WASHINGTON, D.C. – If you have student loans, get ready for those payments to start up again. Part of the debt ceiling agreement included resuming student loan payments.
Just before the weekend, Congress passed a deal on the debt ceiling which allows the government to borrow money to pay its bills and keep the nation from defaulting.
“Is it a home run,” asked Sen. Mitt Romney (R- UT). “No. It’s maybe a single, maybe a double, but I don’t think anyone expected that Kevin McCarthy could deliver any base runners at all, and he has.”
“Of course nobody got everything they wanted,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D- NY). “There was give on both sides, but this agreement was a very good outcome.”
Part of the deal involved student loan repayments. According to the 99-page bill, repayments will start 60 days after June 30, which is the end of August. The payment pause was first put in place by former president Donald Trump at the beginning of the pandemic. Since then, borrowers haven’t been required to make payments until now.
According to the Washington Post, about one in five Americans have student loans which is around 45- million people. About half of them have federal student loans with 20-thousand or less to pay. A third of all borrowers owe less than ten-thousand and roughly seven percent with student debt owe more than 100-thousand.
This past Thursday the Senate voted to advance a Republican measure to overturn a separate student loan cancellation plan from the president, which offered up to 20-thousand in federal student loan relief for borrowers who qualified. The White House is expected to veto that measure.
The Supreme Court also heard arguments in February on the president’s student loan forgiveness plan. We expect the court to make their final decision on that within the next few months.
