- This is a problem that has gotten bigger and bigger
and bigger and bigger now, and at some point,
you just have to stop and look around and say,
"This is crushing people across this country."
- Student-loan debt in the US
is almost literally off the chart.
The latest figures from the Federal Reserve
show a record $1.
7 trillion worth of this debt.
That's an almost 100% increase within the last decade.
The federal government is by far the largest lender,
and as part of COVID relief measures,
borrowers have had their payments
paused since March 2020.
President Biden extended that pause to May 2022.
- I am able to afford the payments,
but it still has a big impact on my ability --
When will I retire if I have 10 more years
worth of student loans, when I can retire.
Under my current plan that's paused now,
I still have 10 more years.
That's a lot of money to become a teacher.
- It's really impacted my life over these last 11 years
because my husband and I --
we wanted to get into the housing market,
and I'm like, "I don't want to get another huge debt."
I still just want to get rid of these loans
'cause they've just, like, been over my head, and it's just --
I think about them all the time
because I just log in and I'm like,
"Now it's, you know, over -- it's over $350,000."
And it's like, you know, what do I do with that?
- They provided a service, and I need to pay that service back
and probably a little bit extra.
But paying double on what I took out,
triple for some people, is -- I think it's very unfair,
and I think it's a broken system that needs to be fixed.
- It's been two years now since anyone paid on student loans.
And, quite frankly, we've had a taste of how much that helps.
So, if we cancel $50,000 in student-loan debt,
it's not like it'll have an inflationary effect.
That's already now baked into the economy,
the fact that people are not making these payments.
- Senator Warren, along with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer,
have been most vocal on the issue of debt cancellation.
- The president can do it with the flick of a pen.
All he has to do is sign an executive order.
He doesn't need a single senator.
He doesn't need a single Congress member on his side.
- And in recent weeks, more senators and House members
have joined Warren and Schumer's push on this issue.
You recently have had a letter
where 80 of your colleagues have signed
and you've sent it off to the president
asking him to do this widespread cancellation of federal loans.
What have you been hearing back from him?
Do you see any movement
where he might do this in the short term?
- I'm not gonna talk about private conversations,
but let me put it this way.
The president has now, multiple times,
extended the period of time that no one
has to make any payments on student-loan debt,
regardless of their circumstances.
So, can the president do it?
Of course he can do it. You know how I know that?
Because President Obama did it, because President Trump did it,
and now because President Biden has done it.
The language that authorizes the debt
also authorizes modification and cancellation of that debt.
President Biden, to his credit,
has already canceled $15 billion of student-loan debt.
So, the tools are there.
- But Biden, as well as Speaker Nancy Pelosi,
have said larger amounts of debt cancelation
has to be an act of Congress.
The Department of Education has said it would investigate
Biden's legal authority to cancel more debt,
but the administration has yet to release a memo
with those findings.
The interest rates on federal loans is something
that has been very concerning for decades from many borrowers.
Is there any interest on your part or those lawmakers
who are standing with you to look at that aspect,
while you may be waiting for the president to make a decision,
looking at reform on the interest rates?
- I am glad to bring down the interest rate on student loans.
The very first bill I introduced as a brand-new senator
was to reduce the interest rate on student loans.
Right now, though, I really want to keep the focus
on debt cancellation.
How do you sell this to Americans who say,
"You know what, I paid my student loans,
it was difficult,"
or, "I decided to go to a cheaper college,"
or, you know, "Those who went to Ivy League schools
shouldn't have their debt repaid or debt canceled"?
How do you sell this urgency to those Americans
who say this wouldn't be fair?
- You know, I helped pay for public roads,
the interstate highway, that runs through South Dakota.
I don't drive on it.
I haven't so far, and I may never drive on it.
But it benefits all of us that it's there.
It's a part of how we build an economy that works for everyone.
We invest in our interstate highway system.
We invest in the things that create opportunity for everyone.
We invest in education for second-graders.
We invest in education for 10th-graders.
We know now, in a 21st-century economy,
we need to be investing in education
for kids post high school,
not crushing them with debt and holding them back
and further dividing them from wealthier kids,
but investing in their education.
So, if they're willing to do the work,
then we're willing to help make sure
they get a chance to do it.