Education
“Later this week, we will be announcing whether to extend the pause further,” an Education Department spokesperson said.
The Biden administration is considering extending the freeze on federal student loan payments amid the surge of Covid cases and pushback from Democrats who objected to sending student loan bills to tens of millions of Americans in the coming weeks.
Education Department officials have for months publicly insisted that student loan payments would begin on Feb. 1 when the existing pandemic relief — which was extended several times by both the Trump and Biden administrations — is set to expire.
But on Tuesday, an Education Department official indicated that the restart of student loan payments could again be postponed.
“Later this week, we will be announcing whether to extend the pause further,” an Education Department spokesperson said in a statement to POLITICO.
The shift in the administration’s thinking on the fast-approaching Feb. 1 deadline for restarting payments comes as the White House faced a torrent of pressure from Democrats seeking another extension of relief.
The White House had previously said it was evaluating the impact of the Omicron variant but said it was still preparing to restart the collection of monthly payments on Feb. 1.
