Podcast Center
Video Center
Webcasts
Resource Center
Events
By 
April 05, 2021 at 01:09 PM
What You Need to Know
- Biden has asked Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to compile a memo on the president's legal authority to forgive student loan debt.
- The April 13 hearing will focus on student loan debt and its impact on racial justice, borrowers and the economy.
- The latest efforts aim to build on the Student Loan Tax Relief Act, which was passed as part of the American Rescue Plan.
As the newly appointed chairwoman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Economic Policy, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., plans to hold her first hearing on April 13 to assess the student loan debt crisis and its impact on racial justice, borrowers and the economy.
News of Warren’s first hearing comes about a week after White House chief of staff Ron Klain said in an interview with Politico that President Joe Biden has asked Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to compile a memo on the president’s legal authorities to forgive student loan debt, including canceling up to $50,000 per individual.
“Hopefully we’ll see that [memo] in the next few weeks,” Klain said.
Warren, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey held a press conference Thursday calling on Biden to tackle the student loan debt crisis by using his authority under the Higher Education Act to cancel up to $50,000 in student loan debt for federal student loan borrowers.
Warren was named chair of the Subcommittee on Economic Policy on March 2 and as chairwoman of the Senate Finance Committee Subcommittee on Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Growth.
“As the chair of two subcommittees tasked with overseeing America’s economy, I’ll continue to push for racial and economic justice and lasting economic security for families,” Warren said in a statement.
