Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), issued the following statement on the Supreme Court’s decision blocking President Biden’s student debt relief plan for borrowers in Washington state and all across the country.
“This decision is a devastating setback for tens of millions of hardworking student borrowers across the country who have been crushed with student debt, need relief, and have been counting on the historic measures President Biden took last fall. Delivering debt relief to student borrowers doesn’t just lift stress off their shoulders—it allows people to start families, buy homes, invest in their futures, and grow our entire economy.
“President Biden gave working and middle class borrowers some breathing room with desperately-needed debt relief. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has once again slammed the breaks on critical progress for people across Washington state and our country.
“But the fight to support students and borrowers does not end here—we can and must do more to fix the broken student loan system, make college more affordable, and show up for borrowers in every corner of the country. I’ve been pushing alongside my Democratic colleagues in Congress to fix the broken student loan system and deliver for borrowers across the country—and it’s time for Republicans to join us and get serious about helping student borrowers instead of pushing night-and-day to rip away relief for middle class families. My siblings and I got through college because the federal government had our backs—and I won’t stop fighting to make sure every student in America has the same opportunities we did.”
Senator Murray has helped lead the charge to make the student loan system work for students and families, ensure borrowers get the relief they are entitled to, and lower the cost of college. In 2020, she called for the federal government to forgive at least $10k in student debt. Since then, Senator Murray has pushed the Biden administration to fix the broken student loans system and ensure borrowers get the relief they are owed. Last year, as Chair of the HELP Committee, Senator Murray called on the Biden administration to permanently fix our broken student loan system and extend the student loan payment pause to do so. In particular, she called on the administration to give struggling borrowers a fresh start by placing those in default before the pause back into good standing, make income-driven repayment (IDR) more generous and easier to access, and forgive some debt for all borrowers and prioritize relief for those who need it most—all of which the Biden administration has since taken steps to do. Senator Murray has successfully fought to increase the maximum Pell Grant so that it goes farther for students, has led legislation to double the Pell Grant and provide two years of free community college nationwide, and has been relentless in working to ensure defrauded borrowers get the relief they are entitled to.
Earlier this month, Senator Murray took to the Senate floor to call out Republicans’ push to deny borrowers across the country student debt relief.
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