Business & Economy

On The Money: White House reviewing if Biden can cancel student loan debt | Senate signals broad support for more targeted relief checks | Romney proposes monthly payments for families with children

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THE BIG DEAL—White House reviewing whether Biden can take action to cancel student loan debt: The White House is mulling whether President Biden can take unilateral action to cancel federal student loan debt, press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday, as progressives push the administration to provide relief amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“The President continues to support the cancelling of student debt to bring relief to students and families,” Psaki tweeted. “Our team is reviewing whether there are any steps he can take through executive action and he would welcome the opportunity to sign a bill sent to him by Congress.”

Why it matters: Psaki’s statement is the first indication that Biden may be willing to forgive student loan debt through executive action, something he’s declined to support before and doubted he would be able to do legally.

Biden had previously called for $10,000 of student debt forgiveness per borrower through an act of Congress, not executive action, and Psaki reiterated the president’s position hours before her tweet opening the door to unilateral forgiveness.

The progressive push for forgiveness: The White House comment came hours after a group of Democratic lawmakers led by Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) reintroduced a measure calling on Biden to forgive up to $50,000 in federally held student debt per borrower.

“We are not going to let up until we accomplish it, until $50,000 of debt is forgiven for every student in the country,” Schumer said during a Thursday press conference. “Let’s get it done.”

I’ve got more here.

LEADING THE DAY

Senate signals broad support for more targeted coronavirus relief checks: The Senate signaled broad bipartisan support on Thursday for the next round of coronavirus stimulus checks to be more targeted.

The chamber voted 99-1 on an amendment from Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) related to “targeting” the checks and making sure that “upper-income taxpayers are not eligible.”

The Hill’s Jordain Carney breaks it down here.

Romney proposes monthly payments for families with children: Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) on Thursday unveiled a proposal to provide monthly payments to families with children.

The proposal comes as many Democrats have similarly expressed interest in providing payments to families with children on a monthly basis.

Breaking down the plan: Under Romney’s proposal, the existing child tax credit would be replaced with monthly payments of $350 for children ages 5 and under and $250 for children ages 6 to 17. Families would be capped at monthly payments of $1,250.

The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda walks us through the plan here.

GOOD TO KNOW

ODDS AND ENDS