrower. “That’s something he talked about a lot on the campaign trail,” a reporter observed at Wednesday’s briefing. “So why didn’t he include that? And where does the White House want to go on that issue?”

“One of the ways anyone can know … how much the president cares about student debt and student loans is by simply looking at his budget,” Psaki replied. She noted the White House has proposed measures that include federal funding for future community college students, along with new funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities — but did not acknowledge his campaign promise.

The reporter pressed Psaki a second time. “But why doesn’t the budget include $10,000 in student-loan debt forgiveness?” she asked. “That’s something he called on Congress to do when he was a candidate.”

Psaki declined to answer once more, saying, “He’d be happy to sign that bill into law if they passed that bill.”

Despite being bashful when it comes to making a request of Congress on student loan forgiveness, Biden has asked lawmakers to pass two bold spending proposals, including the $2.6 trillion American Jobs Plan and $1.8 trillion  American Families Plan. Those come on top of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Biden signed into law in March.

The White House’s silence on the issue has been an issue of rising interest ahead of a looming Sept. 30 deadline for student-loan borrowers to resume making payments on their loans. Payments were paused last year amid the coronavirus pandemic.

White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain said in April that the Department of Education was expected to produce a memo within “weeks” establishing Biden’s authority to forgive student loans with an executive order, bypassing the need for congressional action. Two months later, however, the memo has yet to materialize, leading to speculation about the delay and grumbling among borrowers.

Watch above via the White House.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!