John,
Nearly one year ago, President Joe Biden asked the Secretary of Education to determine if he has the legal authority to cancel student loan debt.
On January 25, Warren and 80+ members in both houses of Congress sent a letter to the White House—urging Biden to release the legal memo and to then cancel student debt.
Here’s the thing, we already know the answer: Yes! He can.
Congress has already granted authority to broadly cancel student debt under section 432(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, which gives the Secretary of Education the right to "... compromise, waive, or release any right, title, claim, lien, or demand, however acquired, including any equity or any right of redemption."
Let's be clear, this is the same authority the Department of Education used to enact small and temporary relief for federal student loan borrowers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The bottom line is the Biden administration has the authority. The question is: will they use it?
The answer is up to us.
Sign the petition to President Biden: Release the memo, and then cancel student debt.
The administration is trying to decide right now how big they should go to help the millions of Americans that are struggling with crippling student debt, that's why they need to hear from us immediately.
Canceling student loan debt will have numerous benefits, from helping to close the racial wealth gap to boosting the economy by giving trillions of dollars back to millions of hard-working Americans.
When progressives like Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and even moderates like Chuck Schumer and James Clyburn are all pushing for student loan debt cancellation, you know that we have real momentum.
But momentum alone is not enough. President Biden needs to know millions of Americans are demanding action.
Join DFA in calling on President Biden to release the memo and cancel student debt.
The President has the authority to cancel student debt with the stroke of the pen.
- Tre
Tre Graves
Digital Organizing Coordinator
Democracy for America
Even with a Democratic President, Congress, and Senate, Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema stop us from getting much done.
The good news is that we only need to flip 3 Senate seats to take power away from Manchin and our Senate candidates in Wisconsin, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky are ready to do just that.
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