Rep. Ilhan Omar presses Biden for student loan forgiveness timeline

As inflation rises and the economy heads closer to a predicted recession, millions of Americans have their eye on student debt forgiveness – a cornerstone campaign promise of the Biden Administration.

However, 18 months into his presidential tenure many voters are beginning to wonder if the promise will become a reality en masse, offering loan forgiveness for all federally held loans to the tune of either $10,000 or $50,000.

Until a decision is made, Minnesotans can count Rep. Ilhan Omar as a member of the crowd asking for more information from Biden, according to a recent announcement. 

On Thursday, Omar led a letter to Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona requesting information and a timeline on how the Department of Education will carry out President Biden's executive order to cancel student debt.

"President Biden has publicly stated that he plans to cancel student debt… Under the expected executive order by President Biden, millions of student loan borrowers will be eligible to receive the benefit of loan cancellation," the letter signed by multiple members sated. "It is important that borrowers get relief quickly and aren't hampered by unnecessary roadblocks and obligations. The American public will depend on your agency's ability to deliver debt cancellation quickly and efficiently, no matter the effort and resources required."

According to the announcement, the White House has signaled that Biden will cancel federal student loan debt through executive action in the coming months. To date the Department of Education has canceled a total of $18.5 billion in student loan debt to more than 750,000 students in an effort to "remedy years of administrative failures made worse under the previous administration."

"As President Joe Biden moves toward fulfilling his promise of canceling student loan debt, we write to ask how the Department of Education is preparing to carry out the executive order in a timely manner," the letter states. "For this reason, we are writing to you to learn more about the specific plans your agency has made to implement the executive order. Specifically, we would like a comprehensive timeline for implementing the cancellation including when your agency plans to begin canceling these loans and when you expect the process of canceling loans under the executive order to be completed."

In May, Attorney General Keith Ellison announced that Minnesota has joined a multi-state coalition of eight attorneys general in urging President Biden to fully cancel federal student debt owed by every federal student loan borrower in the country. 

Previously, Ellison joined another multi-state coalition that asked Congress to adopt a resolution calling for the cancellation of up to $50,000 in federal student debt owed by every federal student loan borrower nationwide. In 2021 his office won $42 million in relief for defrauded students of MSB/Globe University