U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) recently introduced an amendment to debt ceiling legislation, which seeks to protect student loan borrowers and preserves the federal student loan payments pause.
The amendment to H.R. 3746 seeks to modify the legislation that, as currently written, would organize an end to the current pause on student loan payments, interest charges and debt collection that has been in effect for over three years.
The amendment would also address a timeline to restart student loan payments, regardless of the outcome of a pair of cases before the Supreme Court on whether President Biden’s student debt cancellation plan can go into effect.
“The student loan payment pause has been an essential lifeline for workers and families struggling to make ends meet,” Pressley said. “My amendment would protect student borrowers while also affirming the President’s clear legal authority to implement payment pauses, broad-based debt cancellation, and other critical relief measures. Republicans continue to play games with our economy, with disregard for our most vulnerable families.”
Pressley recently delivered a speech in support of President Joe Biden’s plan to cancel student debt and issued a statement critical of Republicans’ effort to overturn student debt relief measures that included debt cancellation, pausing student loan payments, and expanding the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.